Growing up with a love for comic books and Fantasy/Sci-Fi cinema, Ross Marquand found a door opened into his creativity. Harnessing this energy into acting, he would eventually find himself in theater productions before breaking into film and television. Yearning to build on his passion and take it further, at last, a dream came true when he was cast in the hit television series The Walking Dead.
First appearing as Aaron in Season 5 of The Walking Dead in 2015, and an integral part of the series for over eight years, Marquand became a fan favorite worldwide. Since its conclusion in 2022, Marquand has continued to stay busy, with a childhood dream come true, having worked on 2024’s X-Men ’97, featuring a list of voices. Also voicing Red Skull in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marquand’s hard work and dedication have paid off quite well.
Recently, taking on the leading role in the Science Fiction Thriller Descendent, Marquand brings the character of a soon-to-be father named Sean to life. A nervous time, and soon Sean’s memories come to the forefront when he experiences an extraterrestrial event that could destroy him. Set for release in theaters on August 15, 2025, Marquand was excited to sit down and discuss the work put into Descendent, reflect on his prior works, plus more.
Cryptic Rock – You have had an exciting career to this point. Obviously, the success of The Walking Dead led to other projects. Briefly looking back, how would you describe your journey acting in film/television thus far?
Ross Marquand – Tumultuous, to say the least. I think that’s probably every actor’s journey in our industry, unless they were nepo babies. And even then, I don’t think it’s smooth sailing.
It’s funny. I was talking to a friend about this the other day, how much work goes into maintenance and just making sure your career flourishes and keeps going year after year. It takes a great deal of energy and effort.
I’m super grateful for every opportunity I’ve had, but it’s certainly not been easy, that’s for sure.
Cryptic Rock – Right, but the hard work has paid off. As mentioned, you had major success as a significant cast member of The Walking Dead. What was that like for you?
Ross Marquand – Well, that was a show that I’d been trying to get on for years. That was a favorite show of mine. There were three shows that I was really looking at: Sons of Anarchy, Mad Men, and The Walking Dead.
I tried out for all three, came pretty close with Sons of Anarchy, booked a guest star role as Paul Newman on Mad Men, but I had just kept beating my head against the wall with The Walking Dead. I auditioned two other times prior, and it just wasn’t happening. You get close, but then it doesn’t work out.
I’m so grateful those other two shows didn’t work out because they were going to be much shorter-lived characters. I was very fortunate to be able to play this character, Aaron, for eight years. So I’m super grateful for that.
Cryptic Rock – Absolutely, and that character is quite memorable. Fast forward to now, you have the leading role in this new film, Descendent. How did this project come about for you?
Ross Marquand – Well, one of the producers, David Lawson, reached out to me and said, ” I’ve been working with this great team in the past. I’ve been meeting with Pete Ciella, the director, who is an incredible guy and a great director and actor. He really would love to talk to you about the part.”
We spoke about it a few times. It worked out really well. I felt like I really understood where he was going with the project. However, unfortunately, due to budget cuts and issues with one of our parent companies a year prior, we had to postpone the shoot. It was kind of postponed indefinitely. So, usually, in my experience, postponed indefinitely means it’s not going to happen.
We were very lucky that the funding was found a year later, and we were able to get this movie done because I read the script, and I just thought, “My God, what an incredible journey this guy goes on.” It’s just so well-written, too.
Cryptic Rock – Most certainly. You play the lead character of Sean. He has a trauma-filled past of losing his father at a young age. Then something really strange happens to him as an adult, and all these feelings start coming to the forefront. What was it like bringing the character of Sean to life in Descendent?
Ross Marquand – Well, I’m certainly no stranger to trauma as well myself. I think it’s really important that we shine light on these kinds of traumas, whether that’s losing a loved one at an early age or any type of childhood abuse.
I think I’m certainly gravitating more towards projects that shine a light on that and offer catharsis in that regard, as opposed to just wallowing in the sadness of it all. I think it’s really important to offer solutions. Hopefully, the takeaway that most audiences will have at the end of Descendent is of catharsis. Even if they have more questions than answers that are fully resolved, I hope that they walk away from this with some catharsis.
Cryptic Rock – Yes, that is something you certainly feel. Descendent has an underlined theme of extraterrestrial abduction. With that, the character of Sean has his mind opened up and toyed with by unknown forces. With that in mind, the most profound part of Sean is trying to find solutions, and he keeps asking for medications. However, he keeps finding barricades in front of him telling him ‘no.’ Essentially, it felt like a metaphor for him to work through things on his own. Perhaps sometimes we need to work through problems ourselves, rather than just chemically masking them.
Ross Marquand – That’s interesting and a really good point. I mean, we do have a tendency in our society to try to medicate and prescribe everything under the sun. And I’m certainly no stranger to that myself.
I do think that sometimes medication is super crucial, helpful, and necessary. Then there are other times, as you said, when you have to bear down and work through it. And that’s certainly what Sean does. He goes to hell and back, and his wife does too. I mean, Andrea (played by Sarah Bolger), I sympathize so much with her journey while watching this movie, too. I feel like she’s kind of the unsung hero of this film. She’s so supportive and so lovely every step of the way, even when he buys a gun, even when he puts them in danger… she’s still by his side.
I thought that was really extraordinary that we got to see both of these characters really fleshed out.
Cryptic Rock – Absolutely, and you and Sarah are wonderful playing off one another as Sean and Andrea. Without giving too much away, there is one scene in Descendent which is incredibly profound, and that is when Sean goes back to his childhood in his mind to have a conversation with his dad. What was that scene like for you?
Ross Marquand – Well, that was one of my favorite scenes to shoot. Pete had been playing around with ideas of casting someone else in that role, but I think he always kind of knew in the back of his mind that it was going to be him.
I’m glad that it was him because this was a largely autobiographical story. Pete wrote this during the pandemic, and there’s a lot of him in this whole journey. I hope I’m not spilling the tea, but I think he’s pretty open about this in Q&As in the past. When he was about to have his first child during the pandemic, he’d lost his job, and he was running out of options; he felt like the world was closing in on him.
I can hardly imagine the joy, the sadness, the intensity, and all the worry that come with being a new parent. I really love that that’s kind of the underlying theme of this movie. Even though, yes, we’re talking about a man who was potentially abducted by aliens. But it’s a mental journey going through the steps of letting go of his past and confronting his past and ultimately finding solace in that, which makes you want to go on this journey with Sean.
I think if he was just pushing everyone away and becoming standoffish because he was going to be a new dad, that would be a much different story we’re telling. You could see the gears just fully coming off of his mind; he’s just falling apart. You do sympathize not only with Sean, but also with Andrea. At least I did.
Cryptic Rock – Completely agreed. With Descendent set to be released in theaters on August 8, 2025, what are some other projects you have coming up that you can talk about?
Ross Marquand – Well, I’d say the second season of X-Men ’97 is coming out. Invincible’s season four is set to release next year. There’s a secret project I’m working on right now that I can’t discuss, but I’m very excited about. I wish I could refer to what that was, but I definitely don’t want to get shot. (Laughs)
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