Lance Reddick – Bosch

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) “Bosch” is out now and there is a film I did a year ago that is coming out called Faults. It’s an independent film and it is the same producers who did The Guest. It stars Leland Orser and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. It is a psychological thriller about an author who is down on his luck and specializes in deprogramming people who are caught up in cults.

Q) Please tell us about your role in “Bosch” and what is new this season.

A) I play a character named Chief Irvin Irving. I have read four of the books so far and he is a prominent recurring character. He is kind of Bosch’s main nemesis within the department. Irvin’s two missions are to make sure that the LAPD’s reputation is as sterling as possible and he is extremely ambitious. He wants to become the Chief of Police. This season Bosch is kind of dealing with three things at once. Bosch is on trial in a civil case brought by the family of a man that he shot in the line of duty who was a serial suspected killer. He is also working on a cold case from twenty years ago. There were pieces of bone found from a dead boy by a man’s dog in Echo Park. On top of that, he is dealing with a serial killer who may or may not have killed this boy twenty years ago. It’s a pretty exciting season.

Q) Was there anything you added to your role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) This season takes from three different books. I’ve read the one that is the main storyline, that of the serial killer, and a lot of the details are different from the book. Some of the details had to be revamped from the book because in them Bosch is ten years older than the character in the show. So, rather than being a Vietnam vet he is a vet of the war in Desert Storm and the war in Iraq. I didn’t try to rewrite lines, but there were lines that didn’t make sense to me. As an actor, you are always trying to bring a character to life. I had the good fortune to be able to interview Bernard C. Parks who was the Deputy Chief of Police of Los Angeles for many years. He really helped me how to understand the role of Deputy Chief and the thinking process and the kind of personality that rises to that level of power within the Los Angeles Police Department.

Q) Who are some guest stars this season that you can mention?

A) Angela Cartwright and Jason Gedrick appear. Scott Wilson and Mimi Rogers are in it. She plays the lawyer representing the plaintiff.

Q) Who would you love to see make a guest starring appearance in the future?

A) I haven’t really thought about that. One of the things that I think is so great about the show is that because the quality of the writing is so high that we are always going to be attracting great actors for these roles. For me, it’s more looking forward to seeing who they get.

Q) What is it about Amazon and that particular platform that makes it such a good fit?

A) One of the things that made it fit was that Michael was such a famous crime novelist and his books are so popular. He sells so many books on Amazon so I think more than anything else that was a reason enough why it seemed like a good fit. I think partly because of that Michael was able to agree to make him one of the showrunners. I spoke to him about this when we first met and he said after his previous experiences with Hollywood he felt that if he was going to do a series about his flagship character than they were going to have take him as part of the deal. I think that has really helped the quality of the show.

Q) You are a part of social media. Have you enjoyed receiving the instant fan feedback?

A) Not to sound too prosaic, but it is just really cool. It’s funny because my wife and I watched the show over the course of two days! There were scenes that I would forget I was in because I got so hooked into the story, but it is great to see how many people really appreciate the quality of the show and how exciting and suspenseful the storyline is. For a show that is essentially a procedural, because it has such a film noir and realistic approach to it, it is a procedural that has a storyline that is stretched out serially over ten episodes that it makes it really exciting to watch.

Q) What have you taken away from working on this project?

A) It is interesting because one of my biggest complaints about American film and television is that it has a lot of generic prettiness. When I watch British shows there are real people and not models. For me, doing this show is really hardened because it is proof positive because you have people who actually look like people and are great, great actors. That’s been wonderful!

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure to let fans know?

A) John Wick came out on DVD so anyone who saw it in the theaters should definitely pick it up. It is an exciting film that did really well. If you can, go see Faults. It’s a great film!