COLLIDER: Ryan Hurst Talks KING & MAXWELL, How Much Research He Did for His Character, His Passion for Directing, CBGB, and More
by Christina Radish
July 15, 2013
Developed by Shane Brennan (NCIS: Los Angeles), the TNT drama series King & Maxwell follows private investigators Sean King (Jon Tenney) and Michelle Maxwell (Rebecca Romijn), characters originally seen in the best-selling series of books by author David Baldacci. The two are both former Secret Service agents who use their unique abilities and their quite apparent differences to get a leg up on conventional law enforcement.
During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, actor Ryan Hurst – who plays Edgar Roy, a high-functioning autistic savant and proven valuable asset to the team, with an extraordinary ability to see patterns and numerical sequences – talked about how he came to be a part of this show, jumping right back into work after his time on Sons of Anarchy was done, how much research he’s done for the role, and the evolving character dynamic. He also talked about the experience of making CBGB, about the New York City punk-rock scene and the famous nightclub, and working with Alan Rickman, as well as his desire to direct...
... Collider: What can you say about the dynamic that Edgar has with both Sean King (Jon Tenney) and Michelle Maxwell (Rebecca Romijn)?
Ryan Hurst: "We’re still trying to find it. The writers, myself and everyone on the show is still trying to figure that out a little bit, which is a lot of fun and very apropos for how Edgar fits into this scenario. That’s actually what I like the most about it. It’s not just like, “Here’s the tech guy on a procedural drama, and we’re throwing in a splash of autism to make it look fancy.” We’re taking a character that we don’t really know what to do with yet.
On a serious note, one of the reasons that I took this job and I felt so strongly about it was that, yes, we’re making a television show and it’s a procedural drama that’s not completely based in reality, but I felt it was a great example to show an autistic character who is independent and self-reliant and has a job. They say that 1% of families on the planet right now have someone in their family with autism or who is on the spectrum. There are so many families out there who have a child, who is sometimes severely autistic and doesn’t talk or had severe sensory integration issues, and all these families think about is, “When I’m gone, what is going to happen to this child?”
There are pilot programs all around the world now, that are starting to integrate autism and people on the spectrum into the work force I thought it was a wonderful example, to actually show a character who is not just socially awkward or the nerdy guy, but who is actually labeled as an autistic savant, and who has a job. I think that’s a really important aspect to it. Obviously, the show is not a soapbox, but as much as we can integrate those tiny little things through the media, it makes it a little more acceptable..."
King & Maxwell airs Monday at 10/9C on TNT. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE EPISODE TRAILER FOR 'STEALING SECRETS,' AIRING JULY 15, 2013.
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