Kenny Johnson as Caleb
“Bates Motel” star Kenny Johnson was so impressed by the first season of the A&E series that he found himself asking how he could join the show. A&E/Cate Cameron

Kenny Johnson was a huge fan of “Bates Motel” long before he landed a role on the “Psycho” prequel series.

In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, Johnson revealed that he was so impressed by the first season of the A&E series that he found himself asking how he could join the show. “I saw it once, a long time ago, and I didn’t want to jump into it. All I know is when I was watching Season 1, it was the only show I watched, and I’m like, ‘Oh my god.’ I go, ‘This show is so insane.’ I go, ‘How could I be on this show?’ I kept thinking, ‘Detective? No. Cop? No. She had a cop boyfriend, I don’t really think boyfriend.’ Then, in my head, literally, I said, ‘What if she had a brother?’ Then I’m like, ‘No, why would she have a brother?’” he shared.

READ: Why Carlton Cuse describes Rihanna’s ‘Bates Motel’ casting magical

Much to Johnson’s surprise, producers of the show cast him for the role of Caleb — Norma’s (Vera Farmiga) brother who also happens to be Dylan’s (Max Thieriot) father.

“I got a call from the creators and really, [executive producer] Kerry [Ehrin], saying, ‘We want you to play Caleb and this is what I have in mind. You’re going to be the older son, Dylan's father. You’ve been gone and you don’t know that it’s your kid,” Johnson recalled. “I just started jumping up and down. I’m like, ‘That’s so crazy!’”

While Johnson was thrilled to have been part of the show, he knew early on that playing Caleb would be a challenge. “[The role] was only for three episodes in Season 2, but then when they actually asked me to come back for the entire Season 3 I realized it was more like an uphill battle,” the actor told myFanbase.de. “Coming where Caleb came from and doing what he was accused of, it’s not an easy thing to play as a character. And they tried to... I’m not gonna say redeem him but show as much human remorse as possible and I think they accomplished that but it was definitely not an easy guy to live in or to play.”

Caleb died in Season 5, episode 3 after he was accidentally run over by a car driven by Chick (Ryan Hurst). Johnson’s performance in the episode, which served as his swan song on the show, was raved by Ehrin, Farmiga and Hurst.

An all-new episode of “Bates Motel” airs on Monday, March 20 at 10 p.m. EST on A&E.

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