Izzy Rowland And Alex Song-Xia Talk Never Stop Blowing Up, How Cowardice Shaped A Character, And That Die Hard Is A Christmas Movie

Never Stop Blowing Up is the latest season from Dimension 20. When a group of employees at a VHS Rental Store going out of business get Jumanji'd into an action movie filled with hard one-liners, convoluted plotlines, and every action trope in the book they need to gather their Macguffins to survive. 

We got to talk with Isabella Roland and Alex Song-Xia about their experiences in the world of Never Stop Blowing Up and what influenced their characters.

If you're interested in more Never Stop Blowing Up you can check out our interview where we talked about showing off your nerd with Ify Nwadiwe and Jacob Wysocki, or our conversation with Brennan Lee Mulligan about the creation of Never Stop Blowing Up and letting others take on the role of DM.

Yippee-ki-yay Jack Manhattan

In Never Stop Blowing Up Isabella Roland plays Paula Donvalson, a security guard for the Lake Elsinore strip mall that Dave's Video Rental inhabits. While in the real world, she's a 58-year-old divorcee who enjoys Muriel's Wedding and Under the Tuscan Sun when pulled into Never Stop Blowing Up she becomes Jack Manhattan a detective who came to LA to solve the case of his partner's death.

It was the shared love for action films between Brennan Lee Mulligan and Izzy Roland that led to Mulligan writing this adventure. I asked Izzy where her love of action movies came from.

Pausing for a moment Roland expressed that she wasn't entirely sure where it originated, that there wasn't a single point that fueled her love. "I think it's a love of all things very over the top, all of my biggest heroes and inspirations in comedy and acting are the ones who are bigger than life."

Listing off some of her inspirations Roland continued "Gilda Radnor was huge for me and Maya Rudolf, I love people who can't be reigned in and I think a lot of that is present in action movies too."

Speaking of her favorite action film Roland was quick to highlight Die Hard. "I watch it multiple times a year and I watch it every Christmas because it is a Christmas movie"

Kingskin, The Tortilla Chip Shaped Man

Alex Song-Xia plays the valedictorian Liv Skyler who has been working at the rental store while trying to figure out if she wants to follow through with attending Stanford or whether she'll continue to search for something she'd rather do. A complete juxtaposition to her real form once she is pulled into Never Stop Blowing Up she becomes Kingskin, a hulking mob boss who could (and does) crush a man's body without breaking a sweat.

While Kingskin is tough on the outside, especially at the outset of the game, he really becomes the heart of the team of Amazing Action Stars but also of his own mob commonly complementing members like Doug Meat.

Song-Xia explained that this difference in position to character was due to "cowardice." Expanding on the idea Song-Xia continued "I couldn't commit to brutality."

Roland cut in to offer that she thinks it's down to Song-Xia being "a very compassionate and loving person"

"I was like 'I'm going to play so different from Conrad'," here referencing their character Conrad Schintz, a newsie in the cerebral city murder mystery of Mentopolis, "and immediately I went back to being earnest and compassionate."

Into The Action Of Never Stop Blowing Up

Prior to playing in this season of Dimension 20 I was interested to hear what kind of primer they received for what they might have expected going into the game and it's homebrewed version of the Kids on Bikes game system.

Pausing momentarily to think about it Song-Xia revealed that there really wasn't much information that they were given. "We talked about action movies, and we discussed all watching one together, but I dont think that happened."

"I don't think that happened," Roland confirmed "Brennan told us 'be crazy, [...] we picked all of you for a reason so you should feel so inclined to go ballz to the wall'"

"It was a really good pep talk" Song-Xia added

As Jack Manhattan and Kingskin characters went from killing needlessly and throwing around bricks of cocaine to storming the White House dressed as a senator protecting themselves from bulletfire with a briefcase. Knowing that the season was filled with a series of circumstances each crazier than the next, many brought on by player made decisions, I asked if there was any point that they felt like they had gone too far.

Before responding I received affirming head nods from both Roland and Song-Xia

"Yes."

"Every episode."

Roland spoke specifically in regards to the final episode "I was like… we can't do this… we're not allowed to do this. But Brennan [Lee Mulligan] seemed confident and seemed like he had it all under control so… okay"

The Lessons We Teach Each Other

A key aspect of Never Stop Blowing Up is that each of the 'real world' characters are able to learn from their movie counterparts and experiences through the movie. Having heard in the final episode how the 'real world' characters had grown I was interested to hear what action heroes Jack Manhattan and Kingskin had taken away from the experience.

"I think maybe Jack, he's an homage to John McClain, I think he would come out of it wanting to be less selfish and less self-involved. You can't just make every insane move that you want to make. People's lives are at stake."

For Kingskin Song-Xia hopes that "he would embrace his softer side a little more, his genuine warm feelings towards his henchmen and to not be so scared to show them how much he loves them." The sentiment took a comedic turn as Song-Xia mused on Kingskin's growth "I don't know if he would let them unionize or have better benefits, but he would say 'love you' sometimes"

Roland offered an alternative path of growth suggesting that Kingskin could become a therapist. Loving the idea Song-Xia added that they "hope Jack suggests it to Kingskin."

All ten episodes are now available of Never Stop Blowing Up available on Dropout.tv, you can also watch the first episode for free on the Dimension 20 YouTube channel.

If you're interested in more Never Stop Blowing Up content then you can check out our conversation with Brennan Lee Mulligan on the inspiration behind level-up mechanics and what his view from behind the DM screen is like, or our conversation with Ify Nwadiwe and Jacob Wysocki about letting their nerd pride show and what it was like being the new player in the Dome.