SPOILER ALERT: This article and video contain spoilers about this series.
“When you are allowed to see inside of a person, when you get to know their story, you can’t help but at least have some empathy for them,” explains John Hawkes. The actor worked hard to elicit empathy for his conflicted character Hank on the HBO series “True Detective: Night Country.” The actor considers it a gift to be able to portray the totality of a human being rather than defining them by one misdeed. As Hawkes says, it’s all about finding something “if not to cheer for, at least sort of relate to.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
Hank is a man with seemingly few options in life. Thus, he is dragged into some of the grisly details of the murder at the heart of “Night Country.” But even when he finds himself alone or dejected, Hank is adamant about putting on a good face instead of alluding to his inner despair. “He won’t give in or admit failure. It’s an admirable quality in some ways and a kind of diluted quality in others,” says Hawkes. “There’s something about a person who doesn’t have the tools to solve their problem, but rather than wallow and self pity, continues to just hammer away with their fists.” The actor admits that he was fascinated by playing Hank’s public persona while the man was falling apart internally.
WATCH Florian Hoffmeister video interview: ‘True Detective: Night Country’ cinematographer
Hank sits at the center of perhaps the most shocking moment of the entire season. After confronting Detective Danvers (Jodie Foster) in her home, Hank is shot an killed by his son Prior (Finn Bennett). “We took a whole weekend trying to get this scene hammered into shape. It was difficult,” admits Hawkes. According to the actor, Hank never intended to shoot Danvers. Instead, the scene represents a moment of giving up for the character. After seemingly losing everything he cares about, the final straw is watching his son side with Danvers instead of him. “It’s interesting, when you meet Hank he has two weeks to live,” reflects Hawkes, “I always kind of saw him as a ghost…fading from our sight.”
If Hank is a doomed figure, then it’s fitting that he sings a song titled “No Use” during the show. Hawkes, who has a musical background, wrote the tune at the behest of series creator Issa López. Hawkes was initially resistant to the idea that his character would be a musician, as his behavior didn’t fit that of a creative person. But he came around. “I think out of character behavior is so interesting and I think so human,” he explains, “I think that we all do things where we’re like, I can’t believe I did that.” So the actor put together a scored melody, and eventually lyrics that brought Hank’s inner sense of hopelessness to life. It’s a song that Hawkes never would have written on his own without the filter of this character. “It was fun to write through another person’s voice, another person’s mind and character,” he says.
WATCH Issa López video interview: ‘True Detective: Night Country’ creator
Hawkes admits that Hank’s pain made the actor hesitant to come aboard the project. And indeed, sometimes Hank’s mood affected the actor during the shoot. But the finished project was a worthy endeavor for Hawkes. “A dark character takes a piece of you,” he admits, “but sometimes it’s just worth it to be part of such an amazing story that will hopefully live after you’re gone and hopefully be of use to people.”
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