"Special" and "heartbreaking."
Those are the two words that frequently come to mind for actor Donal Logue when he discusses his brief but resonant time working on FX’s Terriers.
"Heartbreaking" is an apt descriptor, too, for what the detective drama’s small but fiercely loyal fanbase felt when their Rockford Files-esque, San Diego-set detective drama from writer-creator Ted Griffin (Ocean's 11) and executive producer Shawn Ryan (The Shield) was canceled after one 13-episode season. The show centered on a burnt-out ex-cop-turned-more burnt-out private eye, Hank Dolworth (Logue) and his partner and best friend, former crook Britt Pollack (Michael Raymond-James), as they struggle to solve a Chinatown-level conspiracy as unlicensed private investigators. Fans zeroed in on the witty banter and deep friendship between Hank and Britt, with the former emerging as one of Logue’s signature (and most memorable) roles.
The show’s last episode, "Hail Mary," which aired on Dec. 10, 2010, found Hank and Britt closing in on those who had Hank’s friend killed to ensure that a shady (but lucrative) land grab closes for a new airport. "Hail Mary" ends on a cliffhanger: With the bad guys busted, a violent assault and battery charge catches up to Britt. With prison time imminent, Hank and Britt arrive at a literal crossroads. Hank, behind the wheel of his beat-up pick-up truck, offers to either drive Britt to prison or he can take his chances in Mexico. Before viewers could see which path Britt took, the episode cuts to black.
According to Logue, that was intentional.
"Whether this was a season finale or a series finale, the intent was always there to leave things on kind of a question mark," Logue tells the Television Academy in an exclusive interview celebrating the finale’s 15th anniversary. "It was heartbreaking not to finish that story, but it feels very special we got to tell what we could at all."
Low ratings contributed to Terriers’ cancellation. But, in the 15 years since then, the show’s niche fanbase has only grown more fond of it. “There were some big-time people in the industry, some filmmakers, that loved the show and still do,” Logue says.
Below, Logue reflects (in great detail) where he was when he learned that the show was canceled, how he landed what he feels is his best role and what Oscar-winning filmmaker and Terriers superfan Guillermo del Toro wanted to see for a second season.
Television Academy: I know it’s been 15 years, but how did the role of Hank Dolworth come your way?
Donal Logue: I was up in Oregon, where I have a place. And I got a call that there was this thing that, at the time, was temporarily called Terriers. I had a meeting with Ted and Shawn and Marney Hochman, who was another producer [on the show]. I went in and read the script. And I had this feeling of: I know this guy. I feel like I kind of am this guy. I think in my career, in my life, it was the one [role] where actor and character disappeared so closely. Maybe, strangely, the only other example of that was Jimmy the Cab Driver on MTV.
Oh, wow. So what was it about Hank, or what you saw when reading for the role, that led you to that distinction?
It was so physically different. There was something about — I mean, I felt like I was just eight cylinders in. It was in the DNA, and it felt really — just the gift that Hank Dolworth was when he was first presented to me. I was like, “I know this man.”
Were Shawn and Ted familiar with your work beforehand?
I think they were kind of familiar with my work a little bit, but not that familiar. I was just another name, and your job is to get the job — to get the job in the meeting and to have that conversation. [FX president] John Landgraf was who I had known and really loved. Everyone will say this — he's the most brilliant executive that you'll ever run into. So, he was obviously a major deciding factor for me [getting the role]. And I know it probably broke John’s heart a lot, too, that Terriers didn't go as far as we had liked. That it just kind of didn't make it over that hump; I certainly felt [down] when it didn’t continue. Because I could really see a life for myself in San Diego for multiple years. It was really hard, I think, for all of us. But it was also really special.
But I got the role in the interview.
We’ll get to the ending of Terriers, but once you were cast as Hank, how involved were you with the casting of the other key roles? Since key storylines revolve around Hank’s closest relationships — like with his ex-wife, Gretchen (Kimberly Quinn) or his former partner back on the force, Gustafson (Rockmond Dunbar) — I assume they wanted chemistry reads.
After I was cast, my thing next was to audition with absolutely everyone who was in the cast — and I loved that. I read with, like, 100 or something people. And, at the end of Michael's last audition, I remember John Landgraf said, “Let it not be said the best person did not win the part.”
It sounds like you and Michael were very close, both on and off-screen.
I knew Mikey before Terriers. I had done a show [on NBC] called Life, with Damian Lewis. And Michael was in one of the episodes. We had this scene, the first time I met him, and it was an all-night shoot. I remember looking at this guy and thinking, “This guy is so good.” We then fell into a conversation, as you kind of do, between setups and scenes. I remember we talked about Jack Kerouac, because, at the time, I had been involved in adapting Kerouac’s Big Sur as a screenplay. And Michael and I, we had the same take and appreciation for Kerouac — we got into conversations where I really felt like I loved this guy and got along with him. Then, he showed up to audition for Terriers.
And, maybe unfortunately for some of the other actors in the waiting room, I was like, “Hey, Michael!” And [Shawn and Ted] will tell you this: He wasn’t the guy they were looking for [to play Britt]. Michael was very different from what they originally had written for the part. There was more of a comedic edge to Terriers when it started that we wrenched away into a more dramatic, kind of thrilling territory, I think. And that was all organic between the actors and the writers.
Your real-life sister, Karina, was also cast on the show — playing Hank’s mentally ill sister, Stephanie. How did that come about?
So, the crazy thing was — Shawn Ryan had worked with my sister on a CBS and David Mamet show, The Unit. He calls me up and he says, “Hey, we're introducing a character who's your schizophrenic sister.” And I go, “That’s great. And, you know, Karina is an actor.” And Shawn’s like, “I’m way ahead of you, man. I had her on The Unit, so what would you think about Karina in that part?” And I’m like, “Are you kidding? She would be great.” So, I got to do scenes with my sister.
One of the most emotional scenes you got to do with her was in the episode “Missing Persons,” when Steph and Hank have a serious exchange about her illness getting worse —
It was even more emotional, that scene.
How so?
That scene, I think, was my only time as an actor where — I hate raising my hand for being fake and stuff. But there was that scene where I had to drop Steph off at the hospital, for her to get treatment. She acknowledges that her brother can’t take care of her, not in the way that she needs, right? Now, Karina and I — we were two kids who had bounced around a lot. We grew up on the Mexican border in small towns, we shared this wild kind of parentage. But, obviously, we were playing different people. But there was so much there between us that it was incredible, and I think that was the only time as an actor where I didn’t play it as real as I felt it should be.
I felt all messed up, I am crying while doing the scene. And the director is like, “That’s great. Can we try it without you crying?” And I’m like, “Yeah, yes. Hold it in.” So we go for another take and I cry again. And the director’s like, “Hey, I just gave you this note.” And I go, “I can't help myself, dude.”
At the risk of bringing up some more tears, I have to ask — do you recall where you were when you learned Terriers was ending?
I was up in Spokane, Washington. I just bought this used pick-up and I called Michael, and he came up. We went to Gonzaga to speak to students and we hatched this plan to just get in my pickup and drive around America and do all these random college campus things to talk about acting and art, but it would also be like this Terriers awareness thing. And FX got excited about our idea. But they were like, "Hold off, because we'll organize a bus with an [ad] wrap, we’ll put the poster art and title on the bus," which was beautiful. But it was also the kind of thing where it took some time to sort out, and then there were only a few cities on the tour. We just wanted to get in a truck and just start randomly driving and calling and saying, "We're coming to town, let's do this thing." So we ended up doing this promotional tour that was incredibly fun. And then there was a filmmaker friend, this guy named Brian Mendoza — who's best friends with Jason Momoa, who was also friends with Michael. And Jason lived in the Terriers house for a while when we were working on the show. Michael and I — we rented a house and stayed together while shooting the show.
I bet that was interesting, having Aquaman for a roommate.
[Laughs] The scene was really cool. And then my friend, Steven Freejack, who played Robledo on the show, was there, too. But, anyway, we were on this promotional tour. The episodes would come out and the ratings would come out, and I was like, “Man, I feel cold winds blowing.” We got done with this tour, I went to Oregon and I enrolled in a truck driving college.
Did not see that coming.
Yeah. So, I remember being in the parking lot of this trucking school, and I remember getting the call — but I knew that I was in the perfect place to be for it. Honestly, I don't mean this to sound hyperbolic or self-aggrandizing, kind of weird stuff. But I was like, "Man, there's something about me that it's just like…" I'm not a show killer. I had such a good run, from when I started acting to now, that I was like, “I'm going to change my life around.” So I ended up having this crazy life with trucking, starting a trucking company [laughs]. I remember John had a little press conference or something [about the cancellation of the show], which he normally doesn't do. I think he did it just out of love and respect for the quality of the show. And for us.
Photo credit: FX
Did Ted or Shawn ever share with you which path Britt chose — either prison or Mexico?
I remember we had a talk that, if there was a second season, we’d see what Britt chose. And he chose prison. He did the time, and we’d pick up with him on the tail end of wrapping up that stay in prison or being released, something like that. But, whether this was a season finale or a series finale, the intent was always there to leave things on kind of a question mark.
In 2018, Shawn discussed in an interview the chances of Terriers continuing. Were you ever privy to any serious discussions about the show coming back on another streamer like Netflix, or…?
I think everybody would do it if they felt like it was as good as [what we did]. Guillermo del Toro and other people would say, “I offered to do another series, a second season in Mexico.”
Really? Del Toro wanted to do another season? Do you know if that ever got as far as an actual conversation with FX?
I don’t. I wish I did. [Editor’s note: The Television Academy reached out to Guillermo del Toro’s representative and didn’t get a response prior to publication of this interview.] But, there were some big-time people in the industry, some filmmakers, that loved the show and still do. A lot of important people loved Terriers, and it’s too bad the low ratings or whatever were what they were. It was heartbreaking not to finish that story, but it feels very special we got to tell what we could at all.
But I know that Michael and I, everyone, we’re still in the game. We’d love to come back if we could. I miss it. I miss it so much.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Terriers is now streaming on Hulu.
