Since 2021, the USA Network has stacked its range with reality TV shows and sports, entirely given up on the original and scripted programming. Fans of “costumes”, “white collar” and “monk” were left with only memories of the narration of the week of these programs. But Friday, the network returns to Scripted TV with the legal thriller “The Rainmaker”.
If the title seems familiar, it is because it is based on the 1995 novel by John Grisham, which was adapted for the first time in the star film Matt Damon 1997 directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In this “Rainmaker”, British actor Milo Callaghan plays Rudy Baylor. This is the leading first role for Callaghan, who had previously played recurring characters in shows like “Dune: Prophecy” by HBO and “The Spanish Princess” by Starz.
Baylor is fresh out of the law faculty and about to start working in the largest state law firm, managed by Leo F. Drummond (John Slattery). On the first day, Baylor was dismissed after having challenged Drummond at a meeting. Desperate for work, he takes a job in a small ambulance hunting business that works in a former joint in Taco. His boss is Jocelyn “Bruiser” Stone (Lana Parrilla, in an exchange of genre of the film where Mickey Rourke had the role). She is intelligent, confident and is not afraid to use her sex appeal to get what she wants. The first big case of Rudy takes him against the large fantasy law firm who let him leave – and his girlfriend who still works there.
Callaghan told the Associated Press on learning the legislator while making a Memphis accent and familiar with source equipment. The responses are modified for more clarity and conciseness.
AP: Have you watched the film “The Rainmaker”?
Callaghan: I watched it when I was distributed. Matt Damon is someone that every young actor admired. I wanted to be aware of the work he did. I mean, it was also a coppola film, so I was excited to see it. And then I may have given it as a 20-minute thought and focused on the script because it is different and I think we have 10 hours of television to explore this character. We go on a road more enriched than the film.
AP: Have you also read the novel and did it help find your version of Rudy?
Callaghan: Yes. It is a thriller at a slow rhythm, really, but fantastic. And there is this part, it must be around 100 pages, of him who is preparing for this case for months and months and months. So I never wanted it to be the out -of -hand genius. It was as if it was a situation that should be honored to some extent. Like, you can be a fantastic lawyer, but you can’t do it without grinding and transplant. We had major scenes where we worked late at night.
AP: learning your lines to play a lawyer did you also work late?
Callaghan: You prepare a courtyard of the court, and it’s eight pages, and it’s a deposition. And you know it and you worked there and you are ready to fall asleep, and it is a quarter at midnight, and you have an e-mail saying: “We rewritten this scene and we pull it at 8 am” and you say to yourself: “Not only do I relear it all, but I have to go up the dialect to make sure it’s waterproof.” It was definitely an additional component that I probably lost a little sleep.
AP: You are also British and Rudy Baylor is from Tennessee. How did you lose your accent and master a south?
Callaghan: work consistent with an excellent dialogue coach. I remember that I arrived on the first day and I was running lines with PJ Byrne, who plays the deck, and he looks at me a little funny. He said to himself, “Why are you talking like that?” I said to myself, “What do you mean? Because we are starting to film in three days.” I pronounced everything phonetically because that was that I learned. I had to work to bring him back to such a natural place. For a film, you could get out of it, but for 10 hours of television, it must be light, it must be fast, it must be at hand.
AP: Was there a word that caused you problems?
Callaghan: “North City Hospital”. It was the most difficult thing. I said to myself, “Why did you call it?” I brought all this legislator descended, then “North City Hospital” pulled me to the foot each time.
AP: There are also differences between British and American law. Have you studied American law?
Callaghan: I followed great tests, like the whole OJ Simpson murder trial And The Gwyneth Paltrow trial. And also obscure tests. I studied lawyers and their discourse models and the way they are addressed to the court. We don’t really have the same kind of pop star element in the legal system like: “It is the guy who represented this person and this person.” Study is fascinating.
