We are Freddie Highmore and Kerry Ehrin of Bates Motel, Ask Mother Anything!

Freddie,

How does it feel going from playing more lighthearted fantasy stuff (Spiderwick Chronicles, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory) to someone really dark like Norman Bates?

Also, happy belated birthday fellow Februarian!

I don't think that Norman is really dark. Bates Motel has more humor than anything else I've done. It may be a dark humor but there's as much humor as anything else. That is what makes it something special. -F

I think Norman doesn't consider himself dark. He's very hopeful and optimistic, but the world around him is very dark. - K

If you could've changed one thing in the Bates Motel storyline, what would it be?

In my own heart, everyone would live happily ever after. -F

Freddie- What is it like going FULL mother.... like wig and everything?

It was funny when Vera and I would wonder around in the same dress and wig... -F

Thanks for doing this today!! Bates Motel has some really great wacky humour (which I love). For Freddie, do you feel that this has shaped your writing style in any way?

I don't think I would be able to have started to write without Kerry's support. I feel that doing Bates Motel and being a part of a long running tv show, showed me that writing and directing was something I really wanted to do. I always had a slightly unfocused sense of wanting to write one day in the future, but Bates Motel honed me in the sort of thing I wanted to write. --FH

Freddie has an inherent idiosyncratic and wacky sense of humor, so it would have crept into anything he would have written...including dark things. It would always infuse in his writing, the way he looked at the character of Norman...little things in scenes that are so subtle. Little touches that made the character very endearing...that's pure Freddie.-- KE

Freddie, What's your favorite norman bates quote?

Laughs Mother! The funeral scene when Norman is giving the eulogy, it perfectly encapsulates that dark humor...balanced with that heartbreaking insanity underneath it is. On the surface, it's all incredibly funny. --FH

That low guttural noise he makes. Whenever he gets close to a girl, he breathes and it comes out like a gurgle noise. That noise will always remind me of Norman Bates.--KE

Did any of the cast and crew members keep any of the props? I think one of the room keys would've been a pretty cool souvenir! :)

Oh yeah. I kept the manager's badge! Norman is more of a manager than ever before in season 5 so I was keen to keep the badge.- F

I kept some things from the house but nothing of great significance (I just liked them!) I also have the bunny in Norman's room that belonged to Emma. I also have a Norma dress. - K

It seems like I just got into the show only like a year ago, and I have been completely into it since season 1 was released on Netflix. What is your favorite season you have done? Least favorite?

EDIT: How did it feel for you when you got to direct an episode as well?

Hmmmm.... I think season 4 and 5 have been perhaps the most challenging. Especially 5 because it's that sense of time running out and the countdown beginning. We wanted to make sure all the characters had a fitting conclusion. They were also the most fun to play for me. Norman changed and matured over these seasons and it was a lot of fun to play. - F

It's kind of like asking which child is your favorite. I love them all for different reasons. I'm closest to the last two right now, but I have to say I sort of love season 2 because it was a time when Norma was starting to hope that she could live the life she had dreamed. I thought that was really lovely and my favorite episode was the trying out for the musical. I remember questioning the decision to have that episode. There's just a lot of good storytelling in season 2. -K

Hey Freddie and Kerry! First I want to say this is the best show created with the best cast and amazing writing but my real question is I know Vera has had some paranormal activity herself while filming both Conjuring films... Has anything creepy happened on the Bates Motel set? x

Not that we're aware of... I don't think there are any ghosts or anything! It's just a lovely house. The saddest thing was seeing photos being destroyed 12 hours after we wrapped. There are real memories for people who had worked there for 5 years. -F

It was like our home. To us emoitonally, to see that place destroyed was devastating. - K

Hey Freddie! Love the show and everyone's acting, y'all are awesome :D

What are you planning on doing after Bates Motel is over? Were you perhaps already approached by someone for a new project (movie/show)? Thanks and have a nice day!

I think I'm still in mourning.--FH

I'm doing development. Two projects. --KE

Kerry, which is your favorite Bates Motel episode that you wrote ?

Oh gosh again, this is like asking which child do you love the most! I don't think I can answer, but the one that pops into my head is Norma Louise from season 3. It was very meaningful for me to write and was so interesting for me to get into that underbelly of who she really was and who she was before she came to White Pine Bay and trying to have this life of who she wants to be. Digging around in her emotional past and seeing her deal with it and trying to deal with it just gave us so many great complexities and contradictions for her character. The arrival of her brother especially, which is both devastating and rich. I wrote that ep with a fever in 48 hours. I also loved the whole Norman story of him for the first time ever being away from her and having a breakdown... Dylan realizing the fragility of his brother's psyche and of course the first connection of Dylan and Emma. -K

Freddie, this character changed anything in you?

It has awakened my darker side... I don't think so. I certainly changed since I've been doing Bates Motel, I was 19...and I just turned 25. There are huge events that happen in life that change you. And, the experience that Bates has had...but, it's hard to pinpoint any Norman traits that I've taken on my self and that's probably not recommended.

Hello Freddie, :)

Just wanted to say I'm a big fan of your work! My question is which dead Bates Motel character would you bring back to life?

I guess everyone always wanted Jiao to come back. I guess the question was if she ever really died. But I guess it's too late for that one. - F

Blair Watson. I really liked Blair. - K

Kerry, in which scene did Romero really fall in love with Norma? Or was it love at first sight?

Personally, I think he started to fall for her around episode 6 of the first season. When he went into his office later that season and tried to play ball with him on a criminal level and he slaps that down, at that point she already has a little pull on him. I think that's when they both allow themselves to see it. - K

Freddie, what was your experience working with Rihanna like? Love you, Freddie!

Oh she was wonderful. It's hard to say too much without giving away what she gets up to in Bates Motel...but she was incredibly engaged, professional and always gave absolutely everything. She threw herself into the role and made her Marion Crane unique and special with arcs back to the original performance in Psycho, but she made the character her own.

Kerry! How was you knew Freddie will be perfect to be Norman Bates!!?(:

Carlton and I skyped with Freddie- he was the first person we talked to and met with. We loved him. But we thought we can;t just hire the first person we meet with! So we looked some more and read with some more people and it became increasingly clear at every point that he WAS Norman. he has very unique qualities that fit this role so well and we are so blessed and lucky to get him to do it. It would not be the same show without him. - K

Dear Freddie,

Would you say the interactions between Norman and Norma are emotionally taxing for you? Especially in season 5, now that all of his interactions with Norma have this undercurrent of sadness to it, since it's all in his mind.

I think all bigger scenes (which there are lots in Bates Motel) are challenging. You put real emotions into them and in some ways acting should be seen as a form of therapy, it can be very cathartic. Like after a big cry, you feel better. I get to vent my anger in Bates Motel, and then in my real life I'm endlessly happy. I never stress about anything.

Freddie,

What do you think it is that makes Norman often so irresistible to women throughout the seasons of Bates Motel?

A. He's really cute. B. He sees them. The women who have been drawn to him, they're all kind of emotionally damaged, and I think that he feels like this quiet, safe place for them. They feel emotionally safe with him, which is ironic, because he kills peoeple. - K

Thank you all for doing this! Love the show and I can't wait to see what's next from you both!

Norma always makes Norman eggs, bacon, and biscuits for breakfast. What's your favorite breakfast food?

Tequila--KE

I'm enjoying bacon rolls back in England. It's like a bacon/sausage roll. Circular roll, bread roll, with ketchup. I like pancakes, scrambled eggs. Marmite. --FH

Freddie - What was the hardest scene to shoot in season 4 ?

The hardest scene in season 4 for me was when Norma died. It was so hard but I got violently ill and couldn't go to set- I'm CONVINCED its because I couldn't stand to go see it- K

I think some of the bigger moments with Dr. Edwards were challenging. For episode 10 Kerry and I chatted for a while about that one and tracked Norman through the entire episode to make sure everything lined up. It was an internal episode for Norman. - F

Hi Freddie, do you feel like you can relate to Norman in any way? Are there any traits or mannerisms of Norman's that you can see in yourself? Hopefully none of the murderous qualities. Happy Thursday.

Definitely. I don't see Norman as a serial killer in any way. He's just a young guy running a motel living with his mother doing his best in the world. Norman's a nice guy. He's nice and hopefully lovable. - F

He's always trying to do the right thing. Mental illness is not easy to conquer on your own living in the middle of nowhere. - K

Freddie & Kerry: If you could use one song to describe the show, what song would it be? I would choose Bohemian rhapsody lol

There have been so many great songs in the show. Mr Sandman. Dream Lover. You belong to me. --FH and KE

Freddie, in your opinion, what is the best scene between Norma and Norman?

I think there are so many. One of my favorites is when he talks about moving to hawaii and sing Pearly Shells, knowing in the back of his head htat he's going ot trun the gas on. It's creepy and heartbreaking at the same time. Writing that scene I was thinking about if you hjad a kid and you knew something terrible was happening the next dayand you had to fkill them for their own good how would you do that? He had to think about how to put her to sleep peacefully and was so well done by Freddie and Vera. - K

In the first episode of this season when Norman comes home and they're at the dining room table and you get this sense of where their relationship is at, I feel that all the stories we've had are written with such nuance and and are never long but are done so well and so fun to play with Vera. It's really sad (not to be down about it!) that we won't working in a scene like that again. - F

How closely do you feel you have to follow the movie Psycho ?

Carlton and I have always felt like we had to honor the material but not be beholden to it. To honor the essence of it and certain sensibilities but we didn't want to be bound to it. We wanted to create our own universe.--KE

Freddie, Kerry & Mother: What was the best part about filming in Vancouver?

I really love Vancouver. It's beautiful. The crew was amazing. Inspirational crew. People who came back year after year. Everybody came back every year. A collective belief in what we were doing. Really inspiring.