Lou Diamond Phillips – Longmire

Q) What can you tease is new this season on “Longmire?”

A) The season premiere of “Longmire” was the number one on cable that Monday night. We’re still filming the season right now. I have to say, from the jump, the episodes have absolutely raised the bar from what I thought was a stellar season last year. My character has some really difficult things to deal with. It’s just been a challenge, but a real joy to further extend this character. One thing I am thrilled about is that people are catching up with us. There are certainly the faithful who followed us from the pilot episode, but with this season it literally picks up five minutes after Season Two ended. For those who recall, Henry had just been arrested for the murder of Miller Beck, who had killed Walt Longmire’s wife. Branch Connally, played by Bailey Chase, had been shot by extensively a dead man. There is a lot of real drama going on we investigate this season. A lot of the threads that we began all the way back in Season One, we present a lot of different possibilities this year. This includes the appearance of Graham Greene, who is my dear old friend. We did “Wolf Lake” together back in 2001. He plays Malachi Strand, who is the former disgraced Tribal Police Chief and he comes back to make Henry’s life pretty miserable.

Q) We will also be getting to see Nia Peeples this season.

A) Our guest cast this season has been unbelievable! We have wonderful actors like Gerald McRaney returning, A. Martinez and Madchen Amick who plays my girlfriend. Peter Stormare does a couple of episodes and Lee Ferguson is back. Parker Stevenson, Nia Peeples and Irene Bedard comes back. I’m so thrilled that we have attracted such a murderous row of heavy hitters for our guest cast.

Q) What was it like working with Nia Peeples?

A) I absolutely love her! It’s one of those situations where there are any number of people that I’ve known since the 80’s, but have never had the opportunity to work with. Having her back as an 80’s survivor with me, there is just an unspoken history that we all have. We went through a couple of decades of the adventure that is Hollywood together. She came on and did an absolute beautiful job. I’m hoping her character will come back. That’s the wonderful thing about “Longmire,” if we don’t kill you then the door is always open for you to return.

Q) Was there anything you added to the character that wasn’t originally scripted for him?

A) Fortunately, our writers get it 100% right. They give us so much to work with that we very rarely have to fill in the blanks. Not only that, but Craig Johnson is continuing to write the Longmire mysteries. His latest novel, Any Other Name premiered at number six on the New York Times Best Seller’s list. So, there is absolutely a wealth of information for us to really sink our teeth into. In addition, I just went back up to the Lame Deer Reservation in Montana, which is the home of the Northern Cheyenne. I spoke at the Lame Deer graduation and was really honored to go through an adoption ceremony where I was adopted into the Cheyenne Nation. For me, going back and seeing the real people and the land and having a connection with that, is something I carry with me as I am approaching Henry Standing Bear. I am absolutely thrilled that the people there love the show and are honored by the portrayal. What I do get to do this year is expand the emotional landscape of Henry Standing Bear. He’s really under a lot of pressure. Obviously, I start the season in prison and I am falsely accused, but have to prove my innocence. I am willing though to fall on my own sword to protect Walt. So, there is a great deepening of Henry’s motivation throughout this season. Not only with his friendship with Walt, but the bond with Katie played by Cassidy Freeman. She becomes my lawyer. Henry’s introspection when it comes to doing what is right and where he stands in the world, the question of his loyalties certainly plays a big part in the development of the character this season. He is accused by some very hardcore Native Americans of being an apple (red on the outside and white on the inside) since his best friend is a white sheriff. He’s caught between a rock and a hard place. We get to see him lose his cool. We really get to see the circumstances get under his skin and he is a bit more demonstrative with his emotions in this season than he has in the past.

Q) What is your favorite aspect of Henry?

A) I’m incredibly grateful that I am playing a character has so much history. It’s the fact that his relationship with Walt goes back to the time when they were children and so much of that can be left unsaid because it is just in his eyes. It’s that baggage that comes from decades of living. I think a lot of Henry’s incredible qualities comes to the forefront this year. His loyalty, his integrity and his inner strength and a lot of the aspects to the character inspire me as a human being on a daily basis. I’ve often said, “I will never be as cool as Henry Standing Bear.” What he stands for (so to speak) in the show is incredibly admirable and I think a number of people who are fans of the show have really gravitated to the character.

Q) We know you also have a cookbook out. Where did you start with the creation?

A) It’s still in the works. I’ve written a large proposal for it and hope that someone will respond to it. Strangely enough, I think publishers are a little bit leery now because they seem to question my credentials, which I find a bit surprising. The cookbook is basically a huge conglomeration of my experiences for thirty years since I have been cooking for myself, friends and family. They are all my recipes and they come from my travels of the wonderful opportunities I have had from being able to dine in some of the best restaurants in the world, but steal some tips from the various locations that I have been in and around for this entire career. Wendy Wilkinson, who is helping me write the book, said we are going to need about fifty recipes. I said, “I don’t know if I have that many.” I sat down and wrote down the recipes for the dishes I make most often and I ended up with like seventy-five. I am going to cull it down to my favorites. It’s very personal. These are my recipes. There are a lot of different influences from my Filipino roots to my Southern roots in Texas to a real Latin flavor or Italian flavor, which is something I do a lot. It’s incredibly eclectic and this is why I am doing an American fusion. It’s an infusion of a lot of the different influences I have had over the years.

Q) Is there anything else you would like to tease fans about this season of “Longmire?”

A) I just think that this season is going to be so incredibly surprising to people. We have had two episodes air and the feedback has been phenomenal. It literally is a situation where our writers/producers are not resting on their laurels. In the second season of a show, you tend to worry because sometimes you get that sophomore slump. They have just been so highly motivated. Now that audiences are much more familiar with the ensemble and all the characters, we are getting a peek into their lives and getting to know them better. Our writers are putting them into these incredibly dynamic situations. So, having almost finished this season filming, I am so ecstatic and so looking forward to what we are going to bring the audience, how compelling and sometimes how shocking the material is.