Manhunt Deadly Games: Gethin Anthony talks leading the series

Gethin Anthony leads the FBI investigation in Manhunt: Deadly Games.

The best part of Manhunt Deadly Games is its cast, and one of the most interesting characters is Jack Brennan, portrayed by Gethin Anthony.

For one, TV crime drama fans might not believe that the man who previously portrayed Charles Manson is now playing a dedicated FBI agent.

But more importantly, Gethin is able to bring the audience inside Jack’s head and show the pressures that he’s under chasing the most wanted suspect in the United States—as well as where he fell short and where he’s not getting enough credit. He told Precinct TV how he crafted the character and more in our latest interview.

Remember that two new episodes of Manhunt Deadly Games air this Saturday starting at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, and if you’ve missed any so far, you can catch up on demand and with CBS All Access.

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Precinct TV: The last time we saw you on network TV was playing Charles Manson in Aquarius. It’s been a few years since then, but how does it feel being on the other side of the law?

Gethin Anthony: When I got the call about this one I was really pleased in a way because, yeah, Aquarius was some time ago and it was a very unique and special experience in its way.

But there was something really almost cleansing about having the opportunity to play, again, a very complicated character—but just in a completely different station in life in obviously so many ways. And being part of that thin blue line. I really enjoyed the challenge of it. I don’t believe I’ve played a law enforcement officer anywhere before, so that was an exciting challenge to delve into.

PTV: Your co-star Kelly Jenrette mentioned how both your Manhunt Deadly Games characters are composites, not based on one specific person. So how did you figure out who Jack Brennan was to you?

GA: Playing real people from history, which I have done a few times, it’s a challenge. Especially if they’re well known, because people might have expectations of how they appear or behave or sound, even. And obviously all of those got covered with Aquarius.

But with someone like Jack Brennan, we invented a name to represent several law enforcement officers and agents, so that we could have a character go through this long, complicated story and deliver certain actions and make certain decisions that no one person did.

It meant that I would prep it it a bit more like a fictional character. If I’m playing a fictional FBI agent, you still have to know the practical details of how those law enforcement officers do their job. It’s still great to meet an individual person who’s done that and talk to them. I always ask things like, what do you eat when you’re staking someone out? Little things, little details I know I asked.  And I had the privilege of working with some great technical guys who have a history with the FBI and were wonderful people to speak to, and were very open and honest about their experiences.

All the behavior and the sounds have to come from a place of invention as opposed to observation, but you’re still observing people as far as the technical stuff.

PTV: One of the most captivating dynamics in Manhunt Deadly Games is that between Brennan and Richard Jewell, because here’s this man who idolizes what Jack does and yet Jack has to go after him. How would you describe that relationship?

GA: There’s a particular scene early in the series where we interview Richard Jewell, as played by Cameron [Britton]. And the dynamic of that scene—of having someone who is trying to be as helpful as possible, and you put them in a room with a professional interrogator, who believes that they are dealing with someone who is guilty. They’ve come to that conclusion based on their training, and their intuition and instincts, and they’re trying to do the right thing.

Jack’s trying to do the right thing. And to put those two characters in a room together and have them bond and then play that scene out, it’s hard to take your eyes away, certainly from Cameron’s performance, but it’s also quite difficult…It’s one of those scenes, it was exhilarating to play it because there’s so much at stake and you can see things, like watching a slow train crash in a way. You can’t take your eyes off it.

PTV: You do a wonderful job of putting us in Jack’s mind and showing all the different forces that are pulling on him during this case, and the effect that has on him. How were you able to bring that to life so well?

GA: it was there from Andrew [Sodroski] in the writing…You see a bit of a relationship with his father and what that means to him. And as an actor, you’re not going to let that stuff go, which led to probably too many pitches on my part for ideas of how we could keep weaving that in.

But Andrew’s a fantastic writer. He wrote, across the board, these characters with depth. And so really all I had to do is deliver that. But as far as playing the role—I love what I do. I’m very fortunate to get to do it. Hugely lucky to get to be in a career that I enjoy,. But this one was tough in the sense of, I did not enjoy being in the position that Jack was in for a lot of it.

He’s just torn in so many different directions about his moral compass, his instinct, his career aspirations for himself. His instinct to do the right thing by other people, which can lead to making bad decisions by pleasing a boss or something, when it’s not the right move. He keeps coming up against all this very human stuff. I felt very uncomfortable, but it was a trip to play it all.

PTV: Every actor we’ve spoken to about Manhunt Deadly Games has spoken about how the project pushed them or opened their eyes to something. Did you have a moment like that? Did certain scenes or aspects of Jack stick with you?

GA: There’s a scene that I got to perform with Kelly Jenrette, who plays Stacy Knox. It’s almost assumed why Jack joined the FBI, or he makes a light remark about “I didn’t join the FBI to do the wrong thing.” And then he actually turns around and asks her why she joined.

Getting to be part of a scene where Kelly got to tell Stacy’s story in the way she does, and then have that be placed against the stakes of what’s going on for both of those characters at that moment, was really rewarding.

PTV: Was there any part of the show that stood out to you just watching it?

GA: Being on the inside of the process of making people look like they were dressed and in the environments of the nineties, I found really fascinating. The nineties weren’t that long ago. And in my head, I’m like oh yeah, I remember…But then seeing the detail, and then seeing the hundreds and hundreds of background [actors] be at the ’96 Olympics in costume, was amazing. Because you’re like oh no, it was that different. It was like, sweatsuits were like shell suits and they were slightly different.

The detail that went into the production design, and specifically the costumes, as in those suits I was wearing, there’s a lot of hard work and specific work with not a lot of time to play with. I love that stuff. And really, creating worlds is what it’s all about…There’s a whole lot of work that goes into just getting those nineties boxy suits right. And I have to say, I really appreciated [costume designer] Alonzo [Wilson] and his team and everybody for getting that stuff, because it means nothing distracts from all the story.

Manhunt Deadly Games airs back-to-back Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. You can catch up with past episodes on CBS All Access or CBS on Demand.