It may be summertime, but school is back in session for the kids at Bringston University as All American: Homecoming returns for its third and final season on July 8. When we last saw the Bringston vortex, Simone (Geffri Maya) finally decided if she wanted to be with Damon (Peyton Alex Smith) or Lando (Martin Bobb-Semple), but the audience is still unaware of which baseball star she chose. The upcoming Season 3 premiere will reveal who Simone chose and the fallout from that decision for her and those around her as the Bringston campus finds itself at the center of yet another controversy.
TV Insider caught up with Bobb-Semple ahead of the All American: Homecoming premiere to ask what fans can expect from the love triangle and other campus drama. The actor revealed that he and his co-stars didn’t know this would be the final season until the show had wrapped, but they had a feeling it could be the end on their final day of shooting.
“It definitely wasn’t something that I went into the season knowing, but this season felt final in some ways. We’ve all been like this family for a couple of years now and when we were wrapping up this season, it felt very much like, ‘We don’t know if we’ll do this again,’ he said. “It’s sad. It feels like the end of an era. It’s upsetting that I won’t get to do such a fun show. Not being able to work every day and create with all of these amazing people is sad, but at the same time, it feels like a natural progression. Our careers are going to grow. We can move on, grow, and do other things.”
There’s still a lot of drama to get through and burning questions to be answered before we get to the end of the show. Bobb-Semple couldn’t reveal who Simone chose at the end of last season, but he did tease that it’s going to be a difficult dynamic for all of the characters in light of how the situation played out.
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“With the way the season ended, no matter which way it goes, her decision creates a complicated situation. There’s one person that’s going to be left heartbroken. It’s still a tricky situation either way, whether you’re the person that was chosen or not,” he explained. “It’s difficult to navigate, especially being in school and being in love. It’s difficult to juggle everything. Lando loves her, so I think it will be tough no matter her decision. It has to be difficult to know that there was a decision rather than an organic relationship between them. It’s a rocky start, and it will be a difficult journey.”
The actor is not afraid of a little hard work, though. When asked if he would like to recruit any “Team Damon” fans to “Team Lando,” he didn’t feel the need to convince anyone to change their minds.
“People have the one that they love and the man they prefer. That’s completely fine. I feel like a lot of people are rooting for Lando, so Damon can have some of them,” he said, laughing. “It’s fine. Damon can have some people in his corner — I don’t need to compete with him.”
Bobb-Semple is confident, but he also emphasizes that Lando has grown since he was first introduced at the end of Season 1 as an antagonist for Damon. Lando is going to have a cooler head in Season 3 and Bobb-Semple is excited for fans to see new layers to the character.
“He definitely started out as kind of a villain character. I think his progression in terms of the way he sees things, the way he moves, the decisions that he makes are a lot different this season. He still has his feisty side. He still has that antagonizing side, but he’s definitely a lot more empathetic,” the actor reasoned. “He thinks a lot more. There’s a side to him that we haven’t seen before, and it was fun to explore that. He’s definitely grown and he’s integrated himself into this group quite nicely because they need him a lot more than they thought they did, which is all I can say.”
That calmer attitude is going to come in handy because Bobb-Semple also teases that the entire season is an emotional ride that will definitely have the audience in their feels.
“It’s a rollercoaster. We weren’t prepared. Go into it with an open mind. Go into it with the love for the characters and understanding them, and don’t judge them too hard. Just enjoy it because it truly is a rollercoaster — you’re happy one minute, one minute, you’re sad, and the next, you’re confused. It’s everything kind of happening all at once,” he explained. “There’s an overarching storyline for the whole season that is quite heavy but also a lot of fun. It was great to dive into it, and it was definitely challenging.”
All American: Homecoming, Season 3 Premiere, Monday, July 8, 9/8c, The CW