Editor’s Note: Spoilers ahead for Silo Season 2, Episode 3.

The Big Picture

Solo’s isolation leads to chilling moments, showcasing his struggle with loneliness and reality.
The decayed state of Silo 17 mirrors Solo’s broken psyche, shaping his character and revealing his past.
The evolving relationship between Solo and Juliette highlights themes of survival, trust, and friendship as Steve Zahn tells Collider exclusively.

When Steve Zahn steps into a role, whether it’s a black comedy like Out of Sight or a dark, twisted thriller like JoyRide, he doesn’t just perform — he transforms. In Silo Season 2, the actor takes on one of his most engrossing roles yet, playing Solo, a man whose survival in the desolate and decaying Silo 17 in a dystopian landscape is both a triumph and a tragedy. Playing part hermit, part mystery, Zahn’s character is a man whose world has crumbled as much as the silo he calls home. While Zahn brings layers of warmth and complexity, he tells Collider there were a “lot of discoveries” along the way when it came to figuring out what things he needed to learn to create Solo.

As the series shifts into a study of survival for its main character, Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) and the fragile bonds that can form even in the most isolated of places, Zahn opens up about what it took to play a man shaped by isolation, what it was like to collaborate with co-star, and how the stark environment of Silo 17 became almost like a second character.

Solo’s Isolation Was a “Constant Discovery” for Steve Zahn
“It was a big swing, which made it a little daunting and scary.”
Image via Apple TV+

For Zahn, the challenge of portraying Solo lay in unravelling what isolation can do to the human mind. In the titular Episode 3, Solo reveals to Juliette that he never leaves his vault and that he imagines people to combat his loneliness. In one chilling moment, he insists his new friend eats the food he’s prepared to confirm that she’s real. It’s a disturbing portrait, but one that also keeps you on your toes. While reflecting on his process, Zahn explains, “I was trying to figure out what things we learn and what things are instinctual. If you didn’t have the guardrails of growing up with other people and sports in school and clubs, how would you interact?”

Solo’s survival is marked by haunting details, such as the fresher bodies in the hallways that hint at the tragedy of Silo 17’s past. Despite his initial hostility and how he threatens to kill Juliette if she opens the vault door, his humanity begins to emerge as he shares chicken stew and music, including Peter Gabriel’s “Red Rain” with her. It’s these moments that showcase a man clinging to fragments of normalcy in a world devoid of it.

“He’s got stories, and he has things to look at, but just the idea of somebody touching you. So, those things evolved while we were doing it, “he says. “Like, maybe I wouldn’t know how to do that. It was a constant discovery of things, but it was a fascinating character to play because of that, and it was a lot of fun. It was a big swing, which made it a little daunting and scary, but I had fun.”

How Silo 17 Shapes Solo’s Character
“You can access him, and that’s what makes him dangerous, too.”

While the setting of Silo 17 plays a crucial role in shaping Solo’s character, Zahn describes the environment as a constant source of realization, both for the character and the actor. From the moment Juliet first meets Solo, we can see how the silo’s decayed state is a reflection of his psyche — broken, lonely, and on the verge of collapse. “I couldn’t wait for the reveal, and so I was preoccupied with what is that reveal? Who’s the true person? Even someone like this has pretense to an extent, but what is the purity of this person?”

As Juliet learns more about the events that led to the silo’s demise, including the rebellion that killed its inhabitants, Solo begins to open up. Yet, his past as a shadow to the former head of IT hints at secrets and moral dilemmas that deepen his character. “That’s what’s really compelling about him because what you see is what you get. There are not a lot of layers to him,” he says. “You can access him, and that’s what makes him dangerous, too. Kids fly off the handle or do things that they’re not supposed to do — well when it’s a bearded, long-haired, middle-aged man freaking out, it can be a little scary.”

How Those “Intense Moments” With Rebecca Ferguson Turned to High School Laughter
“They both use each other. They both have something the other one wants and needs.”

With Season 2 of Silo taking its main character out of her usual environment, the evolving relationship between Juliette and Solo has become one of the most compelling parts of the series. As Zahn and Ferguson bring a sharp chemistry to the story, it’s a dynamic that the actor tells Collider was playful from the start. “Rebecca and I are very much alike when the cameras are rolling. We’re totally in it 100%, and then when it stops, it’s like just a couple of kids screwing around in high school,” Zahn says.

Though this fun dynamic off-screen contrasts sharply with their on-screen intensity, Juliette and Solo’s tentative bond is forged through mutual need — she seeks a way back to her silo to prevent rebellion, while he craves human connection after years of solitude and manages to work every nerve of hers. When Juliette asks Solo to help her retrieve a submerged firefighter suit underwater, he must confront his fears of leaving the vault — a rule he’s lived with for years. But this moment, like many others, reveals the complexity of their relationship.

Related We Don’t Deserve Steve Zahn in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Movies ‘The White Lotus’ actor turned Frank Heffley into a more compelling character than he had any right to be.

“They both use each other. They both have something the other one wants and needs… but yet they also learn to trust each other,” Zahn explains. While their relationship hangs by a thread of trust, Episode 3 also highlights how the pair begin to reflect on each other’s struggles with isolation and survival in more ways than one. Not to mention, their growing bond serves as a rare hope in the grim and politically charged world of Silo, as both learn to navigate the blurred lines between survival, friendship, and the search for truth. “There’s the beauty of friendship. It’s really simple stuff, but in a crazy, complex world of the silo it’s kind of cool.”

For more on this episode, watch the spoiler-filled interview above. New episodes of Silo Season 2 stream Fridays on Apple TV+.

Watch on Apple TV+

Release Date May 5, 2023 Creator Cast Rebecca Ferguson , Common , Tim Robbins , Harriet Walter , Christian Ochoa Lavernia , Avi Nash , Billy Postlethwaite , Chinaza Uche , Iain Glen , Remmie Milner , David Oyelowo , Rick Gomez , Ferdinand Kingsley , Shane McRae , Chipo Chung , Caitlin Zoz , Matt Gomez Hidaka , Angela Yeoh , Olatunji Ayofe , Khairika Sinani , Will Patton , Akie Kotabe Seasons 2 Studio Story By Hugh Howey Showrunner Graham Yost Expand