{"id":78398,"date":"2017-01-31T07:07:23","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T07:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2017\/01\/31\/david-morse-and-ryan-hurst-talk-wgn-outsiders-season-two\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T02:33:30","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T02:33:30","slug":"david-morse-and-ryan-hurst-talk-wgn-outsiders-season-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/david-morse-and-ryan-hurst-talk-wgn-outsiders-season-two\/","title":{"rendered":"David Morse and Ryan Hurst Talk WGN’s ‘Outsiders’ Season Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Morse and Ryan Hurst Talk WGN’s ‘Outsiders’ Season Two<\/strong>by Brad Balfour<\/p>\n

January 31, 2017<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Just like its name, the WGN series \u201cOutsiders\u201d<\/strong> is definitely something that engenders risk; it, so to speak, sits \u201coutside\u201d of expectations. Think about it, a weird community in the hollers of Kentucky resists efforts to corral them under the conventions of the local law while keeping their clan together.<\/p>\n

\u201cOutsiders\u201d tells the story of this family clan, the Farrells, who’ve been in rural Kentucky long before the modern world had interceded. Living off the grid and outside of the conventional law on their mountaintop enclave, they protect their world from societal intrusion and defend their way of life using any means necessary. A struggle for power and control ensues in these rugged and mysterious hills of modern-day Appalachia, both within its insular community and from the conventional world beyond it.<\/p>\n

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The ensemble cast for \u201cOutsiders\u201d includes:\u00a0David Morse<\/b>\u00a0as Big Foster,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Ryan Hurst<\/b>\u00a0as Lil Foster,\u00a0<\/span>Thomas M. Wright<\/b>\u00a0as Sheriff T. Wade Houghton;\u00a0Gillian Alexy<\/b>\u00a0as G’Winveer;\u00a0Kyle Gallner<\/b>\u00a0as Hasil;\u00a0Christina Jackson<\/b>\u00a0as Sally-Ann;\u00a0Joe Anderson<\/b>\u00a0as Asa;\u00a0\u00a0Francie Swift<\/b>\u00a0as Haylie Grimes; and\u00a0Rebecca Harris<\/b>\u00a0as Ledda.<\/p>\n

How do you create characters that audiences would identify without them become a parody? That was the challenge faced by both creator\/executive producer\/writer Peter Mattei and Executive Producer Peter Tolan. But with intriguing story lines, a set of complex characters and a locale rife with a history of its own, the show has found a large enough audience to launch a second season this January.<\/p>\n

Recently, Blackfilm.com spoke with David Morse and Ryan Hurst<\/strong> regarding their characters in Season 2.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Previously, the Farrell family patriarch Big Foster was shot and left for dead. Certainly it doesn’t hurt to have him be played by such a craftsman as David Morse. Born in Beverly, Massachusetts, Morse studied at the William Esper Studio after high school and went on to star in the television film \u201cHack.\u201d In 2002, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Horse Awards for the crime-drama \u201cShuang Tong.\u201d In 2007, Morse appeared as the creepy Mr. Turner in \u201cDisturbia,\u201d starring Shia LaBeouf. His other notable films include \u201cThe Negotiator,\u201d \u201cThe Green Mile,\u201d \u201c12 Monkeys\u201d and \u201cThe Long Kiss Goodnight.\u201d Morse was also seen in acclaimed Emmy nominated “Treme” and received Emmy noms for his work as George Washington in the HBO mini-series \u201cJohn Adams.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In this set of one-on-two pairings he\u2019s joined by Ryan Hurst \u2014 \u201cLil Foster\u201d \u2014 who provides a contrast to the headman. Considered a gentle giant, he\u2019s determined to be his own man. Hurst previously had established himself as Opie Winston on the hit series, \u201cSons of Anarchy,\u201d and was seen regularly in \u201cBates Motel,\u201d \u201cMedium,\u201d \u201cKing & Maxwell\u201d and \u201cWanted.\u201d He also starred in \u201cTaken,\u201d a Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi miniseries. The actor got started in film opposite Denzel Washington in \u201cRemember the Titans.\u201d He also appeared in \u201cSaving Private Ryan,\u201d \u201cThe Ladykillers,\u201d \u201cWe Were Soldiers,\u201d \u201cPatch Adams,\u201d and ‘Rules of Engagement’ with Samuel L. Jackson.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You\u2019re the father figure and son, what do you do to feel familial?<\/strong><\/p>\n

David Morse:<\/strong> In terms of feeling comfortable with each other as actors?<\/p>\n

Ryan Hurst:<\/strong> Lots of hot tubbing. That was fun.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re also figuring our your relationship with your characters. Do you get together to figure that out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

DM:<\/strong> It\u2019s in the script, that\u2019s just there as a given and we give ourselves over to it naturally. I think just being with each other goes a long way. We spend a lot of time together on the set and we got a good feel for each other pretty quickly and it just grows as you do it.<\/p>\n

RH:<\/strong> David was attached to the project before I was. I\u2019ve played someone\u2019s son before, but when I heard he was attached I wanted in on the project. It was the first other actor I saw that I thought even I would believe I was their son. So there\u2019s a resonance there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Have you any comments on your own sartorial qualities \u2014 your hair and beards.<\/strong><\/p>\n

RH:<\/strong> I do his hair, and he grooms my beard, that\u2019s what we do every morning.<\/p>\n

DM:<\/strong> When I was first cast, we didn\u2019t know what the look of the Farrells was going to be. So I did something \u2014 \u201cTrue Detective\u201d \u2014 where I had long hair so I sent a picture to the producers and they thought it was great. We needed a look so when people go into town and say, \u201cThese are the Farrells,\u201d they know it when we walk in. As far as tattoos, this man is responsible for the work with tattoos. From all of us blooms these rituals and things as we do this first season.<\/p>\n

Both of you have done series and films where you play outsiders. Did that help inform you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

RH:<\/strong> Doing the first season one of the things that helped us is that a biker gang is like a secret society and there\u2019s going to be things, be they handshakes or gestures or sayings, that delineate us from them. That was a conscious effort on all our part. The day we were supposed to shoot Lady Ray coming into the barn, David said, \u201cI think we should have some type of gesture, or bowing to her.\u201d So it was David, and me, and Kyle, and we sat there and went \u201cwhat about this? Or this?\u201d And David was like \u201cwhat about this\u201d and we went let\u2019s do that.<\/p>\n

DM:<\/strong> I am drawn to people who are outside what feels like the normal world [anyhow]. It\u2019s much more interesting to be out there. And that\u2019s part of what we\u2019re all drawn to in this, the out there, it\u2019s not familiar.<\/p>\n

You two have a particular arc with its own special dynamic. How did that evolve and interweave?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

RH:<\/strong> I can\u2019t tell you too much about how their relationship evolves, but what I can tell you is that Li\u2019l Foster is very isolated from everybody else and in a different way that lends him an opportunity to see who he is. Our relationship together I can\u2019t really\u2026<\/p>\n

DM:<\/strong> He being so abused by my character in so many different ways over the years, he is the one who is sent to find me. That connection is deep, and there\u2019s a lot that comes from it over the course of the season.<\/p>\n