As a Gilmore Girls lover and an avid coffee fanatic, when I get the chance to talk to Scott Patterson (who played Luke Danes on the hit series) I *have* to ask him how he prefers his coffee. In true Luke fashion, Patterson drinks it black, and is currently loving the Mom's Favorite Double Caff from his brand Scott P's Big Mug Coffee, although he does admit he's running low.
"When someone does not like coffee, tell them that if they drink Scotty P's Big Mug Coffee, they'll be better looking [and] more intelligent," he jokes.
This week marks the fourth episode of the CW series Sullivan's Crossing, and Patterson is currently in Nova Scotia filming the second season with the rest of the cast. Despite the fact we've only seen three episodes of season one in the States, both the story — and the scenery — have already captured our hearts.
"It's a very loose set and everybody's just very friendly and everybody's happy to be working," he says. "Nova Scotia's a beautiful place, so it's hard to get an ugly shot. I mean, the selfies you get here are incredible. So just imagine you put a talented crew together with an amazing cinematographer, they're going to capture some pretty breathtaking scenery, so we don't really have to do that much. We just sort of have to hit the mark and let the scenery take us the rest of the way."
Pictured (L-R): Scott Patterson as Sully Sullivan and Morgan Kohan as Maggie Sullivan. Image via Fremantle.
The scenery in question mainly refers to a campground Patterson's character Sully runs with Frank (Tom Jackson) and Edna (Andrew Menard), as well as the mysterious Cal (Chad Michael Murray). In the pilot, his estranged daughter Maggie (Morgan Kohan) returns after her life in Boston implodes. Maggie didn't leave Sullivan's Crossing on good terms, and it's a testament to both Patterson and Kohan that we as viewers have such an emotional reaction to the fact their characters' relationship is splintered.
"I think that relationship is obviously fraught with conflict and tension and heartache and hope," Patterson says. "It's a little bit tragic because there's that lost time that you can't make up for. So it causes this sort of personal reexamination of Sully's demons and how to address 'em and what to do about it. I think it's a very interesting dynamic."
The relationship between Maggie and Sully is only one connection, and every episode features well-rounded people who are all going through a different struggle but continually show up for one another. Both the characters' struggles and their support give the actors space for creative freedom. "What he's going through is important, and it's important to show it in a way that's realistic and something that has real depth. Because when people go through these issues, they feel them very, very deeply," Patterson says.
"Roma Roth has created this platform where I'm able to express things in front of a camera that I have not been given the opportunity to do prior to this," he continues. "The way I see it, it's a career defining moment where I get to see what I can do in front of a camera in terms of how vulnerable I can portray a character."
Sullivan’s Crossing -- “Rock and a Hard Place” -- Image Number: SUL104_0010 -- Pictured (L-R): Amalia Williamson as Lola Gunderson and Scott Patterson as Harry ‘Sully’ Sullivan. Image via Fremantle.
The relatability of Sully's experiences running a business or tackling tricky family dynamics haven't just resonated with Patterson, they've resonated with people everywhere — including some golfers who recognized him on the course! "They come up and they're like, 'Sully!' They want to share their life story with me, their struggles, and how the character inspired them...It's a tribute to Roma having the courage as a creator to write something that is so indelible."
"I do feel this obligation...to do as best a job as I can with this particular role because there is time to think about it," he says. "There is time to prepare, there is time to be really thoughtful about it."
"I'm at the point in my craft where I trust myself implicitly, and I want to discover it while I'm doing it," he continues. Even though he is working closely with the material, it still feels like he's going on the journey as he follows the story instead of planning out all his steps beforehand: "I want to want to be surprised by what's going on internally. And so I think that's another reason that this is really sparking with me, is that it's allowing me to do this."
And it also means he's just as enchanted by the story as we are! "As soon as you get in the rehearsal process or even before that, when you're sort of looking at it beforehand and things start happening, feelings start happening, instincts start kicking in so that you're being hypnotized. That's what I tell Roma, 'You hypnotize the actor.' And so that's when you know it's good and you can invest in it and you trust it."
"And I think a spine of any piece needs to be complex, unrealized, but full of hope," he says. "And I think that's what this provides."
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Lead image via Michael Tompkins/Fremantle
