Entertainment

‘Black Dagger Brotherhood’ Cast Weighs In on What Makes Rhage and Mary’s Episode 2 Scene So Devastating

Nairavoice · Nov 5, 2026 · 21 min read

Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for The Black Dagger Brotherhood Season 2, Episode 2.

‘The Black Dagger Brotherhood’ Season 2 centers on Rhage and Mary’s vulnerable, steamy romance, faithful to the book from J.R. Ward, Lover Eternal.
Alexander Cubis and Audrey Hare built trust to sell intimate, awkward meet-cute scenes and the Beast’s duality.
Season 2 balances raw grief with humor and book-accurate details that include scenes with Rhage’s tattoo, at TGI Fridays, and with Brotherhood banter.

Based on J.R. Ward’s hugely popular book series, the first season of the Passionflix TV series The Black Dagger Brotherhood followed Wrath (Robert Maaser) and Beth’s (Olivia Applegate) love story as it was told in Dark Lover, about a half-breed with no knowledge of her heritage and the King of the vampires. Now in Season 2, it’s Rhage (Alexander Cubis) and Mary’s (Audrey Hare) epic romance from Lover Eternal. Also known as Hollywood, due to his movie-star looks and charisma, Rhage is the most physically powerful member of the Brotherhood, with a dragon tattoo on his back that represents the literal Beast he becomes when angry. When he crosses paths with a human named Mary Luce, their attraction instantly sparks and continues to grow deeper the more time they spend together. What seems impossible because of the very different worlds they’re a part of feels less insurmountable when Rhage realizes he’d do just about anything for his mate.

Collider recently got the opportunity to chat with Cubis and Hare about the pull between Rhage and Mary, and why it was so important to do their love story justice on screen. During the interview, they discussed shooting their characters’ initial meeting, what they love about Rhage and Mary’s relationship, balancing who Rhage is with the Beast, that phone conversation with Tohrment (Joel Cederberg), Mary’s bond with John Matthew (Bobby Hogan), that awkward TGI Fridays date, the effects of that heartbreaking moment in Mary’s kitchen, Rhage’s back tattoo, pulling off the fight scenes with the lessers, and what’s still to come this season.

Rhage and Mary’s First Meeting in ‘The Black Dagger Brotherhood’ Season 2 Developed out of the Trust Between Alexander Cubis and Audrey Hare

“We just really wanted to do justice to Rhage and Mary.”

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    Image via Passionflix</figure>

COLLIDER: I appreciate you guys talking to me about this. I’m having so much fun watching this series. I’ve seen the first two episodes, and obviously I’m familiar with the books. One of the things that I found so interesting about watching the first time your characters meet is just how in Mary’s face Rhage gets. That entire first conversation you guys have had no personal space or boundaries. What was it like to figure that scene out and to get through the dialogue? I would imagine it’s not often, as actors, that you have to do scenes where you are that close to your scene partner.

AUDREY HARE: [We used] a lot of Listerine strips, that’s for sure. We also filmed that scene a little bit further into the shooting process, so we were comfortable with each other and trusted each other.

ALEXANDR CUBIS: And Tosca [Musk], as a director, is very conscious of ensuring that the scene partners trust each other and that boundaries are respected, and it’s all in service of the story. I think that, by that point, we just really wanted to do justice to Rhage and Mary. It’s such an important setting to the fans of the book, but also sets the stage for the rest of the show. It was important that we really just committed to what was on the page and had fun with it. The audience didn’t really know what to expect as they were watching it.

How many times did you have to shoot that? Did you get through it pretty quickly or did you have to do it a bunch of times?

CUBIS: We had to do it a bunch of times, actually.

HARE: Because we are so close, feeling the closeness with each other and making sure that felt natural on screen, but also making sure we had the right angle and making sure that we saw each other clearly in our eyes, it took a lot of navigating with our bodies and where the camera was to make sure it read.

CUBIS: A lot of the story for that scene is not just about what they’re saying, but the connection and making sure that, yeah, it might look interesting, but for Tosca, especially, it was really important to show that this is something that Mary is allowing and happy to have happen because it’s a connection that they’re experiencing for the first time. It’s not Rhage just interfering with Mary’s space. It’s their meet-cute, but a very interesting meet-cute.

I also loved the visual of Tohr and Bella on opposite ends of the hallway. There was just something so interesting, visually, about that scene, aside from what’s going on in it. What did you each love about just seeing that scene, once you saw the finalized version of it all?

HARE: I loved the humor that’s added, once you see Tohrment and Bella watching.

CUBIS: It is strange. My Beast is activated. I’m not just Rhage in that scene. It’s almost like The Hulk is about to come alive. There’s a risk with a scene like that, that it could be a little bit campy or ridiculous, so you need that humor to take the edge off and to make an audience feel like what’s happening is okay and entertaining. Joel [Cederberg] and Mariah [Davis], that’s Bella and Tohr, perfectly balanced out the beginning and end of that scene.

Alexander Cubis and Audrey Hare Enjoyed the Journey That Rhage and Mary Go on Together in ‘The Black Dagger Brotherhood’ Season 2

“They learn to be completely vulnerable with each other.”

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    Image via Passionflix</figure>

I really love how different each of the relationships in this book series are. Rhage and Mary are very different from Wrath and Beth, and also from Z and Bella. What do you guys each love most about the relationship between Rhage and Mary and what they mean to each other?

HARE: I think Rhage and Mary are both battling their own demons – Mary with her sickness and Rhage with his Beast. At the end of the day, they find this relatability within each other, and that’s the foundation of their relationship. They learn to be completely vulnerable with each other. Truly, I think you see it in this season, there’s a lot of closeness and connection.

CUBIS: There’s an acceptance of their private selves versus, maybe, particularly with Rhage, the mask that he feels the need to put up because he can’t even accept it himself. The journey that Mary allows him to go on and coming to that place is a really beautiful harmony between someone wanting to protect someone that he feels connected to and then her accepting him and vice versa.

Alexander, what was it like for you to shape this character with the two sides of him? He has this side that is his protection with the ladies’ man persona that he puts on, but he strips all of that away to be more honest when he’s around Mary. What was it like for you to figure out how to balance those two sides when you were trying to shape the character for this season?

CUBIS: I loved it. It’s what makes the character so rich and interesting. I know that it’s what fans really love about Rhage, too. He’s got layers to him and he’s got a vulnerability. Getting to understand it and see it and then share that with someone that he feels is his soulmate, or his soulmate, makes it all the more meaningful. As an actor and as someone that really loved the story, it just made it so much more fun. It’s pretty rare to have a character that starts the beginning of their story and ends it completely differently. It was just so much fun.

There’s that phone conversation that Rhage has in the car while he’s driving and he’s finally had enough and just unloads on Tohr about it. What was it like to figure that out with as emotionally powerful as that moment is, but also not actually be in the scene together in that moment?

CUBIS: The script supervisor was reading Tohr’s lines. That was a lot of fun because we were already a few months into filming by the time we did that scene. I already know Joel well from Season 1. All the Brothers are really supportive of each other, so even when we do have those scenes, it’s not that difficult to imagine them on the other line. That already does a lot of the scene for me. I spent a lot of time thinking about that one in particular, so I was just looking forward to getting it done. We got it done in a few takes. Tosca was really patient, as well, and respectful with toeing the line. He can’t let everything out all in that one moment otherwise it would be too emotional, but it needs to be honest. Imagining Joel wasn’t that difficult. It probably made it easier because we all had this connection on set.

The Bond Between Mary and John Matthew in ‘The Black Dagger Brotherhood’ Season 2 Is Really Special

“Mary feels a protection towards John.”

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    Image via Passionflix</figure>

Audrey, Mary has three relationships that are important to her this season – the one with Rhage, the one with Bella, and also the one with John Matthew. What was it like to find the relationship between Mary and John? What did you love about finding their bond?

HARE: First of all, Bobby [Hogan] does such a great job in the show. He’s an angel to work with. Off the bat, it was just a wonderful experience. We also are both musical theater kids, so we bonded over that as well. Mary feels a protection towards John. When we filmed that initial scene, where we go into the center and Tohrment is asking him about his dreams, it’s a very vulnerable moment, not only for John Matthew, but for Mary as well, feeling this protection over him. We felt that in the room when we were filming it and, hopefully, it reads on screen. It was really special.

There’s something really fun about watching the two of you together. They have an instant family bond that isn’t easy to find when you’re working with somebody you didn’t know prior to shooting a scene with each other.

CUBIS: Bobby’s pretty adorable, so it’s not that difficult.

What was it like to shoot and figure out the TGI Fridays scene? There’s something so interesting about you guys on either side of the booth, trapped for a lot of that whole scene, and having to eat so much food while you’re shooting that. What was that like to figure out?

CUBIS: I love that part because I’m always hungry. That’s something that I have in common with Rhage. But that was our first day of filming. That was the first scene that Audrey and I filmed together, which I think made sense. It served the story and it served the characters’ journey. That day, in particular, we got to set and there was a power outage in the entire town. We lost the first few hours of filming, and there was sleet and even snow or hail. It was on the first day of shooting and you want to get all the bad luck out of the way from the get-go. But by the time we got there, I think everyone was so excited to finally get into it.

HARE: The anticipation was building. It definitely served the scene.

CUBIS: It definitely helped serve the scene. The food got cold by the end of the day, but I kept asking, “Can I actually eat this?” So, I enjoyed it.

It’s a fun moment because it’s funny, there are emotional moments, and there’s so much going on between the two of you, just in that one sequence.

HARE: The food is so important in the book, and then in that scene as well. It was a blast to make sure that we were getting everything right. What was described in the book was on the table and was actually there in the scene.

HARE: That was just a really fun part of the day. And then, also having other actors in the restaurant too, it was a really great start to the rest of shooting.

After Rhage runs off on Mary in the episode, he shows up at her house in the middle of the night. How was it to make him licking blood off of her fingers seem like such an intimate moment between them? Because it is, but it also could have felt very strange.

HARE: Yeah. I think Mary was curious, above all, and that curiosity lent itself to feeling more vulnerable with him and opening up to him. Obviously, it’s a little bizarre for her that he’s showing up in the middle of her house, but I just lead with the curiosity of, “Who is this guy? Why is he here? Why is he so concerned with me?” She hadn’t felt that in other relationships in her life. She was feeling really alone. Just leading with curiosity ultimately led to that moment of feeling more vulnerable.

CUBIS: The risk with some of these scenes on the page is that they could come across as a little bit campy or a little bit strange. It takes a good creative team, a great crew, and a great director to establish the trust that we’re all committed to this moment and making it truthful and honest. For me, it was about making sure that all the intention behind those moments is really sincere and that it isn’t some strange interest of Rhage. There’s a respect to this whole lore and this whole world, behind physical touch, even eating, and obviously blood, because I am a vampire. Just focusing in on the genuineness and the sincerity of the moment from my side, and then matching Audrey, or Mary’s, vulnerability is probably what helped make it truthful and not campy.

You also do want it to be a little bit funny and awkward and uncomfortable in the earlier moments because he hasn’t told her anything about himself, so it would have to be a little bit weird.

HARE: Yeah. There’s a joy in the awkwardness behind both of them that initially starts off their relationship. It’s written into the book and it translates to the show too.

Vulnerability and Grief Lead to Rhage and Mary’s Most Devastating Moment in Episode 2 of ‘The Black Dagger Brotherhood’ Season 2

“I really just wanted to make sure that moment landed, and I didn’t come across like a bratty child.”

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    Image via Passionflix</figure>

One of the most memorable moments of Episode 2 is when Mary blurts out, “Christ, you’re like a stray dog I can’t get rid of.” Between that and Rhage getting upset about her calling him Hal after that, there’s so much that happens in just that moment. What was it like to shoot that and find that moment, as you were balancing layers of anger with pain?

HARE: There’s so much fear and pain and grief built up in her that I felt like that was lying under the surface of this man coming and pursuing her. In that scene, having that bubbling up under the surface, this pain that she’s been dealing with up until that point, led to the release of, “Christ, you’re like a stray dog I can’t get rid of.” It felt truthful, and we got there.

CUBIS: For me, it was the first moment that Rhage shows vulnerability to Mary. Up until that point, he still kept up the lothario charmer, trying to pursue her in the way that he knows how to. And then, she touches a wound that he doesn’t even really know existed. That’s why it’s so abrupt that Rhage needs to leave in that moment. We did that particular line quite a number of times because to us, and then also to Tosca and the crew, it was really important that we made sure that moment landed. And then, as well, with the blocking, having to pass around Mary and make sure that it looks really seamless. I really just wanted to make sure that moment landed, and I didn’t come across like a bratty child. I wanted to make sure that the audience felt for Rhage in that moment and that the wound was showing up in a genuine way.

It was also a really brilliant choice to then cut to Rhage and Butch sharing stories about women issues and be equally as pathetic about it in a charming way. It’s takes the edge off all that emotion from the scene before it Was it also fun to have that bond with those two characters? There’s just something funny about listening to guys like that bitch about things.

CUBIS: Guys will be defensive and think that it’s not their fault. The humor of that was really important. Michael [Roark] is always a great scene partner, and he’s great in the role of Butch. That was pretty fluid and easy to shoot. We had a huge actual gym as part of the set, so it made it all the more real. Even in between setups, we were still lifting weights and kept the camaraderie going. It made it easy and fun, for sure.

Fans of ‘The Black Dagger Brotherhood’ Should Stay Tuned for What’s to Come in Season 2

“I’m excited for Mary’s scenes with the rest of the Brothers.”

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    Image via Passionflix</figure>

Having those powerfully emotional moments and then reminding you to laugh a little bit after is really important so that it’s not all just heavy. What can you guys say to tease what’s still to come this season, after the first two episodes? Obviously, fans of the book will know what’s coming, but for those who haven’t read the book and are just watching the series, what do you think they’ll be most excited about with Rhage and Mary’s story?

CUBIS: I think they’ll be curious and want to know how much Rhage actually is capable of change and if he can find that maturity that I think a woman like Mary needs in her life. And can Mary put up with him? Obviously, there’s the vampire world. Is she going to connect with the Brothers? Is she going to make sense of that? How is that? How is her human world going to collide and be impacted by the vampire world?

HARE: Similarly, I think fans and people watching will be curious to see how Mary and Rhage’s relationship develops and how they open up to each other. That was so much fun on set. We just developed such a great trust with each other as actors, so I’m excited for that. And then, I’m excited for Mary’s scenes with the rest of the Brothers and how different they all are and how they affect her and how she affects them. I think the humor behind those scenes is going to be really fun for people to watch, as well.

CUBIS: Just the banter and the mix between the continuation of the drama and this sincere story but then mixed with levity. It’s what shows and movies, like Buffy or Marvel movies, do really well. That’s what The Black Dagger Brotherhood team have done really well with this season.

What do you guys think of the full back tattoo? Did you have to wear that? Was that added later? Do you carry yourself differently when you know that’s supposed to be on your back?

CUBIS: Not quite. It’s just a regular temporary tattoo, so I don’t actually feel it once it is on. When it was really hot and we were filming for hours, and maybe I was doing a scene in the gym and lying down, we realized I’d been sweating so much that it all sweated off by that point. We had to change up the shooting schedule. But overall, as an actor, even when I would go to the gym, and to use body building speak, but for back and shoulder day, I was trying to connect with the Rhage’s back, and that was a lot of fun for me. Sitting in the chair for the hour that it takes to get the tattoo applied was another way to sit in that and find his relationship with his Beast. I think that that really pays off for the scenes in the later episodes when Mary eventually sees it for the first time and she discovers what it means. I think it really landed.

It must have been a little nerve-wracking to make sure that was as accurate as possible because it is such an important part of the character in the books and you never know quite how to do something visually off the page.

HARE: I will say that it was really fun that, in the books, (author) J.R. [Ward] really describes the specific moments when Mary touches the tattoo and how the spine and the tail [work]. It was really fun to have the book on set and read exactly what she was describing, and then have it really come to life on Alex’s back and be able to have that as an actor and really find those moments that were specific to the book.

CUBIS: The details make it so much more fun, so much more rich, so much more enjoyable as actors. All the crew would gather around, trying to nail a moment as it’s described in the book and also in the script. We know that the fans really want to see it done well and done with justice. That specificity is what lands with people who aren’t already familiar with The Black Dagger Brotherhood because it means that this world is just really specific and thought out. It makes it more exciting for new viewers to discover it.

‘The Black Dagger Brotherhood’ Season 2 Star Alexander Cubis Pulled Off Episode 2’s Big Fight Scene With the Lessers While Sick

“I just had to muster it up and nail it in a few takes.”

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    Image via Passionflix</figure>

What was it like to do the fight scene in the woods with all the lessers? Is it fun to do a fight scene where you get to be the one taking on everybody by yourself?

CUBIS: It can be fun. But also, all the guys, whether it was a scene with 10 other lessers, or there was one with maybe even more than that, are all professional stuntmen and they are all trained in martial arts. Ironically, I’m the one that has to win the fight, but they’re obviously better fighters in the real world. I just tried to make it as fun as possible for myself because I don’t think that’s always my strong suit. I also got really sick during the scene in the woods, so we had to work around that. I just had to muster it up and nail it in a few takes.

I appreciate you guys talking to me about this. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the first season, and I’ve been enjoying watching this season. You always get nervous when you see something brought to life that you’ve read on the page, and you never know if the people involved connect to it in the same way as the readers and are giving it that time and attention to detail, but this show really has done that. I know how hard it is to do and all the people it takes to pull something like that off.

CUBIS: We’re really proud and can’t wait for people to enjoy it.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood is available to stream on Passionflix.