Fresh off his three-year stint on ABC’s comedy “Suburgatory,” actor Jeremy Sisto is revisiting his dramatic roots in A&E’s “The Returned.”
An adaptation of a French series, “Returned” is about a small town turned upside down when several of its residents, long presumed dead, suddenly come back.
Sisto stopped by the Sofitel Hotel’s Riviera 31 for TheWrap‘s latest installment of “Drinking With the Stars” to dish about his new show, which premieres on Monday.
One of the first things TheWrap wanted to know: Why are dead people so hungry?
In one of the first scenes, a dead girl returns home after four years and raids the fridge to the astonishment of her mother who looks on in disbelief. She’s not the only one with a healthy appetite for a dead person. Subsequent episodes also play up the robust hunger of the undead.
“That is one of the unexplained parts of the phenomenon,” The “Clueless” star told TheWrap. “There’s a lot left to be explained. There are some answers given towards the end of the season… that is one of the questions: Why are they so hungry?”
As more formerly deceased residents come back from the dead, their loved ones struggle to process the phenomenon.
“It becomes something that this particular community is not OK with,” said Sisto. “Parents have divorced and separated, relationships have furthered and this girl comes back into our life and has to try and find her way in it.”
But while the original French version went the zombie route half way through its first season, the A&E adaptation will focus on the characters and their journeys.
“Have you ever watched a show and thought, ‘Well I liked where it went, but what it went that way?’” he said.
Sisto plays Peter, a psychologist running a support group for town residents struggling with the loss of loved ones.
“My character is more of an outsider,” said Sisto. “I’ve spent years trying to make them forget that fact. I’ve become their emotional shoulder to cry on.”
But while Sisto’s character seems like the sane one, the actor told TheWrap he’s anything but well-adjusted.
“He’s very calculated, very put together,” said Sisto. “He’s a different kind of insane that I’ve done before.”
Watch TheWrap’s one-on-one with Sisto here.
“The Returned” premieres Monday at 1o p.m. on A&E.