In Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 2 (available to stream at Netflix), Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka) is finding her place in the darker, sexier witch world, now that she’s left her human friends behind and signed the Book of the Beast, which has changed her life and her hair in noticeable ways. While Sabrina is curious to learn more about her heritage, it causes a strain on her life in the mortal world, pushing her further away from Harvey Kinkle (Kaden Costa) and into the arms of warlock Nicholas Scratch (Gavin Leatherwood).

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actor Nehemiah Prince (who plays Sabrina’s mischievous bad-boy cousin Ambrose) talked about what he was originally told about the character, what he appreciates about Ambrose, the journey that he’s going on in Part 2, the importance of family, working with this incredible group of women, whether he’s been given hints about where the series could go next, since Netflix has already picked up a third and fourth seasons, and why he’d love to see an Ambrose spin-off.

Collider: First of all, congratulations on playing one of the coolest characters on TV!

NEHEMIAH PRINCE: Well okay, wow, thank you! I think he’s pretty cool, thank you for saying so.

It seems like one of those characters that, when it came your way, you wouldn’t want to give anybody else a chance to take it. Ambrose seems like he’d just be a ton of fun to play.

PRINCE: Oh, yeah. Definitely the kind of character you throw some elbows to get to play. Yeah, he’s a lot of fun. There’s a lot of freedom with Ambrose to do whatever you want, really, cause he's this big energy, free spirited wild thing. He’s a character who’s all about subverting and defying expectation. He does what he wants when he wants, not much of anything can stop him once he’s made his mind up.

When this opportunity first came your way, what were you told about the character, about who he would be, and about how he’d fit into this world?

PRINCE: Not much. I knew who he was in a very general sense, like, I knew he was Sabrina’s cousin and he was under house arrest, that he would spontaneously combust if he left their property. Also, that he’s mischievous. That’s about it, though.

So, what was it that really drew you in, in the beginning? Was it the fact that he’s mischievous, which makes things more open, as far as what you can get away with doing?

PRINCE: It was the writing. It implied a richness to Ambrose. It suggested he had depth, and there was an opportunity to really sink my teeth into the role to evolve him over time, build on what was already there. I liked the mystery of Ambrose and that it wasn't mystery for mystery's sake.

Had you been aware of the original TV series or the comics, prior to doing this?

PRINCE: No, I avoided looking into any previous iterations of the character because I knew going into it (show creator) Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] had talked about this one being darker and grittier, and I didn’t want that to get tangled up or twisted. I looked at Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, and Prince, and got my inspiration elsewhere. I wanted to compliment that kind of energy. I wanted to bring something new to the table.

This is a character who’s a little bit of a bad boy, but he also seems to have a pretty clear sense of right and wrong. What have you loved about playing him, from the beginning, and what have you grown to appreciate about him, as you’ve lived in his shoes and gotten to know him a little bit more?

PRINCE: What I appreciate about Ambrose hasn’t really changed because his internal value system has been consistent. You say he has moral values, but in my mind, he doesn’t unless the context is clear. Family comes first for Ambrose. If he’s with his family, the boundaries and guidelines are very clear and he has a sense of morality. But as for what he should and should not do, no. We can’t forget this is a guy who tried to blow up the Vatican. There is an insatiable need for him to buck against authority in whatever way he can and be mischievous as hell while doing it. He’s like Loki or Puck, trickster gods. I do appreciate his endurance and that’s been consistent from the beginning, too. The first time we meet him we learn he’s been imprisoned for 75 years. He’s endured for his family and for himself, because he very much doesn’t wanna die. A very enduring soul who’s suffered a hell of a lot in his life.

Ambrose has a lot going on in these episodes, with Luke (Darren Mann) and Prudence (Tati Gabrielle), and with what happens with the Anti-Pope (Ray Wise). What can you say to tease his journey, in these next 10 episodes?

PRINCE: The big question for Ambrose now is who does he want to be moving forward. For the first time in 75 years he has complete, or as complete as he can, control over his destiny. It’s evident he’s broken the mold in a conventional witch sense, but now he has the opportunity to take it a step further. Witches and warlocks love to cause chaos in Sabrina and causing chaos is in his DNA. What kind of bent will that take now that he’s back in public life with their coven? It’s in his nature to question and a huge part of his heroic journey is not only reconciling his past with his present, but also to question everything he knows. There’s power in questioning the status quo and not just accepting it as the default or only option even if the process itself is challenging.

Do you think that Ambrose has thought about his future, what that could mean, and what he might want, or is it something that he’s been avoiding thinking about because he hasn’t really been sure if he’d even have one?

PRINCE: Ambrose has gotten his hopes up one too many times to seriously think about his future. He can’t help it, but he’s very, very tired of thinking things are going to change for the better and they just don’t. We see that when Richard [Coyle]’s character, Father Blackwood, comes along and offers him the chance to commute his sentence, in essence. But I think he's thinking about it now, and his idea of what his future could look like changes with every revelation in part two. What he wants now is different from what he wanted 10 or 15 years ago and certainly different from what he wanted when he was first imprisoned, 75 years ago. It's a slow evolution.

You talked about family being important to him, so what do you most enjoy playing with that relationship between Ambrose and Sabrina?

PRINCE: What I enjoy most about that relationship is how the world around them can be just completely falling apart and no matter what they got each other. It’s unending and enduring. It does become strained in these new episodes because Ambrose takes the brunt of the consequences for Sabrina’s actions, and so does everyone else around her. He has sacrificed a lot for his family and continues on that path. The Spellmans have almost, sort of, sheltered Sabrina from the consequences of her actions and because of that she hasn’t had the opportunity to learn from her mistakes so she keeps visiting hellfire upon them. Ambrose is getting pissed, to say the least. At the end of the day, they’re still family. He’s just tired of it. One of the people he loves the most constantly endangers the people he loves the most. It’s tough, it’s tricky for him to navigate. And it’s not that he thinks she does this intentionally, I think it’s more like, well, we see in Episode 9 the aunties and Ambrose turn their back on Sabrina a little bit in part to give her the chance to recognize her recklessness endangers their family. It’s a nice bit of cinematic conflict, but at the end of the day they take care of their own and they’re not gonna abandon each other.

You get to work with some pretty awesome women on this show, from Kiernan Shipka to Lucy Davis and Miranda Otto, and so many others. What’s it like to work with all of these actresses?

PRINCE: It’s been real damn cool learning from Lucy and Miranda and Michelle [Gomez]. Kiernan is the best number one on the callsheet. Everything from the number one trickles down, and her work ethic is truly supernatural, like, she has the longest days and still comes to set with the best attitude. She keeps us grounded. Michelle is a tour de force on and off screen. She’s a force of nature, all wildfire and lightning strikes, you know, just here to really shock the life back into you. She’s become a good friend of mine. Lucy as well. She has a great sense of humor and makes me laugh constantly. Miranda is real chill. She’s there for the weird chats, always down to indulge me in that. It’s very fitting to me that witches are traditionally matrilineal, strong matriarchies, and this powerhouse cast pays homage to that in a way.

With all of these characters, it feels like there is still so much more to explore, and Netflix has already announced that they’ve picked up the series for Seasons 3 and 4, which means you have quite a bit of time to continue to get to explore these characters. Have you had conversations about what the next step in Ambrose’s journey could be, after these episodes? Do you have any idea of where things could head next for him?

PRINCE: Towards the end of filming Part 2, Roberto had a chat with me about where he thought things would be going as far as Ambrose’s self-discovery is concerned. In what format, I can’t really say, but I do have an idea of where he’s going, what that path might look like. As we get closer, I’ll probably have a chat or call with him so I can get prepared.

The fans of this show and of your character seem to really want to see Ambrose in his own spin-off. If the opportunity were to ever arise, is that something you would want to do? And what’s it like to have that fan support, knowing that they want to see more of this character?

PRINCE: I’d be so down, are you kidding me?! Ambrose has such a rich history, there’s a lot to explore with that. It’d be so wild and emotional. There could even be a series that goes into the details of what happened at the Vatican. That’d be dope! Any chance I get to explore more of this character I wanna take, because he’s got so much in his soul to offer and it’d be incredible to experience as an actor. As far as having fans, they’re great, people are passionate about this show. The support people have for that character and how much they love that character means a lot to me, it’s very satisfying and gratifying to see that work is being well received. It’s beautiful.

He’s certainly a character that seems like he’d be so much fun to hang out with at a party, and that if you were family, he’d be very loyal to you. It’s easy to see why so many people enjoy watching him and you on the show because it’s such a fun character journey to watch.

PRINCE: Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say and I appreciate that a lot. It’s nice hearing this kind of feedback because you never know what people are gonna vibe with and I'm just real grateful people like Ambrose as much as I do.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Pt. 2 is available to stream at Netflix.