NEW YORK, Aug. 16 (UPI) — Deadwood and Fear the Walking Dead icon Garret Dillahunt says he was thrilled to play cowboy William Macon in Lanterns, especially when he heard he would be working with his former No Country for Old Men co-star Kelly Macdonald on the new sci-fi adventure.
“It’s a great group of people to be around. I haven’t seen Kelly Mcdonald since No Country and it’s great to reconnect with her,” Dillahunt, 61, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
“Kelly is my daughter-in-law. She’s married to Jason [Ritter’s] character,” he said.
“She’s done something completely different with this character,” Dillahunt added, “because, otherwise, I think it’s a character people might think: ‘Oh, I’ve seen this person before. Oh, who’s this small-town cop?’ And I think there’s a real temptation to play it a certain way that she’s found something really unique and really, really amusing and I’m not surprised by that, though, because she’s so good.”
Premiering on HBO Sunday, the comic-book adaptation introduces Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as Green Lantern intergalactic cops Hal Jordan and John Stewart as they investigate strange goings-on in a small American town where Macdonald plays the no-nonsense sheriff Kerry and Jason Ritter plays her husband Billy.
“We’re certainly adversarial, at least in energy, but I also think he’s one of those people that we might even have the same goal, but I just think it should be done a different way,” Dillahunt said of his dynamic with the Lanterns.
“We’ve got different ideas about how to achieve the same goal, kind of like everyone in this country at the moment, you know? So, I think that’s how I get away from just thinking of [Macon] as a pure villain in my head. He believes he’s doing the right thing. He thinks he’s right and that what he’s doing is the best for humanity.”
Dillahunt was also excited to play the father of his real-life long-time friend Ritter.
“Me and Jason Ritter have done plays off-Broadway before and just spent way too much of our time goofing around backstage,” Dillahunt said.
“He’s a great boon to any set he’s on. He makes everybody feel good. He’s funny and then Kyle and Aaron really led from the top. I hadn’t met either one of them before. It’s sort of surprising to me when I don’t cross paths with other actors who are fortunate enough to work a lot. Kyle was one of those.”
Dillahunt described the Friday Night Lights, Bloodlines and Mayor of Kingstown actor as surpassing his expectations in terms of likability and professionalism.
“He’s prepared,” the actor said of Chandler. “He’s really always nice to everybody, top to bottom. He has a lot of respect for everybody and has a lot of respect for the job.”
Pierre came to the project from the London theater and prestige TV dramas such as Genius and The Underground Railroad.
“He’s got a comet of a career right now, but is just super-present and attentive,” Dillahunt said. “It was really one of the nicest bunch of people I’ve ever worked with.”
The actor enjoyed how effectively the show mixes the fantasy, detective and western genres, as well.
“This particular series is very much in line with how the comics run,” he explained.
“There’s a mystery to solve every issue and this season is kind of like that. There’s a case to solve and our detectives just happen to be intergalactic super-cops.”
Dillahunt knows of what he speaks because he is no stranger to the world of comic books and superheroes.
“I’m a bit of a comic-book nerd from long ago, collecting comics all through grade school and high school with my nerd friends, which made me very happy and I had a whole slew of Green Lantern and Green Arrow comics that I really love,” he said.
“So, I was like, ‘Finally, I get to be a part of this.’ It would have been fun to wear a Green Lantern costume, that’s for sure, but we had that well-covered. Aaron and Kyle are great Lanterns.”
When the cast recently promoted the show at San Diego Comic Con last month, Chandler and Dillahunt donned Star Wars Storm Trooper helmets and mingled among unsuspecting fans.
“Walked the con floor with #KyleChandler,” Dillahunt wrote on Instagram, alongside a video of the event. “Pretty sure I’d have been fine without the Storm Trooper mask, but he’s convinced it saved our lives.”
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