Daniel Henney Reacts to Lan’s First Scene in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 2: “Oh, I’m Taking My Shirt Off Again?”

The Wheel of Time Season 2 threatens to tear Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) and her long-time Warder Lan (Daniel Henney) apart forever. After losing her ability to channel the One Power, Moiraine pushes her stalwart friend, companion, and protector away — severing their psychic bond and leaving Lan in the total lurch. It is, of course, one of the many changes the Prime Video series makes from the Robert Jordan books and one that creates more drama for actor Daniel Henney to play.

Over the course of the first three episodes of The Wheel of Time Season 2 on Prime Video, we see Lan heartbroken over his break with Moiraine, living happily ever after in a magical vision of a future where he could wed his love Nynaeve (Zöe Robins), and positioned as eye candy for the audience and the Aes Sedai Adeleas (Nila Aalia) to enjoy. It’s a lot for one actor to juggle, especially since Henney is also tasked with bringing Lan’s iconic blend of stoic cool and badass fighting skills to life.

Decider caught up with Daniel Henney before the SAG-AFTRA strikes and asked him about some of those more challenging scenes in The Wheel of Time Season 2. Along the way, he addressed fan criticism of Lan’s emotional outburst at the funeral of Stepin (Peter Franzén) in Season 1 and teased that at least one moment in the upcoming The Wheel of Time Season 3 had him scratching his head…

DECIDER: The first we see of Lan in The Wheel of Time Season 2 Episode 1, he is going through the sword forms. He’s shirtless, which I think the ladies — especially Adeleas — appreciate, but he’s clearly in agony. So how would you approach the dichotomy of a scene like that where, you know, it might be shot to be a little bit of a beefcake moment, but he’s clearly devastated and psychologically tortured?

DANIEL HENNEY: I mean, all you can really do when those scenes come up… My immediate emotional reaction when I see them in the script is to be like, “Oh, I’m taking my shirt off again?” But then I think about it, and it’s like, okay, yeah, these guys are travelers. They’re wanderers. They’re warriors. It makes sense. And why would you have a shirt on? Okay, so then I accept that part.

And then I go on to the emotional part, which is always just just try to find truth. They wanted him to reach a point of pretty heightened emotion. And you just got to play with it. Those things are always tricky, though, because we have a goal now or we have a specific time we tried to shoot those. That was in Italy, that was in Puglia. Or was Ostuni? But we had like, 20 minutes to get that shot. And so I practiced for a month of this [sword form] sequence, and it was like, “And action!! And so I was just hoping they got something. 

In Episode 2, Lan tells Moiraine he always saw her as an equal and she devastates him by saying they were never equals. Why is that the comment that just sort of breaks Lan’s resolve in a way?

As it would anyone in a very serious relationship, a marriage of any type, I mean I treat them like a marriage. The bond is very much like a marriage. They feel what each other is going through emotionally, physically. It’s almost like a twin kind of effect. (Except for this stuff, you know, the fun stuff. They’re not like intimate and things like that.) But so when that happens, when someone that you’re partnered with is severely altered or they change, it’s shocking, you know?

“And why wouldn’t you think we’re equals?” Of course she an Aes Sedai, she can call down thunders, she can move mountains, whatever she can do. But you know, after twenty or twenty-five years of being together, you know, that kind of loses its luster. And you’re like, “I know, you can do that, but I also get water for us every day and I hunt rabbits and I provide food. So I mean, come on, you know?” I think it’s kind of that thing. So I think he just feels a little bit, I don’t want to use the word betrayed, but he’s just he’s kind of surprised that she would say that.

I actually was just talking to Rosamund, and the way she kind of phrased Moiraine’s behavior was that she feels ashamed that she can’t be his equal, that she felt less equal in the relationship at that point. Does that surprise you? Have you talked about that? 

It’s so funny, because as Lan, I feel like of course that’s what Moiraine would say. You know what I mean? It’s just like a roundabout Aes Sedai way of like camouflaging the truth. That’s an excuse that makes her seem better. Like she’s coming at it from a righteous place.

No, that’s a great answer. And yeah, I think that they both have this mission in mind. At the end of the day, they both have the same mission. They, you know, he signed the contracts, so to speak, and he knows what this is all about. He knows that she’s in it for the greater good. And he kind of has some emotional outbursts. That’s just because he’s frustrated. He knows she’s doing it for the right reasons, ultimately, and I don’t think he ever really thinks that she would go to dangerous places or questionable places with anything. I think he trusts her one hundred percent.

Episode 3 is huge for Nynaeve. She goes through her set of tests, and your character is part of that in terms of the magical “What if?” world. What was it like playing those scenes opposite Zoe? Did you approach them any differently knowing that this was kind of, you know, Nynaeve’s test and maybe not the real world?

The sequence you’ll see in the house, I just took normal. You just have to play it normal, I think. It’s just a version of them down the road that could be, you know. My hair is down which it took me a while to get used to that. That’s whatever. The scene on the horse, I think there was a lot of concern there and that played out really beautifully, I think. The horses were like a hundred yards apart and they called action and we just just sprinted, cantered in on the horse and jumped off, and it was just great energy. I loved that sequence and juss kissing her with that sort of longing that they have for each other. That one played out very naturally on that day I remember and we’re happy with how that turned out.

So I mean, to answer your question, with Zöe it’s always super easy. She’s so talented and giving. We have this great back and forth, this playfulness. We were the only two cast members I think that didn’t meet prior to being cast, so we’re very lucky.

I mean, at this point in your mind, with whom does Lan have a stronger connection: Moiraine or Nynaeve? Because they both obviously have a hold on him in different ways.

I don’t know. The Wheel of Time is so weird. Approaching Season 3, there’s been more scenes where I’m like, “Really? That’s in there?” And it’s just like, “Eh, Wheel of Time.” And I’m like, “Okay, let me just justify that in my head before we move forward.”

It’s a hard one to answer. I think it’s something that’s accepted I think that’s completely different. You know, I think that they can compartmentalize, these guys. I really do. I think his mission and his relationship with Moiraine are completely separate to him than his growing love for Nynaeve, this new relationship. I think he sees her as his wife, potential wife, his love interest, as his future. And I think he sees Moiraine simply as another — I don’t know, it’s hard to say. She’s definitely a love of his. It’s a different kind of love. It’s a partner. There’s a business partnership there. There’s there’s more than that there. It’s hard to describe.

There was some debate among some fans last year about whether or not it was out of character for Lan to have the emotional breakdown at Stepin’s funeral. I’m not sure if you’re aware of that. What do you think about that? And do you agree that Lan should have just been very — I don’t want to say like taciturn, but just very with it, held within, and not openly grieving?

I had questions when I saw the script. And then it was explained to me and I thought about my process. I think we all, as humans, we kind of react emotionally first, and then we sit down like okay, let’s just hear it out.

No, I think it was right for him. And I think that, especially nowadays, a lot of the men in my life, the most masculine men, and people who have shaped me to be who I am, have been very outwardly emotional people, sensitive people. I’m not saying you should always be like that. But I’m saying you shouldn’t be scared to show what’s going on inside. If someone who dies, if a father figure — which Stepin could have very well been a father like figure to him, having had his parents killed and being raised by soldiers — if someone commits suicide that you love, I would imagine, you’re going to have some sort of reaction to that. And, you know, for him to be stone faced and to not show it? I don’t know. What I see when I watch that scene is that you see the inner workings of a man who is many things. I think that makes his stoicism later on and this season even more powerful because you know why. If you don’t, it’s the Yin and Yang. I mean, you have to see both in order to understand the baseline, if that makes sense.

The first three episodes of The Wheel of Time Season 2 are now streaming on Prime Video.

This interview has been edited for clarity.