‘From’s Latest Twist Could Finally Give the Town an Edge Over the Man in Yellow

Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for From Season 4 Episode 8.

The finale of From Season 4 is only weeks away, and MGM+’s horror series is definitely veering even closer to answering some of its biggest mysteries. While Sophia (Julia Doyle), AKA the Man in the Yellow Suit (Douglas E. Hughes), is certainly up to no good, she’s clearly not a fan of how close Jade (David Alpay) and Tabitha’s (Catalina Sandino Moreno) are getting in their own quest for the truth — at least if the Man in Yellow’s confrontation of Tabitha at the end of this week’s episode is any indication. That said, the show’s latest twist may very well have just given Boyd (Harold Perrineau) and the rest of the survivors some surprising leverage over one of the town’s deadliest threats.

Ahead of the premiere of Episode 8, “Heavy Is the Head,” Collider spoke with Pegah Ghafoori about the latest side effect of Fatima’s unexpected connection to the “Smiley Creature” (Jamie McGuire) she unexpectedly resurrected last season and how it could tip the scales in Fromville. Over the course of the interview, which you can read below, Ghafoori reveals why Fatima is willing to use her new ability to her advantage — despite the very real toll it’s starting to take on her body — as well as which character may actually understand Fatima’s experience the most (no offense, Ellis), what’s on her personal wishlist for From‘s fifth and final season, and more.

COLLIDER: Fatima’s pregnancy storyline and postpartum recovery that we’re seeing her grappling with really feel like they touch on the biggest themes of body horror in the show. How did you prepare to tackle these heavy themes for her arc starting last season, with ripple effects continuing now in Season 4?

PEGAH GHAFOORI: The things that Fatima and her body go through on this show are nothing short of horrific. The prep that goes into it, I always try to make sure I’m priming myself as the actor so that when I’m on set, I’m protecting myself and all that stuff. But at a certain point, once I’m on set, I’m my characters, and I think like them, and I breathe like them. You take certain measures, leaving yourself as the actor at home, things like that, so that you don’t end up taking things and aspects of the story home, personal for yourself.

But a lot of it is making sure you’re physically fit and making sure you’re warming up your voice and making sure that you’ve got the support, whether it’s a stunt coordinator or an intimacy coordinator on set with you, and our team has always been great with that kind of thing. Understanding exactly what is happening to her body and prepping yourself mentally and physically to go as far as it needs to go has helped a lot.

From a practical level, I’m assuming there was a false belly that you had to work with, but this season, it does seem like there’s some makeup work involved to create those strange, almost veiny dark lines on her stomach. Is that a practical effect, or is it a combination of makeup and VFX?

GHAFOORI: That’s all makeup. Our special effects makeup team hand-drew those every morning.

How long of a process was that for you to have to sit in the chair and get those lines applied?

GHAFOORI: Not as long as you would think, but they are growing, right? So every time I would go, it would be a little bit more. I think 30-ish minutes. They like to be perfect about it.

‘From’s Pegah Ghafoori Explains Why Fatima Is So Driven To Use Her New Power

“If things are going to happen to me, then I will have a say in what ends up happening because of it.”

Image via MGM+

There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding how Fatima’s pregnancy even happened, but one confirmed side effect, if you will, is this strange psychic connection that she now has with Smiley. What’s your understanding of how much she can sense and even control through this psychic tether that she seems to have?

GHAFOORI: I think the question of how much she can sense is ever-changing. She doesn’t even know at this point, but definitely way more than anyone else in town, and way more than she ever thought she would be able to. So, whether Smiley was always part of her, and that’s why she is able to connect with him, or that when he was inside of her, he changed her body chemistry or all of that stuff, I think that whatever is happening to her hopefully will be an advantage to the people of the town, as opposed to the town itself.

She’s very determined to, as you mentioned, use it to the town’s advantage, but there do seem to be negative consequences to her using this ability. What lengths do you think she’s willing to go to on behalf of the town, despite the toll that it’s clearly taking on her body? Do you think there’s nothing that she wouldn’t do to use this to her advantage?

GHAFOORI: 100%. Fatima is of the mindset that “If things are going to happen to me, then I will have a say in what ends up happening because of it.”

‘From’s Pegah Ghafoori Reveals Which Character Would Understand Fatima’s Experience the Most

“Everything that happens in the town, it affects these characters…”

Image via MGM+

Fatima and Ellis have an emotional conversation this week, and she makes a pretty fair point. Try as he might, as supportive as he is, he isn’t ever going to understand her full experience. Is there anyone else in the town who may have some sense of what Fatima is going through, in terms of not feeling in control of her body?

GHAFOORI: Yeah. I think one of our original sightings of someone’s body being taken advantage of is Sara. Sara has lost someone very dear to her, and she wasn’t able to help, and I think Fatima saw that. Everything that happens in the town, it affects these characters, and so me, as Pegah, playing this character every season, I’m like, “What are the experiences that this person has gone through? And what consequences has it had for them? How does this affect who they are now?” Her seeing all these people that she cares about a lot losing people they care about has had a big impact on how far she will go and what she will let this town get away with if it’s going to take what it wants.

You recently posted pictures from Season 4 on your Instagram, including one with the actor who plays Smiley. It’s almost like a twisted family photo, but that did get me thinking about what the mood is like behind the scenes. When it comes to Fatima’s connection with Smiley, obviously, it’s very sinister, but do you try to keep things light between takes, or is there a distance that you try to preserve?

GHAFOORI: I’ve found that the relationships that exist in this story tend to manifest themselves in the real world. Last year, for example, I never really went too close to the monsters because we were on opposite teams. I mean, we still are, but now we’re family. Jamie [McGuire]’s a great guy, so I always hang out with him on set whenever we’re on set together.

I find that the story sets the tone for the day. If it’s a lot of confrontation and a lot of conflict, then I find myself, personally, at least, my head will be a little more geared towards that. Whereas if it’s a day where the whole cast is on set, if it’s when we’re all standing by the graves, and everyone is there, then no matter what’s happening, all your friends are on set, so it gets a little lighter. Whether we try to make it that light in an effort to survive the context of the story, I think it’s just hard not to when we’re all so close, and we care for each other so much, and it’s such a good set to be on.

‘From’s Pegah Ghafoori Reveals Her Personal Wishlist for Fatima in the Final Season

“She’s a cool girl, and we haven’t shown that side of her yet.”

Image via MGM+

It’s already been confirmed that next season is going to be the last season of From. I’m sure you can’t really get into spoilers about where Fatima’s story is heading, but is there anything on your personal wishlist that you’re hoping to explore with her character? Are there any questions that you’re hoping, on a character level, get answered before the end?

GHAFOORI: Questions galore, for sure, like everyone else watching this show. But I’ve been very lucky that I’ve gotten to do some very cool things with this job, especially on this project. On the show, I play a very sensitive character, and I am a very sensitive person, but I also love working with my hands, so one of the coolest things I got to do was the car graveyard scene where I just beat things up. I would love some more physical scenes, where I get to show how badass she genuinely is, and not just maturity-wise and mentally, just physically. She’s a cool girl, and we haven’t shown that side of her yet.

New episodes of From Season 4 premiere Sundays on MGM+.