George Rexstrew & Jayden Revri on Dead Boy Detectives | Interview

Dead Boy Detectives is the cheeky, bloody, and bittersweet story of two ghosts out to do some good by solving the crimes of the afterlife. Fighting against demons, witches, and other ghosts, Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri) are also about to step into their biggest case of their careers.

Streaming now on Netflix, the series is based on Neil Gaiman’s characters from The Sandman, and he serves as an executive producer on the show as well.

Chatting with Rexstrew and Revri, they sang his praises, and hope they’ll get to meet him soon.

“We haven’t gotten to meet Neil yet. Manifesting,” Rexstrew said. “But I’ve always been absolutely in love with Neil’s writing and his work. We’ve talked about this; what he does so beautifully is he infuses these really, horrible things–like death and grief and pain–and he shines real light into them.”

“And in our show, we have some joy and adventure and comfort. That’s one of the things I love about Death, played by Kirby [Howell-Baptiste], is to think of Death as this really caring figure. It really affected me as an audience member, and I think [showrunners] Steve [Yockey], Beth [Schwartz], and the rest of the team have really honoured that Neil Gaiman trope.”

“And he’s also been our mini cheerleader,” Revri said, “even though we haven’t met him. You go to any of his socials and he’s always promoting this show and saying how much he loves it. So hopefully we’re both doing something right.”

At the heart of the series, the chemistry between Rexstrew and Revri grounds a lot of the storytelling. It’s the magic and electricity in the air around the characters, and it’s obvious from speaking to the two stars that it’s because they connected on set.

“Working with Jayden, it’s kind of effortless,” Rexstrew said. “It doesn’t feel like work at all really. And I’m really, really grateful that I had someone who I felt shielded by, but who also is my best mate. He’s like someone I could go to a playground with, have the best time, but also trudge through the depths of hell with.”

“Literally,” Revri added.

“I’m lucky to even be in the show, but I’m even luckier that I have someone by my side who I’m so grateful for,” said Rexstrew.

“I think that was great. I might cry,” Revri said. “Honestly, I feel the exact same. I think it was instant as soon as we kind of saw each other. I think we both knew that the rest of filming was going to be an absolute breeze. We are so, so similar in so many ways. It is almost scary. We have the exact same sense of humor.”

Balancing the show’s horror, comedy, and drama together is also part of what made the two actors appreciate working on the series, and it perfectly matches Gaiman’s style.

“I mean, it’s an actor’s dream, you know. To flip both sides of the coin,” Rexstrew said. “You’re playing comedy, but you’re playing drama. You’re playing horror.”

“You’re playing life, you’re playing death,” Revri added.

“Often in the same episode, sometimes in the same scene,” said Rexstrew. “You know, there’s that scene in episode five with the date between Jenny and Maxine. I mean, that twist is crazy.”

“I bet you Steve would have mentioned it yesterday, how he loved–within his writing, to have this beautiful moment–just to be cut off by something like that in episode five,” Revri said. “I’m sure he probably did touch on that, and I think that is the beauty of the show.”

“Yeah, that scene kind of encapsulates our show,” Rexstrew said.

“That scene still, even when I watch it now, I’m like, ‘Oh, my.'” Revri said.

Watch the full interview with George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri at the top of the story, and watch my interview with Kassius Nelson and Yuyu Kitamura below. You can also watch my interview with showrunners Steve Yockey and Beth Schwartz on YouTube.

Images courtesy of Netflix.