ALMOST PARADISE: Christian Kane Previews ‘Some of the Best Stuff I’ve Done’ in Season 2

[This interview was conducted before the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.]

After more than three years, ALMOST PARADISE is back for its sophomore season on Freevee. (All episodes are streaming for free now.)

Last viewers saw former DEA agent Alex Walker (Christian Kane), he had reunited with his estranged daughter and faced off against his ex-partner in his post-retirement paradise in the Philippines. Now, he has a new lease on life as he continues to work with the local law enforcement, while also running a hotel gift shop at a hotel.

But, as always, trouble follows Alex. And season 2 finds the former agent contending with big, big decisions. Here, Kane shares with Give Me My Remote what to expect from the new season.

Because there was such a delay between seasons, what conversations did you have with the producers about your hopes for this season?
[Due to the pandemic,] the Philippines [where we film], they were having a bad time so we couldn’t go back even if we wanted to. I didn’t really realize after two seasons of LEVERAGE[: REDEMPTION] between [seasons 1 and 2 of ALMOST PARADISE] that it had been that much time until I got over there and started talking to all my friends over there. And I tell you, if it wasn’t for the family that we created—almost everybody came back, but more importantly the the three actors that I worked with Art [Acuña, who plays Ernesto], Sam [Richelle, who plays Kai], and Nonie [Buencamino, who plays Ike]. It was just like getting right back on a bike with them, and we all love each other so much and still do to this day that [it felt like] there was no downtime with us. 

As soon as we started filming, we were right back into these characters and that doesn’t happen all the time. I’m gonna be honest with you, in this business, especially, it just doesn’t happen. People change, things change, people’s attitudes change. None of ours did. We were right back at it and we were having a ball and I had forgotten it had been that long in between. 

I don’t think [fans] will either…I think [the seasons] rolls right into each other.



You’ve worked with co-creator Dean Devlin on a number of projects over the past decade and a half. How does your dynamic differ on a project like this where you’re the lead compared to other things like LEVERAGE or THE LIBRARIANS, which are arguably more ensemble shows?
Well, I started work for Dean Devlin in 2007. INDEPENDENCE DAY, GODZILLA, THE PATRIOT; he wrote STARGATE—the guy’s done it all. We did the pilot of LEVERAGE in Chicago in 2007 and then we ended up starting the series in 2008. So from 2007 until 2023, I’ve worked with the same guy as my executive producer, my boss, my friend, my head writer on some stuff. We use the term sometimes herding cats—it’s not like that with LEVERAGE. We all know what we’re doing. And John Rogers, who also co-created LEVERAGE, said a while back, “There’s really nothing you can really tell these characters anymore. You can lead them down whatever place, but [the actors] sort of own these guys now.” That does a lot for a head writer to give [that] to their actors. He’s a chameleon: he wrote TRANSFORMERS, CATWOMAN, and so for him to give us leeway to either hang ourselves or do a really good job, most writers don’t do that. And he did. Dean does that, too. 

But on ALMOST PARADISE, me and Dean are a little bit more connected at the hip because we know this guy, we created this guy, and we love to have fun with him. On LEVERAGE, with Eliot Spencer, I have Stallone[-like] lines: I have one-word lines, and then I knock somebody’s head off. 

With this guy, it’s fun because we created this character, but we’re also taking him down this journey. So [Dean will] walk with me on the hip, and we’ll find really great stuff, whether it be emotional, whether it be comical [elements] that we both come up with—some of the funniest stuff that we do. He kind of takes the leash off of me when I’m Eliot Spencer. He puts it back on when I’m doing this role. I think this character, he sees a lot of him. And it’s also a fun little journey to take this guy down. So it’s been a blast.

What is Alex’s mindset when season 2 kicks off?
We all thought he had heart problems. We all thought he had health problems—which he did. But it was more 85 percent psychological. And he thinks that he has gotten over that. And I think that’s why he smiles a little bit more this season, because he thinks he’s beat something. But honestly, I don’t know that he did. And I think as everything starts going on, and as time goes by in season 2, he’s really not in control. 

That’s the funniest thing about this character that I love more than any character I’ve ever played—and I’m not saying I love him more than any character I’ve ever played; I love this about him—which is he thinks he’s got it right. And he never does. And then there’s your comedy. I mean, there’s your MOONLIGHTING, there’s your ROCKFORD FILES. He thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room. And most of the time, he is, but he just doesn’t know how to relay it to other people. And that’s what’s fun is rooting for this guy, while really rooting that he makes a mistake.



Alex is single. What can you preview about the women he becomes entangled with?
We had some really great people come in this season. We had Max Collins come in, she’s fantastic. She really really nailed this character. A friend of mine came in, and she was the winner of ASIA’S NEXT TOP MODEL, and she nailed this little scene that we did together. 

There’s just a lot of things…but it’s just a comedy of errors. Alex is not that old; they forced him to retire. But at the same time, this dude never did social media…so he just cannot get down to the dating scene, but he has no idea what’s going on…it would be like handing my [ALMOST PARADISE] Uncle Danny, [played by] Richard Kind, a phone and going, “Hey, get on this dating app. I want to watch you for five minutes.”

He also has an interesting dynamic with Kai. What is his take on that relationship?
I made a comment when we started this in the first season [that it was like] MOONLIGHTING, if it’s a little more than brother and sister. But it really is a brother-sister relationship, and it’s just who can get underneath whose skin the most. Now, he gets under her skin and she shows it. She gets under his skin, and only the audience sees it. I think that’s a really cool dynamic that we have going back and forth because when he gets under her skin, he actually watches it happen. But she’ll get under his skin and walk off, and only the audience gets to see how crazy she makes him. So that’s a lot of fun, because she plays it right for face value. And I play it in the shadows. And I just really love what’s going on with them. 

[In season 2], there’s a lot of life-changing events that could take place, and they’re gonna have to deal with each other making decisions in their life that may move both of them off the island. So it’s gonna be tough for them this year.

The show also has fun cases. Which was your favorite?
There’s an episode where we get stuck on this island on a couples retreat-type thing, and it was actually my idea. I said it would be fun as if we had a scene where you think they’re actually telling each other things—because they don’t share—and they’re sharing personal things about their life. And then you realize that they’re not actually having a conversation with each other. And it’s a really cool way we set that up… And [the producers] go, “What’s the rest of the idea?” And I go, “I don’t know, I just have that one scene—write an episode around it!” And then they ended up doing that. 

It was really fun to show that dynamic. And it was fun because I had dressed up, and I thought we were doing this bohemian thing and I’m sitting there with Dean and I put some eyeliner on—I’m doing like a whole Johnny Depp thing. And I just watched [the episode] at Dean’s office and I’m like, “Man, I shouldn’t have worn that eyeliner.” I said, “I look like an idiot” and Dean goes, “Isn’t that the point?” And I go, “You know, you’re absolutely right.” And so the eyeliner does play. That was some fun stuff. 

To go from season 1 to season 2 [on a show], sometimes it just doesn’t work. I think it worked tremendously [here]. I think it’s some of the best stuff I’ve done.

ALMOST PARADISE, Now Streaming, Freevee

• ALMOST PARADISE Exclusive Clip: Alex Tries to Befriend Ernesto’s Dad

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