In the new supernatural series, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Oliver Jackson-Cohen not only has to navigate through the paranormal and the mystical, but he has to go toe-to-toe with other forces of nature: two adolescents, played by Amelie Bea Smith and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth.

“I love working with kids,” laughs the 33-year-old London native, who reunites with the same creative team and cast from the 2018 series The Haunting of Hill House. In the new incarnation, his character of Peter Quint, the loyal right-hand-man to their Uncle Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas), gets entangled in some eerie and bizarre scenarios with the youth. “They have such innocence and joy and maintain that ability to play in their minds,” he says. “For many of us, as we get older, that gets beaten out of us. That is why this job is so perfect for me.”

Oliver Jackson-Cohen in The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)

Eike Schroter/Netflix

Since landing an acting gig at age 15 on the show Hollyoaks, the son of a fashion designer and businessman has been continually getting many jobs that straddle film and television. He has worked alongside such peers as Drew Barrymore, Dwayne Johnson, Jeremy Piven, and most recently, Elisabeth Moss in The Invisible Man.

After The Haunting of Hill House, you are back working with many of the same actors. It seems like this old touring troupe of thespians that would continually do new shows but stay together. How do you like that ensemble approach?

It’s quite fascinating in a way. It is the first time I had ever experienced it. As an actor, you always get nervous right before a project. You ask yourself the question, ‘can I do it? Will they fire me? Am I right for this?’ But when I went into Bry Manor, I went in to work with people whom I already had trusted with and had a rapport with. I loved working with them so it was great to get some of that cast back together. Victoria and I played twins the first season and even back then, we said to each other that we really wanted to work together again. We feel very lucky that Mike asked both of us to come back.

The heart of the show is rooted in the supernatural. What is your relationship to that? Have you ever experienced it?

I don’t think I have. At least I hope I haven’t. I have always had a weird relationship with it. The concept of the Devil, this thing that if we are not good, something bad will happen to us. As a kid, I used to struggle with the idea of ghosts. There is something about the supernatural where you have no control. So that is such an interesting concept. I don’t know if I believe in the way that it is depicted in movies. I don’t know if any of that is true I think in movies we push it for entertainment value.

Peter is a man very charming and charismatic on the outside, but when you get to know him, not so good. You have played a few men like this before. How does that fascinate you?

Peter is a prime example of that. I am really fascinated by these types of men. When I first came on the project, Mike told me that Peter was the villain. My first response was ‘why?’ He said he hadn’t quite figured that out yet and I knew we had to figure that out exactly. The reason I wanted to do this show is that I am fascinated by how we all make our way through childhood. We rarely make it out without being burnt or scolded in a way. That kind of continues to affect us for the rest of our lives and so we put on masks. We constantly construct this idea of who we want to be to the world. I think Peter is the prime example of someone who was so horrifically hurt and is running so far away from that. If he can appear to be successful or rich and have this amazing wife, then it will negate his experience. That is a human thing that we all do.