While Frank and Joe Hardy might be fictional brothers, their exploits for the past 90 plus years have ignited the imagination of many an adolescent boy. Created by Edward Stratemeyer in 1927, the novels, which feature the siblings solving mysteries, tapped not only into the concept of good versus evil but the approaching bridge between childhood and manhood and the responsibilities that generates. The stories spun off into a Saturday morning animated series in 1969 and a live-action episodic version in 1977, starring Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson. Now under the watchful eyes of Steve Cochrane and Jason Stone, the Hardy brothers are back in an origin story that will peel back the layers of who they are and why they set out to solve mysteries. We spoke to director Jason Stone and the young actors who portray the brothers: Rohan Campbell and Alexander Elliot.

The first book came out in 1927 and over the years, the stories have evolved but at the core, we have these two teenage boys who become sleuths.

STONE: That’s it. They are the heroes. It is called (The Hardy Boys) for a reason because they are at the center of it all. The first season is the origin story of how they became the Hardy Boys that everyone knows from the books. While it’s a reinterpretation of some of the stories, it is an origin story of how they got their skills that bring them into the mysteries.

In past incarnations, each episode has basically been about one mystery but this series lets the whole season unfold over a single story, even though there are many subplots interwoven. How did that serve as an advantage for you?

STONE: The previous iterations were like a mystery of the week in structure but we decided to do something more sweeping, with a serialized arc with one major mystery which is the boys’ search for what happened to their mom. Like any good long mystery, there are a bunch of smaller clues and twists and turns along the way. So for us, each episode will explore a breadcrumb along the journey to figure out the final answer of what really happened. The fun is the payoff of a much bigger mystery.

What makes any relationship work is the truth and in your own sequence where we meet the two brothers, you really nailed that rivalry and antagonism that brothers have with each other. As this show will rise and fall on the belief that you two are brothers, how did you forge the relationship between the two of you?

CAMPBELL: It was pretty natural right from the start. I met Alex and just fell in love with him right away. That opening scene was funny because Jason, Alex and I spent a good day or so going over that over and over again to get used to how these brothers would talk to each other and finding their similarities and their differences. We got to (the) point where we felt like real brothers. As things changed so much during the whole shoot, it was important that we meet them as their normal selves.

ELLIOT: That first scene sets the foundation for who these brothers are. We had a lot of improvising going on. Jason came up to both of us and told us to come up with some 1980s insults we could throw at each other. We came up with butthead and barf bag and just kept adding in as we went until it felt natural. As the season went on filming, the relationship just became stronger and stronger and these brothers realize how much they really need each other.

For whatever reason, adults look down on kids thinking they don’t know as much and haven’t experienced enough of life. This show highlights how much you can undervalue that. Just because someone is a teenager, that doesn’t mean they don’t have the skill sets needed. How important is a show like The Hardy Boys to empower kids about finding their unique voice?

CAMPBELL: What I love is how you said this show is about empowering people and showcasing abilities that others might not think that they have. The relationship between Frank and Joe throughout the series evolves to the point where Frank realizes that he needs his brother to figure the whole thing out. It is so important to show that young people can have a voice, but they should still listen to their parents (laugh). That is a big thing in the show. They can give advice. But it is so important for this generation to know that they have each other and can build each other up and help yourself.

How complicated is it to make a true mystery where audiences now, who think they have seen it all, are really fooled and don’t know what is coming?

STONE: You would have to ask the audience. I hope we have hidden it enough that there is a journey to get there. Part of the fun is the guessing game. I totally agree with you. I have a young 8-year-old niece and we will be watching a movie or a TV show and she is always ahead of it. I don’t know if it’s all the material at her disposal but they are so much more adept at picking up the rhythms of the story. It is a challenge to construct something that people don’t see coming. The phrase I love is you want the ending to be inevitable but unexpected. You have gone on this journey and while you should feel satisfied with the ending, hopefully, you didn’t see it coming. I hope audiences don’t get too far ahead of the plot but the journey and the characters will hopefully be enough to keep watching.

Part of that responsibility falls on the shoulders of you two young men. YOU need to be believable at picking up these clues. So, going through this show, has it made you more perceptive of the world around you? Are you like your characters?

ELLIOT: The funny thing is, I think Rohan and I are really switched. Joe is super spunky, crazy and fun which Rohan embodies perfectly. While Frank is more analytical. I would be the one who would probably notice something so it was fun to play it around.

CAMPBELL: I kind of have this philosophy of life to get through things as impulsively as possible which is definitely Joe. There is a part of me that just feels I am playing a version of my older brother. That was interesting for me to put on that hat to think before I act. Alex is right, it did feel like a switch.

As with Stranger Things, you have set the show in the 1980s. Why is that decade so good for the story?

STONE: There is a technical reason and then there is a story reason. I will do the story part first because it’s more interesting. Mystery solving is more computer-based now. Who wants to watch a show about two kids sitting on Google for 45 minutes? Part of the charm of going back to the 1980s is that you rewind the clock on the technology crutches we would have today. So instead of just looking it up, you have to go out and find it, dig it up. You have to go talk to people or go to a library. While that feels out of date, it is very much relevant. Visually and story-wise it forces characters to go out and do things. If we had a cell phone, let’s say Frank knew someone was coming for Joe, he could just text him. If he can’t do that, then it is a rush to the finish line. Will he get there in time to save him? So, it helps with the drama and with the tension. The ‘80s just lent itself to that.