‘Raising Dion’ Star Rome Flynn Shares Happiness About Inspiring Family
Everyone wants to be the “cool parent” and it looks like actor Rome Flynn is earning that title in his portrayal as Tevin Wakefield in the second season of Netflix’s Raising Dion, which premieres on Feb. 1.
Set two years after the first season with Dion (Ja'Siah Young) defeating the Crooked Man (Jason Ritter), the second will follow the young superhero honing his powers with the support of his mom Nicole (Alisha Wainwright) and Tevin (Flynn), his new BIONA trainer who also catches Nicole’s eye. After a series of alarming events unfold involving a new student named Brayden (Griffin Robert Faulkner), Dion learns that danger is still looming. Navigating twists, turns, and surprise visitors, Dion and Nicole must prevail again — not just to save themselves, but the entire city of Atlanta.
Wainwright shared with BET.com, the introduction of Flynn's character, Tevin, and why her character will learn why it takes a village to raise Dion.
“No spoilers — thanks for setting me up for success,” she laughed as the interview begins.
“Two years have passed, and Nicole and Dion have settled into some semblance of a normal life. And so when you bring in Tevin, I think, at first, she's not very excited about him because she's wary of powered people. But as time goes on, she starts to realize that she needs a village to raise her kid and that Tevin is a great role model because he lets Dion be himself.”
In real life, Flynn is a father to a beautiful daughter named Kimiko and is happy that she can finally enjoy a project he is a part of.
“What drew me to the show is everything the show represents, the representation on the show, the actors on the show, working with Alisha and Ja'Siah and any other characters there, because I was a fan of the show initially, anyway,” the 31-year-old expressed.
“And also, in my journey of acting, I've done a bunch of projects where I'm like, ‘Cool, that's tailored towards certain genres or groups,’ but never anything I could actually have any of my nephews, or even my daughter, watch. They never watch me in anything, so they can watch me in this and, all of a sudden, I'm cool again. That's all this is about. I'm just trying to be cool with all the little kids in my life. I don't want awards. I just want to be cool and for them to think I'm cool.”
Flynn and Wainwright also get candid on what they feel their superpowers are.
“I think I have always been very logical in the way that I think,” the actress shared.
“I think everyone can be emotional. So I can be really frank and just get straight to the logic of a situation, which I think is really great. However, sometimes you gotta finesse what you're trying to say. I've learned over time that you can't just jump in with the cold, hard truth of a situation,” she added.
“You have to step back, listen to how someone's feeling, and then try and say what you want to say in a way that feels like I'm getting [it] across. I'm not just coming in and being really frank with someone who might not be ready for that kind of energy. I've definitely learned that over time, [so] if you ever want a real opinion from me, unfortunately, I just can't not do that.”
Flynn's superpower is simply trying to control being by himself.
“Trying to not abuse the power of just being by myself,” says the With Love star. “I'm just so accustomed to doing everything alone and [being] very work-oriented, which is a really good recipe for success, but not very good for maintaining healthy relationships, I'm figuring out,” he emphasized.
“I love the work that I do, but I also have to make sure I nurture these relationships with family that sometimes I feel that I'm not as accessible for because my world is really what I do for a living, and it [can] consume you. So just trying to maintain that healthy balance [is important.]”
A healthy balance of family, love, action, and adventure is what audiences can expect when the second season of Raising Dion premieres on Netflix Feb. 1.
Ty Cole is a New York-based entertainment reporter and writer for BET.com who covers pop culture, music, and lifestyle. Follow his latest musings on Twitter @IamTyCole.
