Wire-Tapping with Fringe's Lance Reddick

Lance Reddick has played Matthew Abaddon, the mysterious and malevolent Lost orderly, and Philip Broyles, the mysterious and benevolent (we think?) Fringe FBI boss. But he's most known for Cedric Daniels, The Wire's Machiavellian police captain who knew how to work the system to get things done—and we mean Machiavellian in the best possible way.

Reddick began his performing career as a pianist and vocalist, studying classical composition at Rochester's Eastman School of Music. He then left Eastman to play popular music, using acting to get his name out. He ended up attending the Yale School of Drama and went on to several major theater roles and parts on shows like Law and Order and Oz. After that came The Wire—and you know the rest.

We talked to Reddick about the J.J. Abrams experience, The Wire experience, and why his cop-boss characters are so mysterious, authoritative, and slick.

TV.com: First things first. Are you coming back to Lost for the final season?
Lance Reddick: I don't believe so.

Do you still follow the show?
No, I don't—to be honest, I don't watch much television. I mean, I didn't even watch The Wire until we were in the middle of shooting our third season.

You've worked on two different J.J. Abrams shows. What's the biggest difference between the two experiences?
The biggest difference has more to do with where the shows are in their lifespan than anything else. The first season of Lost that I did, they were in their fourth season. So it was very much a well oiled machine and it was very smooth. [On] Fringe, [or on] the first season of any show, particularly a network show, it's finding itself. So it was a lot more frenetic. The other thing is that [in] the first season [of Fringe], we were experimenting with fewer commercial breaks. So the show was actually longer than most network shows. There was a lot of experimenting in terms of how long the scripts needed to be. So, particularly at the beginning, there was a lot of over-writing and over-shooting and then having to go back and re-shoot things to fix it up. That made it kind of hectic. But now the show has found what it is and who the characters are.

The characters that you're known for, Cedric Daniels and Philip Broyles, are really stern, serious guys. How do you create that kind of character and how do you bring an element of humanity to him?
Each guy is different. It's funny, because up until I did Daniels, the vast majority of my career, on screen at least, has been as a dramatic character actor. The only two series regulars that I did back to back are the first two guys that are similar in form and function. But in each case, I had to understand the details of the guys.

With Daniels in particular, I got into his physicality. In the first season of The Wire, when we were shooting the pilot, all of us had opportunities to spend some time with people who would be our counterparts in real-world Baltimore. I spent a day interviewing and riding around with a narcotics lieutenant... There were a few things I'll never forget that this [lieutenant] said to me. One, he said, "You have to be like a father to these guys." Sometimes you have to be stern and sometimes you have to be compassionate. Another thing is to lead from the front. Even though I'm a lieutenant, I'd be the first one through the door.

He also talked about a dirty cop and his experience arresting a guy. When they arrested him, they broke into his bedroom and he was the first guy in and the guy went to reach for his gun and he said, "Please do it, because I would love nothing more than to blow you away, because I fucking hate dirty cops." So all of those things figured into Daniels.

You always try to gather things from the script, particularly the pilot. With Broyles, right away I took that he was ex-military, probably Marine. I wondered what that was like, since I've never been in the military. I thought about men that I have met who've been in the military... The layperson so often doesn't understand that so many career military leaders are intellectuals, students of military history. For me that was a big part of who who Broyles is.

The "Gray Matters" episode focused on Broyles. Do you think we'll see another episode like that this season?
This season, I doubt it. Maybe next season.

Is there anything major in store for Broyles for the remainder season?
Actually, I don't know. All I know is that I've been told that my character figures very heavily into what's coming. What's happening between the two universes.

Yeah! There's this showdown that's supposed to happen between Walter Bishop (John Noble) and William Bell (Leonard Nimoy). How do you feel about this season so far? What do you think is going to happen now that Peter's (Joshua Jackson) secret is out?
I mean, we've known [about Peter] for awhile. It's just knowing that someone besides Walter knows it now... The question is, what is that going to do to his relationship with Walter? And once Walter's relationship with Peter changes, how is that going to change Walter's character? In some ways, I feel like Walter has become—even more than Olivia (Anna Torv)—the central character of the show. He's become the thing around which the entire show revolves.

Fringe has a pretty dark theme. What's the on-set mood like? Is it a happy set or a serious set?
The only time I've ever been on a serious set has been when people don't get along. But [ours is] a pretty gregarious set. Unless things are tense, and that's more often a question of time constraints, because our show is so complicated... It's just a funny mix, because it's got all this action in it. But at the same time, it'll have dramatic dialogue. It can be complicated to shoot it well, so we can have very long days. And then things can get kind of tense, particularly toward the end of the week.

This season, the "Snakehead" episode in particular grossed me out. Does that ever happen to you with all of the crazy props and makeup?
I have to admit that one was pretty icky. I remember when we were on the beach with the bodies, it was really cold and raining. There were all these extras mixed in with mannequins. Somebody would be lying there dead and then they'd move and I would jump! And when we got to the scene where Walter's pulling this thing out of this guy's mouth, oh God, that was gross... John [Noble] loves that stuff. He's a real card. He's got a wacky sense of humor.

What was it like to work with Jim True-Frost again in the "Jacksonville" episode after working together on The Wire?
It was great. I hadn't seen Jim for several years. We got to go to dinner and spend a little time together.

When you were making The Wire, did you have any sense of how important it would become once people started watching it?
I will only say this. Eighty percent of my career, since I've been out of school, has been films. When I got out of school, I never wanted to do television. I wanted to do theater and film, which is pretty typical, I think, of theater actors. For me, TV was always a stepping stone to do movies... But it was the first pilot that I ever read that I thought, "I have to be on this show. I don't care what character it is." It was so complicated, I didn't even know what character I should be and when I read the pilot, it didn't even dawn on me that I'd be even right for Daniels. I couldn't even tell how major the character was. The only character that I could tell that was really important was McNulty (Dominic West).

I read that you actually auditioned for Bubbles, too?
I auditioned for Bubbles (Andre Royo) and Bunk (Wendell Pierce). I auditioned for Bunk twice and then on my third audition... David said, "Take a look at Bubbles." They asked me to read Bubbles on the spot. I think that was because I played a crackhead in The Corner. At first they wouldn't see me for Daniels and then, after they passed on me for Bubbles, I thought that was the end of my association with the show. And then they called me back at the last minute to read for Daniels and passed on me for Daniels, because they were trying to find a name. And then they came back to me and offered me the role.

You released a jazz album, Contemplations and Remembrances in 2008. Do you think you'll ever be able to tour?
It's been online, but I'm actually working to do an official release in a few months. I would consider [touring]. It's tricky because I'm also looking to try to get a couple of movies produced [during the Fringe hiatus]. But it's definitely something I want to do.

Fringe returns on Thursday, April 1 at 9pm on Fox.