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NEW YORK, July 30 (UPI) -- Aidan Gallagher says Season 2 of Netflix's superhero drama, The Umbrella Academy, will show his character, Five, like he never has been seen before. In a recent phone interview with UPI, the 16-year-old actor described the adult assassin in a teen's body whom he plays as a complicated character -- someone who appears reserved as he tries to quell "this insanity that is always nearly bubbling over" because of the horrors he has witnessed and committed.
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New episodes that debut Friday depict the usually reserved Five as unhinged and violent.
"Five just lets loose and it is a bloodbath," Gallagher told UPI in a recent phone interview. "You get to see him go full out this season. It was an incredible journey as an actor to go through and to really explore that character."
When Season 2 starts, members of Five's dysfunctional family will be briefly scattered after a time jump to 1960s Dallas.
"It's fun to see characters come together," Gallagher said.
"First, we can isolate them in their own little stories and arcs," he added. "To finally see all of those little elements come full circle and tie into each other by the end of the season is very rewarding for viewers."
In Season 1 of the comic book adaptation, Five returns to 2018 from a 17-year absence after he leaped further into the future than he intended.
He warns his estranged siblings, who now are 30, about an impending cataclysmic event and, in an effort to save the world, they pool their powers and portal to the past.
Unfortunately, they bring the apocalypse back to the 1960s with them.
"I'm most excited about the reversal of the dynamic between Five and his siblings," Gallagher said about Season 2.
"In the first season, Five was not very inclusive and he felt he needed to do everything himself. He didn't really open up to his family about the apocalypse. By the end of that season, he goes to them for help. He realizes he needs The Umbrella Academy -- the full force of his family."
Five and his adopted brothers and sisters will become even closer as the season progresses.
"These broken people who always looked at their past as this thing to escape are finally really relying on each other for emotional support and really strengthening their family bond," he added. "I definitely looked at how caring Five was becoming about his family because generally he was quite stubborn."
The actor said he enjoyed returning to a character he knew well, and then taking him in a new direction.
"With any second season, it's a tricky balance between keeping what fans loved and also making sure it feels new," Gallagher said.
"I was very excited to try and do it even better to portray Five in an even more depthful way. It's easier in that you have real history. You have 10 episodes under your belt. As a character, you understand him a lot better, but that also opens up so much more possibility."
The Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn alum kept busy during the coronavirus pandemic, even though film and television productions in North America have been shut down for months.
Gallagher said he finds it refreshing to move between acting, which is collaborative, and writing, recording and producing his own music, which is more personal and allows him to create something "truly meaningful" for himself and his fans.
"You are forced to look at where your vulnerabilities are and that brings out really interesting artifacts within your music," he said of the isolation that comes with social-distancing and stay-at-home orders.
Co-starring Ellen Page, Robert Sheehan, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Tom Hopper and David Castaneda, Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy premieres on Netflix Friday.
