Santiago Cabrera: 'Salvation Is Full Of Surprises & Incredible Twists'

An asteroid is heading to Earth and tech billionaire Darius Tanz is back to solve the problem. Season two of "Salvation" returns to CBS on Monday and Santiago Cabrera reprises his character that loves being the smartest person in the room.

Cabrera chatted with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith about his acting career, working on "Salvation" and what to expect in season two.

DJ Sixsmith: How did you get your start as an actor?

Santiago Cabrera: I did a play when I was about 19 and that really hooked me. I had the acting bug for over year and traveled to Europe. I got into the Drama Centre in London, which was at the top of my list. That was a three year training period and I would say that my life changed in those three years. I knew I found what I wanted to do. I fell in love with acting and then I started doing some plays and TV shows and I've been working ever since.

DS: How does your experience on "Salvation" compare to your experiences on other TV and movie sets?

SC: It's wonderful to be able to go on a creative journey with the people behind the show. Anything you do has to be a collaborative process. The character needs to live through you and use you to create the storylines. Liz Kruger and Craig Shapiro love everyone in the cast, love everyone's character and want to do them all justice. Season one was so strong and in season two we hit the ground running because we start to realize what works. They know the characters and the actors better now and that's very precious material.

DS: What's the greatest challenge of playing your character Darius?

SC: He is a tech genius, who is so ahead of the game. There's a lot of science talk and those scenes are a challenge because you have to sound smarter than you actually are. You are talking about stuff that is so beyond you and a lot of the time those end up being the most fun scenes to do. They are quite thrilling and exhilarating. Those are the biggest challenges in terms of learning the lines because there is a lot of technical talk. It keeps you on your toes and it's fun.

DS: What was your favorite memory from season one?

SC: My favorite memory was the pilot because it was a great starting point. I was really thrilled when the rocket Salvation started coming into it at the end. We weren't in the presence of it because a lot it was CGI. Going into that room and seeing that rocket was an emotional moment as we watched the rockets take off. The whole season it was building up to this. That's Darius's love right there and that's really what he is in love with the most. It was exhilarating to see those things come to life. They made it so real and it was in tune with how it all works in reality.

DS: Why should fans be excited for season two of the show?

SC: I'm really excited because we hit the ground running again and that thriller element is heightened and there from the get go. The season is full of surprises and there are some incredible twists and turns. I think the audience is in for a real thrill. The main theme last season was are we going to kill ourselves before the asteroid gets to earth. This season, the world knows the truth and it's the end of normalcy. The world goes a bit nuts as it tries to handle this truth and there's a lot of unrest. We have new enemies coming through and it's all about what does the truth do to us. The main theme is something fresh and different and that will be something exciting to watch.

Watch the season premiere of "Salvation" Monday, June 25 at 9pm EST only on CBS.