“ They listen to me and we do what we think is right with these characters . Murphy was a blank canvas at the beginning and I thought of something and [ they ] ran with it ,” he says . “ Now we have this beautiful , hideous , bloody lovechild – and I love him . ” Playing the antagonist is a role that Richard has gotten used to over the years . If we ’ re being frank , he says his appearance has a lot to do with it . Although ruggedly handsome , Richard knows that looks play a big role in what role you ’ ll play in Hollywood . “ My face has been designed that way . I was meant to be a bad guy ,” he explains . But as with many things , the more work you put in and success you have , the more freedom you get to do things your way . Richard is currently working on an up-coming film where he ’ ll get to play the romantic leading man – a role he ’ s always wanted to try . Another character in the works , in the much-anticipated psychological-thriller Crypto , is a more grown-up character than he ’ s played before and will definitely be a challenge for the young actor . One of the things that pushes him to take on tough roles and scenes are his fellow actors – namely Bob Morley , Sachin Sahel and Jarod Joseph , also from The 100 . A little friendly competition never hurt anyone , right ? “ We just have this fiery thing on set where we want to be better than one another but we ’ re super close friends ,” he says . “ Me and Bob [ Morley ] are on the same team but we get to our best performances by pushing one another as far as we can . ” The cast has become incredibly close since the first season .
“ WHEN YOU SPEND SO MUCH TIME TOGETHER AND POUR YOUR HEART OUT IN FRONT OF EACH OTHER TO GIVE YOUR BEST PERFORMANCES , HOW COULD YOU NOT ? FROM BREAK-UPS TO EVERY DAY STRUGGLES , THE CAST HELPS EACH OTHER THROUGH EVERYTHING – JUST AS FAMILY WOULD .”
Despite his huge success , it hasn ’ t always been smooth sailing for Richard – but if you think a bump in the road is going to slow him down , you ’ re sadly mistaken . He ’ s learned to turn negative comments into something positive and use that doubt to fuel his work . “ It ’ s amazing motivation ,” he says . “ I ’ m a bit of a workaholic – which I ’ m sure a lot of people in my position are . If you don ’ t love what you ’ re doing you should find something else , you know ?” There ’ s one thing that ’ s for sure : we don ’ t have to worry about Richard finding something else . With multiple movies in the works , a hit show and the drive to take on more , we ’ ll be seeing this uber-talented guy around for a while . In his own words , “ I ’ m gonna show you and you ’ re gonna see me .”