[Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Dead Boy Detectives.]

The Big Picture

In the Netflix series ‘Dead Boy Detectives,’ Edwin and Charles, who are deceased best friends, solve supernatural mysteries to guide lost souls to the afterlife.
The show blends adventure, friendship, and grief against a supernatural backdrop within ‘The Sandman’ universe.
Co-stars George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri enjoyed exploring relationships and themes of love, grief, and growth in the unique storyline.

From co-showrunners Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant) and Beth Schwartz (Arrow) and set within The Sandman universe, Netflix’s eight-episode comic book series Dead Boy Detectives follows Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), ghosts who became best friends in death and have teamed up to solve mysteries that will help ghosts in limbo to be on their way. While avoiding Hell and Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), and getting some help from clairvoyant Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson) and new friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), they must overcome their own metaphorical and actual demons in order for this duo-turned-foursome to continue to do good.

Edwin is a ghost from 1916 who was sacrificed by a group of bullies that left him having to escape Hell itself. Charles is a ghost killed by bullies in 1990, at the same school that Edwin attended. When the two become friends at a time when the dead are returning to the land of the living, they decide to start helping to resolve things by forming the Dead Boy Detective Agency to usher those individuals on to the afterlife.

During this interview with Collider, co-stars Rexstrew and Revri talked about exploring death and grief in such a beautiful way, the audition process they each went through to get their roles, the fun of getting to have a Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) crossover from The Sandman universe, their otherworldly standout moments, the importance of how that love declaration played out, exploring the darkness of Charles’ backstory, and the questions they’d love to see answered in a possible Season 2.

Dead Boy Detectives A duo of phantom sleuths roam the boundary between the living and the dead, investigating eerie mysteries that elude the grasp of conventional detectives. Alongside a living accomplice with psychic abilities, they navigate a series of spooky adventures, learning about life and each other.Release Date April 25, 2024 Cast Lukas Gage , Briana Cuoco , Caitlin Reilly , Max Jenkins , Yuyu Kitamura Seasons 1 Story By Neil Gaiman, Matt Wagner, Steve Yockey Streaming Service(s) Netflix

‘Dead Boy Detectives’ Beautifully Blends Death and Grief With Joy
Image via Netflix

Collider: I love everything about this show. I love the characters, their interactions, and all their feelings, and I need Season 2 now. With all the layers to this, everything going on, and the mix of genres, what was the thing that you connected to most? Was it something about the type of show that it is, or was it something specific about your character?

GEORGE REXSTREW: This is a trope that I think we’ve inherited from Neil Gaiman and his style, but our show attaches these notions of care, comfort, adventure, and joy to very heavy topics such as death and grief. It’s such a beautiful way to look at it. Inherently as humans, we obviously don’t put the two together, but our show does, and I think The Sandman does. I feel really proud to be part of a show that can send that message out.

JAYDEN REVRI: When I first found out about the show, the first thing I had was a brief of Charles and who he is as a character. I was fortunate enough, at the time, to be reading as Charles for some colleagues who were auditioning for Edwin. I remember reading the script and reading Charles, and I thought, “I need to audition for this role.” I just felt like I was meant to embody him, and here we are.

Related ‘Dead Boy Detectives’: Teaser, Creators, Plot, and Everything We Know So Far These teenage demon wranglers won’t let a little thing like being dead hold them back.

There are so many interesting layers to it. Your characters are already dead, and there’s nothing you can do about that, and you know how they died, which is something you don’t normally get to know about a character. There are just so many things that make this so unusual.

REXSTREW: Yeah, unusual and strange. That’s the first adjective that we use when we describe our show, but in the best way.

What was your audition process like for this? Was this a role that you really fought for? When you guys met, did you know immediately that it would work?

REXSTREW: We had quite different processes that we did. I graduated from drama school in 2020, which was the COVID year, so our showcases and public performances were quite affected, as were all drama school finalists of that year, around the world. A lot of casting directors in the studio set up initiatives to help with the graduates of that year, and Warner Bros. set up an actors-in-training scheme where you could apply for mentorship. I applied and sent off a self-tape in May 2020, but I didn’t really hear back. And then, in October 2021, I had a message to my personal email from Warner Bros. casting saying, “Hi, we have you in our archives and we’d love you to audition for this pilot, Dead Boy Detectives.” And I thought, “Great!” I filmed the self-tape the day after, and then a few days later, we had our chemistry read on Zoom. Ten days after I got that email, I somehow secured the role.

REVRI: I was actually away filming another Netflix series, called Fate: The Winx Saga, at the time. My colleagues were all getting auditions for this show, but I was actually auditioning for something completely different at the time. When they said, “Jayden, can you come help me read for this role?,” I was like, “Yeah, sure.” But when I got to reading the character, I was like, “Who is this character? What is this project?” I went to call my agent and I literally pulled up and clicked on his name on my phone, and as I was about to press call, he started calling me. I was like, “That’s so strange.” And he said to me, “Look, we’re gonna scrap this audition because you’ve got an audition for Dead Boy Detectives to play Charles. And I said, “It’s so crazy, I was literally gonna call you and ask if I could audition for this role.” So, I did the audition and, within a couple of days, I was doing chemistry reads with different Edwins and Crystals. And then, I was actually cast probably two week later, in June or July of 2021. It was great for me because I then got to do the chemistry reads with the different Edwins and Crystals, and all I can remember is me, George and Kassius [Nelson] reading with each other. Lee Krieger, our wonderful director of the pilot, just said, “Let’s put that in the show.” The rest was kind of history.

Related ‘Dead Boy Detectives’ Cast and Character Guide: Who Stars in ‘The Sandman’ Spin-Off? If Mystery Inc. is busy, put these young sleuths on your speed dial.

That’s something that’s really just kind of magical because you can’t force it, but it’s one of the best parts of the show.

REXSTREW: We’re very fortunate. We share a brain in so many ways, and we have a similar sense of humor.

REVRI: We definitely share a brain. We can sometimes just sit there, and I feel like we both know exactly what each other are thinking, at all times. It’s quite scary.

REXSTREW: It’s very true. We adore Kassius, as well. She’s like a little sister to us, and we’re very protective of her.

Kirby Howell-Baptiste Made A Lasting Impression on ‘Dead Boy Detectives’
Image via Netflix

This is set in the world of The Sandman and you have Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death on the show. What was it like to have her there playing the character? How much does Death always loom large over these two?

REXSTREW: We filmed the scenes in the pilot, and there’s that scene where she’s there. But then, even though she wasn’t physically with us after that, we were always talking about Kirby being there. In terms of The Sandman crossover scenes, Jayden and Kassius wrapped and I stayed on a couple more weeks. And then, we had our Sandman actors come over, including Kirby, so I got to meet her. I remember the first thing I saw was that her wig had arrived first. I was getting a hair and makeup test and going, “Wow, that’s Kirby’s wig.” Getting to meet her was great. We had a really good chat. She had seen the pilot, at that point, and I think she was delighted to come be a part of the show.

REVRI: I just find it so ironic that her character is so beautiful and she’s so warm and this lovely, amazing character, but Charles and Edwin don’t wanna be near her at all. It’s quite funny to see the contrast.

This series has things that run from talking snarky cats, to heads exploding and regenerating, to a sausage curtain in a meat shop. What is your favorite weird little detail or otherworldly thing that could only have been done on this show?

REVRI: That is a really good question.

REXSTREW: That is a great question. I loved a lot of the set around Esther in her kitchen. The torture scene was fairly hellish to film. That’s obviously a supernatural device and seeing Jenn [Lyon] relish in every second of that was definitely conflicting because I was terrified, but I was also just loving getting to be with her.

REVRI: It’s not every day you get to be strapped down to a table and tied onto a kitchen side by Jenn Lyon. We couldn’t complain, really, could we?

Related ‘Dead Boy Detectives’ Creator Explains Why the Series Made the Jump From Max to Netflix Steve Yockey says ‘The Sandman’ helped influence the decision to come to Netflix specifically.

There’s so much to love about these characters and the relationships and the feelings they have for each other. We get to see so many little glimpses of Charles and Crystal, or Edwin and the Cat King, or Edwin and Monte, or Edwin professing his love to Charles. The only complaint that I would have about any of it is that I would have loved more of all of it. What did you guys most enjoy about getting to explore those relationships and getting to have those moments?

REVRI: Every single relationship in the show is a part of each character’s journey, in terms of self-growth. I can speak for myself with Charles and Crystal. With Charles and Edwin, it’s been the same way for 30 years, and that’s what they’re used to. And then, suddenly, this beautiful young girl comes along and Charles becomes completely infatuated. The way I describe it is that Edwin and Charles have this bubble over them, and they’ve had it there for 30 years, and then she just comes with this big pin and pops that bubble.

REXSTREW: Yeah, exactly. Edwin and Charles have a very established dynamic, at the beginning of the show. They’ve been working together for over 30 years and their work is really their entire existence. And then, Crystal Palace comes along, and she’s the catalyst for this huge change. She’s initially a huge threat to Charles and Edwin’s relationship. She provokes a lot of jealousy in Edwin because of her interactions with Charles, that leads to this unravelling. For me, one of the dynamics I loved getting to explore with other characters was between Edwin and Niko. They have such a special friendship. Niko, in the show, is an architect of love, and Edwin’s whole journey is really about the discovery of love, how much he wants to love, and how much he wants to be loved. He’s initially really enchanted by Niko’s innocence and curiosity, but it turns out that she has a really gentle hand, and she shows real sensitivity and worldliness around the topic of love, and really gently ushers Edwin through his journey of confusion.

There Are So Many Layers to Edwin’s Declaration of Love in ‘Dead Boy Detectives’
Image via Netflix

How was it to figure out that moment between Edwin and Charles? It’s such a beautiful moment with Edwin telling Charles that he’s in love with him, but also Charles’ reaction. What was it like to read that and to actually shoot it? How did that moment feel for you guys?

REVRI: It was great. We get sent the scripts and we read the material, and obviously we knew that was gonna be a subject that was gonna have to be in the show. I think (co-showrunner) Steve [Yockey] did such an amazing job at showing the way those kinds of interactions should be. It all just leans back into your core family being your chosen family. If people are gonna take anything away from that scene, and a lot of the other scenes in our show, it’s to be yourself and have those conversations with the people around you because the likelihood is that no one’s gonna judge you. They’re gonna love you, either way.

REXSTREW: I agree. In terms of when I first read that scene and when we did it, what felt really important about that declaration of love when Edwin says, “I’m in love with you,” if you just saw that clip in isolation, you would just think it’s a boy professing his love to another boy, in the general sense of it. But over the course of the series, you learn that when Edwin is saying, “I’m in love with you,” he’s only just learnt what love is. There’s a real innocence to it. I don’t think he even fully understands it himself. So for sure, it’s one of the most special moments in the show.

REVRI: And it leans back to Niko being the architect of love. Edwin is longing for love and he wants love, but Niko actually teaches Edwin that he can love and that he has love to give, as well. It’s almost like two finales that we get right. We’ve got [episode] seven, which is like finale in itself, and then we get the pleasure of [episode] eight, as well.

Episodes three and four were particularly interesting because there’s the case that’s stuck in the loop and Charles is affected by the family violence of it all, and then we see the flashback to him being beaten by his father. Jayden, what was it like to shoot both of those aspects of his story?

REVRI: I learned it in real time. I read the pilot and saw Charles as this cheeky-go-lucky 16-year-old teenage boy. And then, as we read the rest of the scripts, you get to see this deep, buried trauma that he doesn’t speak of, and that he especially doesn’t speak of to Edwin. With the loop, that’s when Charles’ awakening of his journey really happens. Once he gets stuck in there and he resonates with the girl, you really get to see what actually happened to him in episode four. I just wanted to make sure that, when filming those scenes, I did as much research as I could. I wanted to make sure that I kept the performance as authentic as possible. I spoke to professionals who have dealt with that kind of subject and I was guided in the right direction. When we filmed it, it was handled with such grace. Everyone was made to feel comfortable. I couldn’t have asked for it to be in a better environment. But with all of that darkness comes light. That’s the beauty of our show. Out of every bit of dark in our show, there is light, and Charles has to go through those things in episode three and four to really overcome it and realize that he’s not like his dad. He actually is a good guy. It’s not every day that somebody would risk, I’d say their life but he’s dead, so their existence to go into hell to save their best friend.

What Questions Would the ‘Dead Boy Detectives’ Cast Want Answered in Season 2?

What are you guys most curious about? What are the questions that you want answered, if there is another season?

REVRI: I wanna know what goes on in Charles’ backpack. He sticks his arm in there, but we never actually find out what goes on. I’d love to find out whatever happens in there.

REXSTREW: I’d love to see if Charles and Edwin ever take breaks from the office. Where do they go in London? What streets do they walk around? Do they have any local hangouts?

REVRI: I feel like they don’t. I feel like they just live and breathe the office.

Dead Boy Detectives is available to stream on Netflix. Check out the trailer:

Watch on Netflix