"Nick was scarier than Lucifer": Supernatural star Mark Pellegrino opens up about who was a greater antagonist in the CW drama

At a Fan Expo Boston panel, which ScreenRant attended, Supernatural star Mark Pellegrino weighed in on two of his more iconic parts. He has played both Lucifer, the powerful devil character in the CW show, and Nick, the human host that once contained Lucifer. When queried as to which was scarier, Pellegrino had an easy response:

"I think Nick was scarier than Lucifer to be honest… He was so twisted up by power and so driven by his obsession to feel what he felt when Lucifer occupied his vessel that he was willing to do anything to get there, and that’s a scary dude."

Pellegrino said that Nick's violence was visceral, taken from raw human anger and not supernatural powers. In the series, which frequently depicts demons, angels, and cosmic threats, Nick was unique in that his violence was rooted in human cruelty. A case in point was when he attacked the police officer who killed his family, something Pellegrino likened to the ferocity of American Psycho.

Mark Pellegrino's take on Nick and Lucifer

Mark Pellegrino started playing Lucifer on the show during season 5 and reprised the role across several seasons, showing up in 38 episodes. Lucifer is a supernatural villain with apocalyptic goals, a menace to not only the Winchesters but also to the world at large. His motives and actions are based on the show's greater mythology.

Nick, on the other hand, is a man who used to be the vessel for Lucifer. Once released from possession, he is left with psychological trauma and an obsession with getting back the feeling of having Lucifer within him. According to Pellegrino, Nick was engulfed by this obsession and became driven to commit terrible things without any influence of the supernatural.

To ready himself to play Nick, Pellegrino employed journaling as a means of immersing himself in the life of the character. This practice allowed him to dwell on Nick's trauma, rage, and sense of loss, which informed his violent choices.

Violence in a human context

In the show, supernatural creatures tend to wreak large-scale havoc. Yet, Pellegrino maintained that human-on-human violence could be more intense and jarring. Nick's actions, such as murdering the officer with a hammer, are physical and up close, depicting a man at the breaking point.

Pellegrino noted that these actions are missing the removal of magical or supernatural forces. Rather, they are based on recognizable human feelings -- sorrow, anger, and fixation. This is what separated Nick's brutality from that of other villains in the series.

Lucifer's role in the series

Lucifer's role in the show is as a mythic central villain. He is first introduced in season 5, and he manipulates, tempts, and battles the Winchester brothers as Heaven and Hell have ongoing battles between them. His objectives are worldwide and apocalyptic.

Pellegrino's performance as Lucifer added depth to a lot of the series' key storylines. The character's supernatural strength and supernatural foundation placed him as a highly effective adversary, but also one divorced from human weakness. Lucifer's wickedness is something on a scale larger than personal vendetta, but something tied to biblical prophecy and the order of the universe.

The human versus the supernatural

The most significant difference that Pellegrino found between Nick and Lucifer is the source of their danger. Lucifer is symbolic of evil, operating by manipulation, destruction, and supernatural power. Nick has human potential for violence when driven by grief and obsession.

Nick's violence was personal and intentional. His behavior could be attributed to real-life motivations and feelings, which, in Pellegrino's opinion, can disturb in ways that supernatural storylines cannot. This juxtaposition made it possible for audiences to observe two starkly contrasting modes of menace within the same program, both portrayed by the same actor.

Pellegrino's approach to two villains

Pellegrino applied different methods to the two characters. In Lucifer, his acting called upon grand movements and an air of superiority, reflecting the character's godly stature. With Nick, there was emphasis on inner conflict and physicality.

He also said that Nick's journey enabled him to play a man losing his moral limits without recourse to supernatural influence. Moving away from an omnipotent figure to a bruised human being broadened Pellegrino's range in the series and provided viewers with a more earthy breed of antagonist.

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Mark Pellegrino's contrast between Nick and Lucifer in the series illustrates how different types of villains can shape a narrative. While Lucifer was a universal menace, Nick's brutality was rooted in human emotion and thus, as Pellegrino put it, made him "scarier" due to the genuine nature of his actions.

Both roles imparted a unique signature upon the series, each providing one differing but no less iconic portrait of villainy.

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