Silo‘s Ashley Zukerman broke his silence on the season 3 finale revealing a shocking twist with new character Troy.
The Friday, September 4, episode of the Apple TV series picked up with a flashback where Daniel (Zukerman) was revived from cryogenic sleep in Silo 1 as a specialist named Troy. He couldn’t remember his past and was brought back to lead the execution of the Silo 17 rebels who exited their Silo.
Troy struggled with flashes of his old life, which viewers saw throughout season 3. Before Victor (Matt Craven) died by suicide in the present timeline, he requested that Troy be revived and he left him a message that confirmed he was searching for someone named Helen.
“I thought I knew what was happening. I got on this call with [creator] Graham [Yost] when the show came up and when I came up with an idea for Daniel,” Zukerman, 42, exclusively told Us. “And he told me the story, and it was beautiful, but he left Troy out.”
Zukerman was “already sold” before they even got to Troy.
“I just like this team, and I love this show so much. But then it was only a week before starting that we got sent all the scripts, and I was reading, and I was fascinated,” he recalled. “And then I got to episode 10, and I was genuinely shook.”
Zukerman continued: “I remember exactly where I was. I texted Graham, and then I just had to go for a walk. I didn’t see it coming at all. And I was hit by a profound sort of … I think I was simultaneously hit by Daniel’s experience and the tragedy of that and also by the gift I knew I was given as an actor.”
Silo is set in a dystopian future where a community exists in a giant underground silo comprising 144 levels. The sci-fi series is shrouded in secrecy as viewers tune in to see how the past and the present will come together before the show’s fourth season.
“Season 3 keeps recontextualizing what you thought was happening,” Zukerman teased. “That ramps up even more. I’d say don’t take anything for granted [ahead of the last season].”
With the introduction of Troy, Zukerman is poised to take center stage in the show’s final season as this version of Daniel comes to terms with the manipulation that he went through — all while trying to find his wife, Helen (Jessica Henwick).
“I’ll say that I loved the setup that we know who Daniel was, we know what he’s really about, but he has been weaponized by this organization,” he explained. “And for that iteration of him to be put up against Rebecca [Ferguson]’s strength and intelligence [as main character Juliette], that was such an exciting opportunity. That was very exciting to me.”
Zukerman expressed excitement at where the show goes from here — especially after connecting so closely to both characters.
“As soon as I read Troy, I felt like I wanted there to be no difference. I did connect to him immediately,” he told Us. “I saw why they wanted me, and I really thought I was just going to try to put all of myself in him. I was just going to try to put myself in his shoes as much as possible, which is, I think, probably the more I do this, the best way to approach a character anyway.”
Zukerman was grateful for the opportunity to grow as an actor, adding, “But this I felt really invited me to do that, knowing that what we were then going to do is actually take his entire history and his life away from him. I think because of that context, it gave me permission to just really just throw myself into it completely.”
He continued: “The way he’s goofy, the way he’s a bit of a dog and the way that he thinks he’s funnier than he is and smarter than he is. There are so many parts of him that I connected with that I just thought I really wanted to see what would happen if I just really loved as much as I love and was as dorky as I am dorky.”
Silo is currently streaming on Apple TV.
