Martha Plimpton calls her ‘Lowdown’ sheriff ‘one tough cookie’

NEW YORK, Nov. 1 (UPI) — Goonies, Sprung and Task actress Martha Plimpton has joined The Lowdown as an influential Oklahoma sheriff in the quirky FX dramedy’s second season.

“She is one tough cookie and I really enjoyed it,” Plimpton, 55, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

“When you put those boots on and that belt buckle and those tight, tight Wrangler jeans, the character just kind of comes alive and you really don’t have to worry about too much. Between that and [Sterlin Harjo’s] writing, it’s just such a fun privilege.”

When Vela Thorne makes her entrance in Episode 4, she is warmly greeted by the women and girls of the town, while some of the men appear resentful of her strength and title.

“It’s very much about what a woman feels she has to perform at for men to feel comfortable with her in a position of authority,” Plimpton said.

“So, she’s got to kind of ride a sort of delicate balance between femininity and subtlety,” she added. “She’s thinking about how hard she had to work to get there. I think it’s an interesting sort of thing to play and it’s sort of maybe a little bit of the reason why Vela finds herself in the situation she finds herself in.”

The episode sees Vela cross paths with the show’s main character, Lee (Ethan Hawke), a journalist who constantly attracts trouble, such as accidentally kidnapping one of Vela’s deputies because he thinks the man is gangster trying to kill him.

“She may find him ridiculous, but the minute he becomes a nuisance, she’s going to take care of it,” Plimpton said, adding she was happy to share this experience with Hawke.

“I love him so much. He’s a dear, dear friend for many, many years,” she said. “He is such a fine actor and he’s such an imaginative and intelligent guy and he just wants everybody to do their best and to be their best and to try hard and not treat the audience like a fool and to give people entertainment of the highest quality.”

Plimpton said she thinks Hawke and Harjo, who also collaborated on the comedy series, Reservation Dogs, make extraordinary creative partners.

“Sterlin has such a singular voice and is so independent and so knows himself and is such a brilliant storyteller,” she said. “He and Ethan make a very good team.”

The show also co-stars Betty Gilpin and Tommy Lee Jones.