High Stakes and Hard Choices A Conversation with ‘BET’ Actor Hunter Cardinal

Jacob: How did you first become involved with BET?

Hunter: I had an audition where it was this rad rebel character with a moral compass for this story called BET. Didn’t go into too much detail about it. I did the audition and immediately tried to forget about it. It’s kind of what I learned to do when I was doing tests in school. I’d prepare for it, then pretend to be like, “What test?”

Then a month went by, and they wanted to have a callback, stuff like that, and I was like “Yeah, okay, I’m not going to get cast in this, but sure, we’ll do a call.” But, the callback didn’t happen because a month later, I found out I was cast with just one audition that I had done! No testing, no callbacks, no interviews of any kind. So then, a month later, I’m in Toronto, diving into the world of BET.

Jacob: You’ve done a couple of shorts before, you were also in Caution May Contain Nuts, so BET is your first big series, right?

Hunter: This is my first big role beyond the wonderful opportunities that I’ve gotten to do, like some indie projects here in Edmonton, to get at least some familiarity with what it was like to be on camera and up on the screen. But this was the first role that I booked with my agents after wanting to transition from theatre to film a couple of years ago. So it was a wild transition, and freaking amazing.

Jacob: Many characters in BET are adapted from the Kakegurui manga, but your character, Michael, seems to be unique to the story. What was it like taking an original character and making it your own?

Hunter: With Michael, it was a lot of exploring the questions that I was most intrigued about. One of them was “Why is this person choosing to be in this system if he absolutely resents that he’s there?”

I feel like an option in someone’s toolkit, like Michael, would be to just leave. So I was like, “What is that about?” because then that refusal to participate but still being within the school’s orbit was a conscious choice. And I was like, okay, so where’s this character existing between th tension of refusing to participate, and using it as a distraction from the sights, sounds, and smells of a system that breaks the loudest first? From there, it was about asking other questions. In this world, what do you do with justice that is never really met, if you’re always seeking it, but it never really gets fulfilled?

Then, from there, it asked other questions. In this world, what do you do with justice that is never really met if you’re always seeking it but never really gets fulfilled? How long can you sort of hold that slow-burning rage and grief until it ultimately devours you?

So I was really trying to orbit those questions and explore them, when you’re actually in the moment with the actors, having known your lines, and then just getting to play. It was more of an embodied experience than anything that I’ve tried to do in terms of prep, like for roles such as Hamlet, or Romeo, and sorta my Shakespeare theatre days.

Jacob: No pun intended, but Michael seems to be a wild card.

Hunter: Yeah, 100 percent! He’s a wild card that is very aware of how the system has completely changed people, and he knows better, you know? Once bitten, twice shy. But he’s also that part of ourselves that is always observing things, and when they see it, they can’t unsee it, and that compels them to act.

Then all of a sudden, they’re wound up in the story, they’re wound up in something that they really had no intention of being that deeply involved in. Suddenly, they’re risking so much to try to get through that moment.

Jacob: What was it like working with the directors? With Michael being an original character, what did they go through with you to bring that character out amongst a sea of other charismatic characters?

Hunter: I think the writing team did such an incredible job of creating Michael, and what I found was he became this sort of Rorschach test, where depending on where you’re at in your life, you’ll be able to see different aspects of this character. Whether that’s like good, bad or whether it’s romantic, platonic, or abstaining or being of service, it’s fascinating.

I really felt like this creative team was more of this process– I like to think of sitting in a circle with all of our gaze focused on what’s at the center of the circle. And depending on where you’re sitting in that circle, you’re able to see different aspects of this character, this moment, and some things you’ll be able to see really clearly, because you might be close in proximity to that perspective in the circle, but other things you can’t see. So there are a lot of wonderful moments where there’s discovery, and then building off that discovery is very compositional in nature.

Bet (L to R) Eve Edwards as Mary; Ayo Solanke as Ryan; Miku Martineau as Yumeko and Hunter Cardinal as Michael in Bet. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025

Jacob: It sounds like you had a really fun time.

Hunter: It was so rad! One of my favourite things I remember was my first week on set. Actually, it was throughout the whole project that I had this like, stupid grin on, I was being a kid. I remember just looking around, seeing all these incredible artists from background, to set design, the costume designers, everyone working in sync, rowing towards the same direction, and that goal.

I remember seeing Simon, the showrunner, who’s done incredible work, a wonderful human, the person setting this production up, and establishing the culture. He had the same grin on as a kid would, that I had! It was just great to be with a group of people who were so aware of how wonderful it was to be in that moment, to be able to create that.

It was like we all found our way into a lucid dream, and we just hadn’t woken up yet. So lt’s look around and really savor this.

Jacob: Continuing what you were saying before about the background artists, sets, and the like. I feel like it’s taken a leaf out of the book of One Piece, where if you’re going to adapt something from a manga or anime, you’ve got to be bold, you’ve got to be loud, and you’ve got to believe in the craziness of this world.

Hunter: Yeah, absolutely! I felt like what we were trying to do is really intentionally honor the source material by honoring its spirit, and not trying to flatten it with, you know, games of mimicry. Because like, you know, One Piece, like many other source materials, you can’t improve on perfection.

But what you can do is, situated in your voice, situated in your cast. And again, look at the question that your pieces is really revolving around. And for us, it was, or at least for me, this central question of when the odds are stacked, what are you willing to risk, or for revenge, power, or freedom, and really creating space for that answer to have weight and significance and consequence too.

Jacob: Well it’s interesting you say that, because Michael seems to gamble with his morals. He’s got a very strong sense of justice, but it feels like throughout the course of the series, and depending on how much he cares about a person, he’s willing to put those morals on the line to protect them.

Hunter: Yeah, there are moments where I’m just like walking around my neighborhood, my lovely little mental health walk, trying to get my steps in. And I just have moments where I’m like, oh, wow, that moral compass is a wager in and of itself. When you start thinking about why we believe what we believe in, and how we’ve come to that conclusion, and what we’re willing to really risk for that, that gets into very uncomfortable territory, where you’re suddenly like, what is anything?

You know, Michael, I feel like he has this desire for connection, for the opportunity, however fleeting it may be, to be seen and not fixed. And we can see that sort of blossom in several relationships, you know, where it’s withered in others. It creates this really multidimensional and highly relatable character, too. So he was a real treat to explore with and alongside.

Jacob: Obviously you can’t reveal any plans for a second season, but where do you feel like Michael’s character goes next? Yumeko was a person he cared deeply about, but she was at the heart of the death of his father.

Hunter: Yeah, you know, I feel like I’m right where all the audience will be when they’ve completed that arc of the story, of seeing someone who has risked the most precious thing in his life. And he’s seen the cost of what that is. So, where does someone go when they’ve already lost everything, and they choose to go double or nothing?

That, to me, is exciting. So I’m right there with the audience, where I don’t know what he’s going to do now that this story has really pushed him to the point where we either get to see him break and, you know, shatter, or, become something completely different. Or maybe to his fear, something that he’s always been, but we don’t know yet.

Bet. Miku Martineau as Yumeko in Bet. Cr. Ramona Diaconescu/Netflix © 2025

Jacob: It must be quite a fun prospect for you, then, because you get to play a character with many different layers to them. So the idea that if there’s a second season, you potentially get to play a more antagonistic version of your characters. That must be quite exciting, the thought of that.

Hunter: It was exciting because there are moments in the first season where we get to see glimpses into the true depth of how much Michael can exist in the dark. He created this side-betting app, and I feel like that’s a fascinating thing I was thinking about the other day. I was like, wait a second. He creates it from a perspective of  “I need to get this off my plate.”I can’t be stuck managing the side bets with analog-like numbers and little tiny sheets of paper. If I can systematize this and have the time and space to fix it, it’ll be good.

That turns into one of the most efficient gambling tools in the school’s history, and I’m just like, oh my goodness. It’s not that he’s trying to be morally good and hasn’t done anything bad, but he really recognizes his depth and the real impact he can create. So it’s going to be wild to see why he chooses to do what he does in future seasons.

Picture: Hunter Cardinal speaks on stage. (Photo: Mack Male)

Jacob: Well that begs the question now, right?  If in the second season he was to participate a lot more, what can Michael do? How far can he push that?

Hunter: Yeah, that to me is also this incredible open-ended journey where I’m just like, I don’t know what he would be willing to risk, and I think most importantly, why? At what point? Especially if you have very little to gain, I think he has seen this system, this cycle devour people and change who they are, and to see someone who knows that go through this sort of nihilistic journey of nothing really matters, that’s incredible to see.

But, again, I’m not entirely sure. I like to think of that idea, as some smart person said, probably much more eloquent than I’m about to paraphrase it, but “In order to have branches that reach up to heaven, you have to have roots that reach down to hell.” That to me is really interesting and puts this story, this character, in the realm of exploring ourselves and what we would do in that situation.

Jacob: What was it like working with Seth Rollins?

Hunter: First of all, so cool!  Second, I remember trying to be like, okay, so I’m working with this incredible performer with such an enormous history and a place in people’s hearts. And then I know that we will be doing stunts and fighting and whatnot. Spoilers, I won’t say why. But I was like, “How can I be chill?” What’s a way that I could talk to him beyond just like “Hi!”, because I’m sure he gets that a lot.

So I remember one of the takes that we had. I was lying on the ground, and he was lying on the ground. We were kind of waiting for the crew to get ready. And, they were doing their work with the camera and the lighting and whatnot. So I had some time.  And I, I don’t know why, but I feel like my family has always been really excited about talking about cryptids and supernatural stuff. So I remember for some reason, I was like, “hey, what do you think about Bigfoot? Do you think he exists?” And then we just launched into very in-depth and thought-through answer about the potential for there to be Bigfoot in this world. I love that. And it’s this little warm fuzzy that I have working with Seth, because working with him, this incredible physical artist, but also this really wonderful human with a lot of cool takes on the stuff that you don’t usually get to talk about with folks.

Picture: Seth Rollins the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion – WWE

Jacob: So what comes next for you? Is there anything in the pipeline while waiting for BET to be potentially renewed by Netflix?

Hunter: No, for me, it’s a lot of metabolizing what that experience was like, what was life giving about this character, and then just trying to be open for the shows and the creative teams that are looking to bring forward and bring to life other, nuanced characters with depth, other processes that, center, trust and alignment and having teams to support that too.

So again, just kind of being like, oh, that was a rad experience. And then just making sure that you’re open to the ones that are coming that you don’t know yet. Because again, I didn’t know what was going to happen when I auditioned for BET and I, and here I am now. So yeah!

What did you think of BET? Did you enjoy Hunter’s performance as Michael? Would you like to see a second season of BET? Let us know in the comments below!