From hearing Shawn Hatosy’s voice over the phone on April 30, it was easy to pick up a sense of overwhelming, heartfelt gratitude. Three days earlier, he and everyone in television had learned that his show, Southland, was renewed for a third season by TNT, which justly rescued the series from extinction after NBC canceled it.
"All the people that were writing things and talking about our show, and the fact that TNT gave it a chance, it was such a beautiful week, man, to hear the news," Hatosy says before a question is even asked. "I’m just proud of the show. I don’t know, man. Words can’t really describe this feeling because it’s a rare circumstance that you see something like this happen."
From here, Suite101 talked all things Southland with Hatosy, whose character, Det. Sammy Bryant, has enough problems at work, but those are then compounded by his oblivious wife, Tammi.
From ER to Southland: Working with John Wells
AH: How did you first learn that you’d be back for another season?
SH: Well, nobody called us. I mean, my agent called and said, yeah, the Hollywood Reporter is saying it. As the day went on, and TNT released their press release, it was like, oh, this is happening! And then there was a bit of nervousness … are they going to be shuffling characters? At least from my point of view, there’s that moment where you go, wait a minute. Is Sammy still going to be breathing? Does Tammi finally pull a shotgun on him?
But no, I waited and [executive producer] John Wells called, and I remember talking to him and saying we’re probably the only show that’s going into their third season with only 13 episodes. It’s been a long road, but well worth it.
AH: What were the first signs for you that you stumbled onto something pretty special with this show?
SH: Well, anything that John Wells is associated with is going to be great. I worked with John on ER and I was in an episode that he directed. Creatively, for me, it was a very complex character. The guy had multiple personalities, and having John guide me through it was creatively one of the more special times in my career.
As I got through it, I just realized that’s how he works. You look at the cast and you talk to some of the people that were on ER, and they speak of how great it was, and how wonderfully creative it was.
I just remember thinking as I finished my ER with John, if I could just do this every day, that would be it. That would be the career I would want. A couple of years went by, and Southland came along and we had discussions. It felt like the right thing for me.
I knew right away – with [executive producers] Ann Biderman [creator and writer], Chris Chulack – Chris was in the room when he was talking about his concept for how he wanted to shoot Southland. He spoke of the running-and-gunning kind of guerilla filmmaking style, which I had heard before, you know. A lot of directors say this is how we’re going to do it, and it’s not going to be a traditional shooting style. I’d heard that before, but then when you get to shooting it, it always falls back to the old ways. Chris, the way he spoke about it, you just knew that’s what we were going to be doing.
When I saw that pilot episode, I was like, oh my God. Exactly what they told us it was going to be! Shooting it felt freeing and spontaneous, and I just had a sense right away that this was going to be something special. Now I didn’t think that people were automatically going to be watching it, because it is tough. It was one of those things that it sort of needs to develop. And when I say tough, I mean you have to be patient with it. But if you are, it draws you in, and it’s the kind of storytelling that I enjoy.
Expectations for Season 3
AH: What are you most looking forward to with more episodes on the horizon?
SH: The thing I’m most looking forward to is having the knowledge that more than likely we’re going to shoot 10, you know what I mean? It’s not like while we were at NBC and it was sort of touch-and-go. I feel like we’re going to get to tell a story that we want to tell from beginning to end. We were sidetracked before, when we only shot six last season.
There were so many places that I know that Ann and Chris and John wanted to go with these people. And the fact is, our loyal audience wants to know. And they’re finally going to get a chance to see it, and we’re finally going to get a chance as actors to tell that story.
You see glimpses of it. I thought that episode with Ben [McKenzie], “U-Boat,” was so fantastic, and you get to see what we’re capable of. I mean, you see it at the end of “What Makes Sammy Run.” You see it with Regina [King], when she just breaks down because her partner is sick.
I’m a fan of the show. When I’m not in the episodes, I’m watching. I’m just as loyal of a fan as the most loyal fans that are out there. I’m one of the administrators of the Southland fan club, you know? I love it. That’s what I’m looking forward to.
More with Shawn Hatosy
The conversation with Shawn Hatosy continues and turns to his thoughts on the episode "What Makes Sammy Run."
Alex Hoffman - Alex Hoffman is a graduate of the University of Kansas' journalism school whose credits include Midwest Commercial Journal, Lawrence ...
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