When CBS presented a panel for “Hostages” to the Television Critics Association, I asked Dylan McDermott whether he was Derbil McDillet or Dermot Mulronhey, and if it amused him that Mulroney is starring in the NBC hostage show “Crisis.”
McDermott gave me a thumbs up for the McDillet reference and joked that he planned this with Mulroney to confuse people even further. That night I ran into McDermott at the CBS party where I could get an exclusive interview with him about “Hostages.” He plays FBI Special Agent Duncan Carlisle, a man who abducts the family of Dr. Ellen Sanders ( Toni Collette) in order to force her to let the President of the United States die on the operating table. “Hostages” premieres tonight on CBS.
Crave Online: Do you want us to like this character?
Dylan McDermott: You know, when I went into it, I really didn’t think about it that much. I just thought that this man is on a mission and he has something important that he has to do. It hasn’t been revealed yet what that is and why. Now you just think he’s a guy trying to kill the President. I think that I don’t worry about that as much as I once did playing a character. I used to worry about is he likable, what are people going to think of him, blah blah blah. I really don’t think about it that much anymore. I think more about what is the objective of the character. If you like him, great. If you don’t like him then you don’t like him.
When did that stop for you, caring about likability?
I think as you get older, you worry less about what people think and you worry about more what you think, if that makes sense. In maturity, you realize that life is short and really you have to make yourself happy and whatever people are going to think, they’re going to think.
There wasn’t a particular role where you just said, “Forget it?”
No, it was a kind of graduation of self. It was evolving. That’s the great thing about getting older is that you can evolve.
There are great likable villains, but they don’t all have to go that way. So it’s a question of how you approached it.
Well, let me ask you. Did you like him?
You know, I always like a guy with a plan. I’m not saying I want him to win but he sets up a great problem that’s fun to watch. I didn’t know how they were going to resolve the pilot, let alone the series. Does he escalate things in every episode, or is there more of an ebb and flow?
There’s ebb and flow. Although there’s only 15 so it’s going to spike, but we have some time to get to the finale finale. The midseason finale will be there and the finale of the first season.
Is this one of the joys of an actor to be able to go head to head with fellow actors like Toni Collette?
Yeah, I’m a big fan of hers and I’ve been for a long time. She just brings a certain pedigree to television that you really want to be involved in. Those are the people I try to surround myself with.
What is your relationship with the doctor’s family on the show?
He gets to know everybody. He confronts the husband. He saves the daughter in many ways. The son I don’t really have much interaction with in the pilot, but I’m involved in all their lives. It’s scary, but I also am oddly protecting them.
Is his team always loyal, or are there some problems within the ranks too?
We’re going to see some of that in the future.
Your producers said they have ideas for second seasons. Would you be involved in those?
I’m signed up for six and a half years.
Will you get to be on “American Horror Story: Coven?”
I talked to Ryan [Murphy] a couple months ago and we’re still trying to figure it out.
When you made The Messengers with Kristen Stewart, did you know she was going to be huge?
Absolutely, I knew. I’ve done that before. I knew Julia Roberts was going to be huge. I think Kristen was just a matter of time. She wasn’t in the right movie yet, but I knew that the town was going to give her the shot to be in the right movie because she just had the full package.
