The Institute, adapted from Stephen King’s 2019 novel, airs every Sunday on MGM+. The series follows a group of children imprisoned in a secret facility where they are subjected to disturbing experiments because of their supernatural abilities. Among them is Nicky, a rebellious teen whose rough edges conceal a vulnerability and longing for family. Actor Fionn Laird, who plays the character, recently spoke with SciFi Vision about his journey with the role and how he connected to the series.

Laird explained that his audition came at a hectic time in his life. “It actually happened kind of at a little bit of a chaotic moment in my life. I was traveling. I was taking the train to visit my mom in Ottawa. I live in Toronto, and on the train, I got this tape, and...I did bring my ring light to do those auditions, but I wasn’t really expecting anything to come through, because I was only there for two days.” Although he hadn’t expected much, he sent in the audition and was thrilled to receive a callback. “I love Stephen King. Jack Bender was obviously the showrunner, and I've watched Lost, and I've even heard about From, and he's worked on Game of Thrones, The Sopranos. I’m like, ‘This is a really cool project.’”

What drew him most to Nicky was how different the character was from roles he had played before. “I’ve always been, I played a lot of like kind of goody-two-shoes roles in my past, and Nicky’s just so far on the opposite side of the spectrum from that,” he said, adding that it was exciting to embody someone with such confidence and self-assuredness. “It was just the prospect of doing something so unfamiliar and unexpected, I think, was a lot of fun for me.”

As the series progresses, Nicky’s hard exterior begins to crack, revealing his care for the other children. “[H]e’s obviously a standoffish person, but he’s never had a family before,” Laird explained. The shared trauma of the Institute brought the characters together, and Nicky began to see Kalisha (Simone Miller), Iris (Birva Pandya), and Luke (Joe Freeman) as a kind of surrogate family. “Comparatively, based on the people he’s met, this has been overall positive…Even in this dire situation, he has that support, and he has that kind of, I guess, a security for himself. So, it becomes whether or not he acknowledges it, he cares immensely for them by the end of his stay there.”

One of Laird’s most memorable moments on set came during a physical scene in which Nicky lashes out in rebellion. Although a stunt double was offered, he was determined to perform the choreography himself if they would let him. After rehearsing, the director decided to film a master take, which ended up being the version viewers saw in the show. “That master take is what you saw in the show and what ended up happening. It just went all the way through, and yeah, it worked out. Definitely that episode was a highlight for me.”

The role also left Laird reflecting on lessons he could take into his own life. “I think maybe you should make yourself happy first and foremost above other people, even if those people are important in your life,” he said. “You should prioritize your safety and your feelings and your overall happiness first and foremost, I think. That’s what I would take from him.”

The actor admitted that stepping into a Stephen King adaptation came with some nerves, given the author’s passionate fan base. However, he has been reassured by how viewers have reacted. “On a personal level, it’s been great,” he said. “For any social media interactions I’ve had, it’s been very pleasant. I know people, especially in the Stephen King kind of realm, like to go on Reddit to talk about the show or public forums to discuss it, and honestly, that’s been pretty positive.”

For the full interview with Laird, watch the interview or read the full transcript below.



SCIFI VISION:   How did you get this part? How did it all happen?

FIONN LAIRD:   How did it all happen? It actually happened kind of at a little bit of a chaotic moment in my life. I was traveling. I was taking the train to visit my mom in Ottawa. I live in Toronto, and on the train I got this tape, and I'm like, “Oh my gosh.” Like, I did bring my ring light to do those auditions, but I wasn't really expecting anything to come through, because I was only there for like two days, but this came through, and I was like, “Oh man, like, you know what, I'll get it in. I'll do my best that I can. We'll see what happens.”

Got it in. Couple days later, I got a call back. I'm like, “Oh my gosh, this is great, because, you know, I love Stephen King. Jack Bender was obviously the showrunner, and I've watched Lost, and I've even like heard about From, and he's worked on Game of Thrones, The Sopranos. I'm like, ‘This is a really cool project.’”

Finally did the callback. Jack was lovely. My agents were like,”Oh, it's down to two people.” Like, at the very least two people, and I was losing my mind, and then eventually I got the call from them. I was helping some friends move into their place, and I got the call, and we all stopped, and it was amazing.

Yeah, it was super cool, and then it was right like at the beginning of when they were starting to [do] pre-prod, so I remember like a week later, I flew out to Halifax where we filmed it, and then yeah, we got started.

SCIFI VISION:   Awesome, now you said you like Stephen King. Have you read the book?

FIONN LAIRD:   I have read the book, yeah.

SCIFI VISION:   Have you read it before or [after].

FIONN LAIRD:   Well, I read it after I got the audition, and then I think I was in the middle of reading it during the callback, but I only read up until I think the events of the callback, because I didn't want to like have anything in case, you know, Stephen King likes his dramatic deaths, I guess, and so I wanted to make sure…if anything was going to happen to Nicky, I didn't know about it. And then post the callback, finding out I got the role, I finished the book so that in time for shooting, I was all ready to go.

SCIFI VISION:   Okay, I know you wanted to do it, but was there anything in particular about this character that you connected with, I guess, made you want to do it?

FIONN LAIRD:   I mean, I've always been, I played a lot of like kind of goody-two-shoes roles in my past, and Nicky's just so far on the opposite side of the spectrum from that for characters, and I think it was just really exciting to dive into this just very unfamiliar space and kind of mindset I had to get into to properly play him in a way where he has this like ease of confidence and of self-assuredness. It was just the prospect of doing something so unfamiliar and unexpected, I think, was a lot of fun for me, yeah.

SCIFI VISION:   Did you end up finding that part then difficult doing that part of it?

FIONN LAIRD:   I think not really, I mean, getting into it, it's just, I mean, having fun with it, and there was the added kind of support of the cast of characters, the ensemble of other brilliant actors really helped me get to that place. And then Jack obviously had a very specific vision of what he had in mind, plus the image and kind of structure of Nicky that is in the book that I could go off of, so I had a lot of support in that regard. So, you know, it was a little daunting at first, but once, you know, within the first week, I think, of shooting and being with other characters, it was all there, yeah.

SCIFI VISION:   Is there anywhere other than the book and the script that you sort of pulled from?

FIONN LAIRD:   I think Jack likes to compare Nicky to James Dean a lot, and so there's even, like, a Rebel Without a Cause reference in the show, and so I watched just some, like, famous scenes where James Dean is doing his thing, and I didn't want to pull too much from that, obviously, but that was a good kind of, like, oh, so this is the vibe we're going for, so I pulled a little bit from that, yeah.

SCIFI VISION:   Well, that's cool. Were you at all worried, I guess, about how people would react? Because there are a lot of big Stephen King fans, and a lot of people like some of the adaptations and don't like some of the adaptations. Were you worried at all what they would think, or, I mean, it sounds like you were a fan, so maybe you weren't, I don't know.

FIONN LAIRD:   I mean, I think that's always a worry with doing an adaptation, but, like, you're right.  Stephen King obviously has a huge fan base and a very, I think, almost, like, academic, scholarly fan base. They really like to get to the meat of his text and stuff, and so when an adaptation comes along, it's often very, I don't want to say harshly scrutinized, but they like to get specific with how they, I guess, review it and go through the series or movie, whatever. So, there's that. There's kind of like, okay, I know who I'm dealing with, but at the same time, as an actor, I've kind of learned to, like, you know, “I've shot this; I've done the work. I've done the best I could. It's out of my hands.” Like, there's so many different parts to a show that make it a whole: the editing, the music, the color grading, cinematography, whatever. I can only do my best at the end of the day, and honestly, I was very pleased with the response of the show, so any worries that I did have were, you know, gone within, I think, the first, like, one or two episode releases, which was nice.

SCIFI VISION:   I was going to say, what has the fan reaction been for you? I mean, have you interacted with different people, and what has that experience been like?

FIONN LAIRD:   I mean, on a personal level, it's been great. For any social media interactions I've had, it's been very pleasant. I know people, especially in the Stephen King kind of realm, like to go on Reddit to talk about the show or public forums to discuss it, and honestly, that's been pretty positive.

And I also try to, like, stay out of, like, you know, I don't do deep dives, because obviously people are going to have their opinions regardless, but I think it's been really good, yeah, as I said, on a personal level, I've been very, very happy, very, I guess, reassuring and optimistic about the show, so.

SCIFI VISION:   You said about kind of the difficulties of getting into his confidence and that kind of part of his character, but is there part of [you] that you do see in him that you feel like you've put there?

FIONN LAIRD:   Maybe, like, not really, no fear of judgment, I think I'd say. I carry that forward a lot. Like, I think I like to, unlike Nicky, I'm kind of, I wouldn't say a people pleaser, but I like to, I aim to please whenever I can, and I aim to try to make everyone happy, but at the same time, if anyone's just explicitly, like, judgmental or maybe overtly cruel in some way for, like, seemingly no reason, like, you know, I don't do people wrong. So, if someone's mean for no apparent reason, I'd like to call them out on that. I like to stick up for myself. So, I think I'm just, yeah, free from judgment in the same way that Nicky is, yeah.

SCIFI VISION:   Have you learned anything new from him that you've maybe changed just since playing him, that's kind of come out?

FIONN LAIRD:   I think maybe you should make yourself happy first and foremost above other people, even if those people are important in your life. You know, they're nice and they're kind and you like them, [but] you should prioritize your safety and your feelings and your overall happiness first and foremost, I think. That's what I would take from him.

SCIFI VISION:   He sort of started out, I think people thought he was sort of a bully, and then he went to being sort of this, he's always protecting all of them and sacrificing himself a bit at the end. So, yeah, talk about sort of that transition and what it was that made him, I guess, decide to step up and try to protect them.

FIONN LAIRD:   Yeah, I think it's the fact that like, he's obviously a standoffish person, but he's never had a family before. That's a learned behavior, but, I think, because of the circumstances of the Institute, because of the kind of dire situation they're all in, for lack of a better term, they're kind of all trauma bonded together. And he has this sort of found family on his hands. I think that's something he's never had before. He always talks about his like foster homes and like, you know, what he's gone through in kind of a negative way. So, obviously, it hasn't been a positive experience. So, I think, comparatively, based on the people he's met, this has been overall positive, like Kalisha and Iris and now even Luke, I think have been people he really cares about and loves. So, I think they're kind of serving as this like surrogate family for him. Even in this dire situation, he has that support, and he has that kind of, I guess, a security for himself. So, it becomes whether or not he acknowledges it, he cares immensely for them by the end of his stay there. So, yeah, it's really important to him.

SCIFI VISION:   Do you think that he was worried, I guess, what would happen to him after he started throwing chairs and things? I mean, obviously he thinks he's going to die anyway, but they could have beat him up first. We don't really know what happened. Obviously, we don't get to see what happened, but I'm assuming Tony wasn't so nice to him after.

FIONN LAIRD:   Probably not. I think it became part of the - that was kind of the crux point for him is he had to kind of show up and show the care that he has and the importance that he's placed on this family. You know, it's a sacrifice for Luke, for Luke to have this plan he has in motion with Avery. And I think Nicky for how shielded and self-guarded he is, I think he knew it was necessary for the entire wellbeing of that, of the Institute kids. He knew it was necessary, even though, you know, he was like, “Oh, it's probably not going to be anywhere near as bad as what I've already endured, so I might as well sacrifice it for a worthy cause.”

SCIFI VISION:   Talk about filming that scene, throwing chairs, throwing punch. It looked like a lot of fun, that's for sure.

FIONN LAIRD:   It was a lot of fun. And, you know, initially they were like, “Yeah, we'll have a stunt double do like - you know, I do a lot of kind of very physical things in it. And I asked Eddie, the stunt guy, I'm like, “If they let me, I would love to learn the choreography and do it myself. I've played contact sports, whatever. I keep myself physical. So, if I can, I want to - obviously if there's something dangerous or something that I can't do consistently, I'll leave it out, but I'd love to do it.”

And he had belief in me, which was great. And I remember we had like one day of rehearsal, and I learned it all, and I did it over and over again. I'm like, “Hey, I think I'm ready.” And then on the day of shooting, Jeff [Renfroe], who's directing the episode, he was like, “Are you sure you're ready to do this? Like we have, we have somebody, we have like a wig for them. They can absolutely do this for you if you need.” I was like, “No, you know what? I'll give it a go.” We did a rehearsal that kind of ended in, not in disaster, but it just didn't work out. Like a prop was broken. And I was like, “Oh my gosh, like, I don't know how this is going to go.” And he's like, “You know what? We're going to do a master take. We'll see how it goes”. And that, that master take is what you saw in the show and what ended up happening. It just went all the way through, and yeah, it worked out. Thankfully, I was really, really, really pleased with that. Definitely that episode was a highlight for me. Yeah.

SCIFI VISION:  The one thing I want to ask about I really enjoyed is actually in this last episode [that you were in] But when he's talking to Iris, she makes a comment about, you know, at least the headaches will go or whatever, and she's obviously accepted she's going to die. He knows she's going to die. And he kind of says something encouraging.  Just sort of talk about that, because the look they gave each other, I just think was really, I really enjoyed that. It was like, he was, you know, saying goodbye and kind of accepting, I guess, their fate. And do you think that he still has fight left in him, is, I guess, the other question.

FIONN LAIRD:   I think he knows that at that point specifically, any fight that he does put up is all for naught. Like he's obviously in a weakened state as well. Even if he does manage to take a guard down or something in the situation, in the, I guess, the state he's in, someone has a taser. They're all carrying weapons at that point.

So, I think, for him, it's like, “I'd be wasting energy. I'd be putting the people I love in dange, like Iris, like Kalisha.” So, in that moment, I think there's nothing he can do to stop it. So, he might as well just like show her like, “Hey, we're in this together”. You know, for his devil may care as he is, he does have feelings, and he does love, I think, her and Kalisha and even Luke at this point, very deeply. So, that moment, yeah, it was tough, because it was also like it was the last moment, I think, Birva [was in] for a while, especially for that shooting schedule. She came back, obviously, but it was cool to have those deep connections on a personal level as well as actors. So, yeah, I love that scene as well. And you're reminding me of them, like, oh wow, yeah.

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, it was really good, really good scene. So, I'm pretty sure we have an idea, but they've never actually said, but he was TK originally, right? Because I don't think they ever actually showed him do anything. I know at the end they're both, but what would you as Fionn…Would you want TK, TP, PC? What would you want if it were for you personally?

FIONN LAIRD:   PC is on the table?

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, sure.

FIONN LAIRD:   Oh yeah, that's tough. I think I would do, I think I would do TP. I feel like TK is too volatile. Like if you do something too egregious, it's like you end up in a lab for the rest of your life, like the kids. But I guess like TP, you could keep it hidden to a certain degree. I don't know, it'd be nice to see past the surface maybe, especially people who are more guarded too. You know, that's the people pleaser in me though. I would want to know what people think of me. But yeah, probably TP. I feel like if I had PC, that would just like, drive me insane. So, I'm going to go with TP.

SCIFI VISION:   Probably drive anybody insane. Do you wish that they had, I guess, let him sort of flex his powers? Because the fact that nobody was absolutely sure makes me think of that. Like maybe they should have let him, I don't know, throw something around with his mind there.

FIONN LAIRD:   Yeah, I think for me, it's like, I think Nicky, his powers for him, I imagine in like a foster situation where he doesn't have anyone who really cares for him, something that sets him apart from other people, or like a gift, for instance, would probably be a source of like pain for him. He'd be an outcast for that, I think, in his situation. So, he has this resentment towards it in my mind and why he like steers away from it as much as he possibly can is because he doesn't want it to define him. He doesn't want it to be something that he can continue to be prosecuted for. It's why he's there in the first place. So, I think he has this, he has a resentment for it. He doesn't think it's a gift or something special to use. And when he does kind of use it in back half, I don't, I don't, I'm not gonna spoil it or anything…he's kind of getting this reckoning. And so it serves a purpose to him in that moment, but everything else, he wouldn't use it for something small like George does, or like even to fight. He's showing that, “I can fight even without this thing that you claim makes me some kind of soldier.” They're recruits, right? So, I think he, yeah, he hates it on a certain level. So, if at all possible, he avoids it.

SCIFI VISION:   All right, that's fair. This show does sometimes get intense. What do you guys do kind of in between to have fun in between takes?

FIONN LAIRD:   I mean, just hanging out. I mean, the set was, it's huge - it's in a studio. It's this huge area. So, there's plenty of places to just like explore. Especially if they weren't using a specific section to shoot, we would just like explore the studio, obviously craft services, we'd get a snack. Sometimes we'd have something new. It was all just about like staying grounded in our reality, in our world, outside of the oppressive kind of situation that we're dealing with in the Institute. Even on the set, like the lighting is oppressive and we're covered like sometimes in grime and these clothes, like especially in back half, these clothes that are so - I guess, they strip us of our individuality, right? So, it was important to just be like, “Oh, we're not them. We're, you know, Fionn, Joe, Simone, Birva, Arlen and Viggo.” Like we're just hanging out. So, it was just finding that complete separation, not letting it, you know, seep into our lived reality.

SCIFI VISION:   How did you originally get into acting?

FIONN LAIRD:   It's a funny story. It was kind of out of spite. My sister was doing a show. I was eight years old, and she did this like play, and I went and watched it with my parents. I was kind of like, “I wanna do that too. I can probably do that too.”

So, the next year, it's like an annual Christmas show, and we did it together. Yeah, it was just such a great experience being in this ensemble of like, you know, the young company. And that was amazing.

And I didn't really - it was kind of just like a fun thing I did for up until I think like high school, which is when I started kind of like go, “Oh, maybe I could do this as a career”But even then, I was in band and I liked lacrosse. So, it was like something I didn't really take seriously yet till midway through high school.

And then even now, sometimes I'm like, “Oh my gosh, like, is this real? Can I continue to do this? Is this a fluke?” But I think I'm starting to feel more like this is what I'm - yeah, this is my thing. This is what makes me the happiest in the world. So, it's been really nice.

SCIFI VISION:   What is your dream role that you would love to get to be part of?

FIONN LAIRD:   Oh goodness, dream role. Is it specifically in TV films? Does it have to be theater?

SCIFI VISION:   Whatever you want.

FIONN LAIRD:   Okay. Oh man, I should have an answer on hand for this, but it always seems to change. I think, I've given this answer before, but I think [I’d like] to be in like a Brandon Jacob Jenkins play. He's a playwright and he just won, I'm pretty sure he just won a Tony, but he writes brilliant plays, and…small ensemble dramas or tragic comedies sometimes. And I think I would love to be a part of some kind of production that he's written. You know, maybe one day he'll get into TV film. That would be great. But if I were to do a play of his, that would be amazing. Yeah, something like Gloria, which is a favorite of mine. But yeah, no specific role, I don't think. Yeah, nothing in particular.

SCIFI VISION:   Do you enjoy theater more then than TV or movies or you're just kind of doing whatever comes your way?

FIONN LAIRD:   Yeah, whatever comes my way. But I think like if I'd like to keep it balanced, obviously it's not really possible just with, you know, being booked is being booked, but I would like to have that kind of back and forth in some regard for the rest of my career. Like I love both so much. I would never compare the two. So, I think, yeah, whatever comes down the pipe. But if like, you know, if I'm doing one thing for too long, I would get myself out of that pigeonhole and try and put an active effort into making sure I can do the other thing, whatever it may be. So, like lately I've done a lot of TV film, but like even a couple of years ago, like two years ago, it's like I just did theater. So, hopefully it ebbs and flows for as long as I'm doing this. I'd love that. Yeah.

SCIFI VISION:   Oh, that's smart. Keep it open so you can do everything, right?

FIONN LAIRD:   Exactly, yeah.

SCIFI VISION:   So, what kind of things - because I know earlier you mentioned you had watched Lost. What kind of things do you like to watch? I'm just curious.

FIONN LAIRD:   I'm all over the place. I loved Lost. I love, my favorite show of all time, I want to say is Beef. If you've ever seen that, Steven Yeun, Ali Wong.

SCIFI VISION:   Okay, I know what it is, but no, I haven't.

FIONN LAIRD:   Yeah, yeah. I forget who directed that or who show ran that, but that's my favorite show of all time. I think it's getting a season two. Thank goodness. But also, I'll watch stuff like that. I'll watch stuff like The Bear. Then I'll also watch The O.C. You ever watch The O.C.? Oh my gosh, I cannot get enough of that show. It's such a soapy teenage drama, and there's just something about it that just really draws me in. Or recently, my partner introduced me to Sex and the City. And that's also, there are these shows that are like, premises are very simple, but some of the acting and the writing is just truly brilliant. Those are my favorite types of shows, I think, where it's kind of, you underestimate it, and then you get into it, and it's actually very, very enjoyable. But I'd say that's my kind of favorite genre is those, yeah, those big ones.

SCIFI VISION:   All right. I know a lot of the people that watch our The Institute show really like FROM, came from FROM…You should watch that. You'd probably like it.

FIONN LAIRD:   Yeah.

SCIFI VISION:   If you liked Lost I think you'll like it. It's got a lot of mystery to it.

One of the people in my chat asked what's your favorite giant monster? What kind of movie monster, I guess, do you like?

FIONN LAIRD:   Oh, giant monster?

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah.

FIONN LAIRD:   I'm gonna go with, I love Pacific Rim. I'm gonna go with, oh, they're all so good. Knifehead is like the second monster you see in that movie, and he's just so cool. I mean, the concept of like this shark beast is really cool. That's my favorite giant monster, I'd say. Oh, but hold on, hold on. I don't want to be too quick. I really liked, I watched this show, Primeval, when I was a kid, and there was this -

SCIFI VISION:   You mean the dinosaur one?

FIONN LAIRD:   The dinosaur one. Yeah. And sometimes they go into the future, and there was this like bat kind of predator thing that looked really cool. That's a really cool monster, too. That sticks out in my memory, so I'm going to pick that as well, yeah.

SCIFI VISION:   Is there anything else that you'd like to see in the future? That you'd like people to know either about the show or about you or just in general that I haven't asked?

FIONN LAIRD:  Episode six is gonna be coming out this next Sunday, and then the following week will be the final two episodes, so I hope people tune into those three episodes. And also, I'm gonna be doing my first feature film ever coming up in September. We're just shooting it, just starting out, but I don't know, if you like my work, just look out for that, and yeah, tune in for that whenever that happens to drop, so yeah.