Cody Kearsley Reveals How Turbo Got the Facial Burns in 'Daybreak' (Exclusive)

[Warning: Spoilers ahead]

The suburban town of Glendale, Calif. was hit with a nuclear bomb, resulting in everyone over the age of 18 (except Ms. Crumble and Principal Burr) being turned into zombies aka ghoulies. With the kids in the town left to survive in this post-apocalyptic world, high school stereotypes are played up and tribes are formed (think cheerleaders, jocks, nerds, and etc.).

Netflix’s newest series Daybreak centers on teen Josh Wheeler (Colin Ford) who really doesn’t “fit-in” to one social group. As he searches for his high school love, Sam Dean (Sophie Simnett), he meets up with former-jock-turned-pacifist Wesley Fists (Austin Crute), and a super smart drug-dealing child badass named Angelica (Alyvia Alyn Lind). 

While the trio forms an unlikely bond (friendship may be too strong of a word at this moment), the group is faced with challenges at every turn. One of the biggest threats to the group of misfits aka Daybreakers, is king of the jocks and Wesley's lover Turbo (Cody Kearsley) ... who has made it his mission to kill Josh.

Distractify spoke with actor Cody about his role, including how Turbo got the burn marks on his face, and his thoughts on what’s next for the defeated football star in Season 2.  

After Armageddon, the side of Turbo's face is badly scorched, a la Two-Face in The Dark Knight Rises, which results in the jock wearing a mask. He also can no longer communicate verbally, so he relies on grunts and hand gestures. While the series does not divulge how Turbo got layers of skin ripped from his face, many fans assume it was an unfortunate result from the nuclear weapon that hit the town.

“It happened when the bombs dropped,” Cody confirmed to Distractify. “But, it’s not explained in the show anymore. I did explain it at one point … so now I don’t know if it might be explained differently in the second season, so we’ll see.” 

During the Season 1 finale, after Turbo is defeated, Sam pushes her relationship with Josh to the side and proclaims herself the new leader, which was a refreshing deviation from typical teen rom-coms in which the guy always gets the girl in the end.  

So, will Sam hold her position as queen ... or will Turbo be looking for a bit of revenge? “As Cody, I would like to see her rule, but as Turbo, I’m about to come back for her,” the actor told us. “One of the things [Turbo] can’t deal with is he has to be the winner; he has to be the Alpha male; he has to be No. 1. He has a really hard time taking a back seat. So, even though Turbo was defeated and his spirit was a little bit crushed … I don’t think he can sit in the background for much longer.” 

While Season 2 of Daybreak has not officially been announced by Netflix, the Riverdale actor revealed to Distractify what he would like to see happen with his character if the show gets renewed by the streaming service.  

“I would like to him try to take Wesley along with him … or Turbo actually goes off on his own and disappears for a little bit and maybe he comes back a little later with a new following, or a different type of leader, or come back a changed person,” he explained.   

“Maybe not for the better, but having a new tribe … I would love to see more building of tribes and more battles between the different tribes in the second season.” He added: “I really want to see what tribe I belong to in the second season.”

You can now stream Season 1 of Daybreak on Netflix.