Since 2021, the USA Community had stacked its lineup with actuality reveals and sports activities, completely forgoing authentic, scripted programming. Followers of “Fits”, “White Collar” and “Monk” have been left with solely recollections of these reveals’ case-of-the-week storytelling. However on Friday, the community returns to scripted TV with the authorized thriller “The Rainmaker.”
If the title sounds acquainted, it is as a result of it’s primarily based on the 1995 novel by John Grisham, which was first tailored into the 1997 Matt Damon-starring movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola. On this “Rainmaker,” British actor Milo Callaghan performs Rudy Baylor. It is the primary main position for Callaghan, who had beforehand performed recurring characters in reveals like HBO’s “Dune: Prophecy” and Starz’s “The Spanish Princess.”
Baylor is contemporary out of regulation college and about to begin working on the largest regulation agency within the state, run by Leo F. Drummond (John Slattery). On his first day, Baylor will get fired after difficult Drummond in a gathering. Determined for work, he takes a job at a small ambulance-chasing agency that works out of a former taco joint. His boss is Jocelyn “Bruiser” Stone (Lana Parrilla, in a gender swap from the movie the place Mickey Rourke had the position). She’s sensible, assured and never afraid to make use of her intercourse attraction to get what she desires. Rudy’s first huge case pits him towards the large, fancy regulation agency that permit him go — and his girlfriend who nonetheless works there.
Callaghan informed The Related Press about studying legalese whereas doing a Memphis accent and familiarizing himself with the supply materials. Solutions are edited for readability and brevity.
AP: Did you watch “The Rainmaker” movie?
CALLAGHAN: I watched it once I acquired forged. Matt Damon is someone that each younger actor would look as much as. I needed to concentrate on the work that he did. I imply, it was a Coppola film as properly, so I used to be excited to see it. After which I gave it perhaps like 20 minutes’ thought and targeted on the script as a result of it’s totally different and I believe we’ve 10 hours of tv to discover this character. We go on a windier highway than the film.
AP: Did you learn the novel as properly and did that assist to search out your model of Rudy?
CALLAGHAN: Sure. It’s a slow-paced thriller, actually, however implausible. And there’s this chunk, it have to be about 100 pages, of him simply getting ready for this case for months and months and months. So I by no means needed it to really feel prefer it was off-the-hand genius. It felt like this can be a state of affairs that needs to be honored to a sure extent. Like, you is usually a implausible lawyer, however you don’t get there with out grinding and grafting. We had nice scenes the place we have been working late into the evening.
AP: Did studying your traces to play a lawyer additionally have you ever working late?
CALLAGHAN: You prep a courtroom scene, and it’s eight pages, and it’s a deposition. And you recognize it and also you’ve labored on it and also you’re prepared to fall asleep, and it’s quarter to midnight, and you’ve got an e mail saying, “We’ve rewritten this scene and we’re shooting it at 8 a.m.” And also you’re like, “Not only am I relearning all this, but I have to go back through the dialect to make sure that this is airtight.” It was undoubtedly an additional part that I most likely misplaced a little bit of sleep over.
AP: You are additionally British and Rudy Baylor is from Tennessee. How did you lose your accent and grasp a Southern one?
CALLAGHAN: Constant work with an ideal dialogue coach. I keep in mind I acquired there on my first day and I used to be operating traces with P.J. Byrne, who performs Deck, and he’s form of me humorous. He’s like, “Why are you talking like that?” I used to be like, “What do you mean? Because we start filming in three days.” I used to be saying all the pieces phonetically as a result of that was the way in which I realized. I needed to actually work on paring it again into a spot that felt so pure. For a film, you may get away with it, however for 10 hours of tv, it simply needs to be mild, it needs to be fast, it needs to be at your fingertips.
AP: Was there a phrase that gave you hassle?
CALLAGHAN: “North City Hospital.” It was the toughest factor. I used to be like, ‘Why did you name it this?” I acquired all this legalese down after which “North City Hospital” would shoot me within the foot each time.
AP: There are additionally variations between U.Ok. and American regulation. Did you examine U.S. regulation?
CALLAGHAN: I went via main trials, like the entire O.J. Simpson homicide trial and the Gwyneth Paltrow trial. And in addition obscure trials. I studied attorneys and their patterns of speech and the way in which they deal with the courtroom. We do not actually have the identical form of pop star factor to the authorized system of like, “That’s the guy who represented this person and that person.” Learning that’s fascinating.
