Blindspot star Sullivan Stapleton on Kurt Weller’s ’emotional damage’

Sullivan Stapleton previews this week’s jaw-dropping Blindspot.

Blindspot fans will want to brace themselves for Thursday’s episode of the TV crime drama, because it pushes Kurt Weller to his emotional limits. However, that also means that Sullivan Stapleton does some of his best work in the entire series.

In “Head Games,” Weller is kidnapped and faces interrogation by Ivy Sands (recurring guest star Julee Cerda). But Ivy might not be Kurt’s biggest problem, as his capture forces him to come face-to-face with everything he’s been through over the four-plus seasons of the NBC show.

Precinct TV checked in with Sullivan Stapleton to preview the episode, discuss what it was like to film Weller’s terrible day at the office, and reflect on what he’s going to take away from working on Blindspot for the last five years.

Learn more before tuning in to NBC tomorrow at 9:00 p.m ET/PT to see if Weller makes it out in one piece!

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Precinct TV: Kurt Weller’s life has changed drastically since he was first introduced. Do you look at him any differently in Blindspot season 5 than you did in season 1?

Sullivan Stapleton: They just keep getting better and better. I feel the emotional damage, the different situations that they put us in. You could see the other side of the character. That’s a great gift to any actor; this show takes us any way and every way, especially in this episode.

PTV: Which is far from an easy episode to film. What was your experience making it and going through this emotional roller coaster with Weller?

SS: Can you imagine just getting up and going to work every day, being stuck to a chair and then crying your eyes out for hours and hours? It was hard to just go through that. But that’s my job. Some days we’re fighting and blowing stuff up, and then the next you’re playing this vulnerable, broken-down character who’s crying his eyes out. It was a great job.

PTV: “Head Games” is almost like a play in that sense, because Weller is separated from the rest of his team. You’re on your own, acting-wise, as well. So did you prepare for this episode any differently knowing how it was going to be a departure?

SS: There was some thought about how to go with this. How to attack the hallucination scenes, to what level we’re going to take it to. Those kinds of things you think about before you go into it and then talk about it. We had a great director and the writer, Brendan Gall, was on set. It was great to be able to collaborate with those guys—where do we take it now? Should we switch gears? It was a blessing.

PTV: This Blindspot episode is also oddly fun, too, because we get to dig back into Weller’s past and that means you get to reflect on the character as well.

SS: It was a great reunion with a lot of actors that I loved working with. They’re still stuck around in [Weller’s] head or were in his head at some point, because they come back to visit. That was fun. That was another great part of the episode.

PTV: Speaking of reflecting, you mentioned Blindspot season 5 being the final season. This show was your first American broadcast TV series and it’s run for a half-decade. What are you going to take away from the whole experience of playing Kurt Weller?

SS: I’m just grateful that I went from a great show [Strike Back] to another great show. We did 100 episodes. We got to finish off the show as we wanted to. We were able to wrap things up; the show just wasn’t canceled and just disappeared. But I got to live in New York for five years and I got to work with great people. I can’t be more thankful. I’m really looking forward to where the next chapter takes me.

Blindspot airs Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. on NBC.