Rob Kirkland is not only a prolific actor, having appeared in various popular series since his debut on General Hospital in 2002, he is also a veteran of Taylor Sheridan's series in particular. After first arriving on the scene in the season 2 episode of Yellowstone entitled "Enemies By Monday," his character Bill Ramsey is set to return to the world of the infamous Duttons this season.
But first, he is about to shake up Sheridan's new Paramount+ series Mayor of Kingstown, which airs a new episode tonight. In a world of rampant corruption and prison system horrors, Kirkland plays Captain Walter, a man who tries to be on the right side of the moral conundrum but doesn't always know the best way to go about it.
Kirkland spoke to Screen Rant about why he finds Sheridan's work so gripping, the research he puts into his characters, and what it's like to share the screen with icons like Jeremy Renner and Kevin Costner.
You've obviously worked with Taylor Sheridan before, having been on Yellowstone a few years back. Was Mayor of Kingstown brought to you or did you audition? How did you make your way back into the Sheridan-verse?
Rob Kirkland: Taylor offered it to me. This will be a good story. I was talking to Taylor last year, when I went in and did season 4 of Yellowstone - I've been keeping this secret for a year. He calls me up and we talked for maybe about an hour about nothing to do with TV. We just talked about life and stuff, and we had a good conversation. And at the end of the conversation, he goes, "Did you get the pages yet?"
I hadn't gotten them yet, but when I got the script, and read it, it was one of those things where I just jumped up. I was like, "Whoa, I can't believe this is happening." I went and shot it, did that, still can't believe it's happened, and I can't wait to talk about it.
Then around the start of the year, a couple of my friends had heard about Kingstown and had read the pilot. They're like, "Kirkland, you need to reach out to Sheridan and talk to him about this show." I was like, "You don't understand what him and I just talked about, and what's going to be happening for my character in Yellowstone from season 5 and beyond." That's great, and I'm excited. I'm not going to call him up to ask him. He's got a lot of stuff on his plate.
My reps reached out to me said, "We got a casting contact asking us to do an avail check." So, I got a copy of the script, and I was like, "Oh, damn. This is cool." Then I called Taylor, and when he called me back, he said, "Here's what we're doing for Kingstown. I had this character in mind for you, but we've just got to figure this out because of the quarantine in Canada." Because they're really strict about the quarantine. And in the midst of that, too, he also had 1883 that they already had in development. That thing is a juggernaut.
Anyway, we talked about what he's looking to say in Yellowstone, and why he's positioning me the way that he is and Yellowstone. And then he said, "This is what we're going to be doing in Kingstown, and this is what the show is trying to say." Knowing him for the time that I have and reading it, I felt that's where he was coming from. He's such a great writer, and not just in the economy with which he writes and the characters that are so well-developed, but also in the subtext. There is clearly something implicit in the overall arc of the story he does, with every character, if you just give it space to let it rise to the surface.
It's great, we really talk about the prison industrial complex, and how it is systemic. It's going to explore systemic racism without having to talk about systemic racism, in the sense that there are still the byproducts of how it was set up, and how people are participating in a system that is falling apart. And people are participating in that system maybe even unconsciously; a lot of people unconsciously have become part of certain things that were set up before they even got in the mix.
That's why I got into this, to work with passionate storytellers and to be part of stories that are far bigger than me. It was three months up in Toronto with a cast and a crew who are extraordinary.
We've had several weeks to marinate in the world of Kingstown, the prison industrial complex and the inequalities therein. When we meet Captain Walter, where does he fit into this world and into unconscious proliferation of these biases and this unfair system?
Rob Kirkland: That's a great question. Taylor gave me a lot of room, to be honest, with shaping this character. He has an idea of where he wants the characters to go, and that's great because you want a director or showrunner that has that. But at the same time, he's giving you that room.
With Captain Walter, I brought him in as someone who wanted to make a difference and still feels like he's making a difference. If he wasn't doing this, what else would he be doing? That's always the thing I like to do with my characters. If Walter wasn't doing this, he'd be a civil rights attorney. This guy came up in this area, and his dad was maybe a James Baldwin type guy. He came up in Motor City, he was influenced by James Baldwin - and what I like to call aggressive pragmatism. What would this guy be like?
He doesn't see himself as a good guy in this situation, but I think some of the people on the force see him that way. He's himself, and he's just trying to keep the wheels from falling off. He's obviously got a rapport with a lot of the people that he works with, and he feels that he gets it, but he doesn't know what to do about it. He feels a lot of the people around him are - I don't want to say "caught up in the system," but it's overwhelming. It's such a huge thing.
Walter is here saying, "You know what? I still can make a difference." But there's that conflict now, after 20 years on the force, where he's asking himself, "Have I become part of the machine? Which side of the fence am I actually on?" That's how I was approaching Captain Walter through this season. "Am I actually on the right side of the fence?" I figured that would be a good place to start.
Is there any dynamic or relationship that you're most excited for fans to witness when it comes to Walter?
Rob Kirkland: There's the dynamic between Walter and Ian, who's played by Hugh Dillon, the co-creator of the show. My opening scene is such a great introduction for this character. I'm in this room with Hugh, Jeremy [Renner], Taylor [Handley] and Derek [Webster] because stuff is escalated.
There's a particular part of the universe that my character, as a captain, oversees. It has a lot to do with Aidan Gillen's character, who plays Milo, and the stuff that's going on becomes a little bit more more higher profile - which is when they come to Captain Walters. When stuff gets to that level, they come and see me.
The dynamic between Ian and me is fantastic because, you see on the show, he wants things to go his way all the time. And Hugh plays that guy so well; you just never know when he's going to just pop. Whereas Walter is more constant - Hugh said, "You're like this constant that allows me to just tornado around." So, the scenes that him and I have are so much fun because Walter is the wall that doesn't move, and it doesn't matter how much crap is flying at him. I think that's what keeps him on the path of being in the middle. I'm excited for people to see that dynamic, because it comes off the page really nicely.
But I love working with all of the actors. The stuff with Jeremy [who plays Mike] and I is a lot of fun. I think there's a history there between the two of us, for sure, because his brother was on my unit. There is a real history there, but I don't have that level of trust for Mike. There's always that thing, which I brought into my pre-work with the character and which I think is implied in the writing, where there's more of a camaraderie with the other officers. With me, there's a relationship, but I've always got one eye open.
I haven't seen anything outside of what I did for ADR and a couple things for episode 10 yesterday - that was the first time I've even seen my characters' dailies - so we'll see how it plays. But coming off the page, there is a respect and appreciation that my character has for Mike, but there's also a slight distrust. It's kind of like that with everyone. Being in the investigative unit, all of Walter's officers are under investigation as far as he's concerned. There's a loyalty they, and he'll go down for his men and women, but he doesn't 100% trust any of them.
Basically, there's some great dynamics popping up there. Also with Hamish [Allan-Headley], who plays Robert, that relationship's pretty cool. It was different than I think either one of us had in mind. I think that's the one person that he might actually trust the most. Because Robert will do whatever needs to be done, but Walter knows where he stands. On the page, it might have read a little more adversarial, especially when we come together in episode 10. But I was like, "Oh, something different happens. It's a different dynamic."
I think fans will enjoy those three dynamics, because those are the three people I interact with the most. They'll get a little something out of that.
Over on Yellowstone, can you say what Bill has been up to between seasons? Without spoiling, of course.
Rob Kirkland: You're going to see Bill in episode 9. I can say that Bill and John [Dutton] have a couple of scenes, and Taylor described it as DeNiro and Pacino in Heat. And I remember when he said that, I choked on my drink of water. "Am I DeNiro or Pacino?" But I've got to set that aside and go toe to toe.
But what I can say about Bill is that John is going to have to keep an eye on his affairs and on Bill. People that are fans of John Dutton might not be a big fan of Bill Ramsey in season 5. Bill Ramsey might be the one to crush a lot of John Dutton's big dreams.
[Coming up,] my scene ties in with Piper Perabo. Even though Piper and I didn't work together, part of the reason why John comes to see me is Piper's character Summer.
Finally, what are your plans outside of the Sheridan-verse? Are you working on any other projects?
Rob Kirkland: Is there anything outside the Sheridan-verse? He was like, "I'm gonna be keeping you very busy." And it's a blessing. I found myself saying no to opportunities last year, those quote "career making" things you hear about, to work on these two shows.
I'm sure I'm going to have other things that I really want to do next year, but I probably won't really want to do them as much as they want to do Yellowstone and Kingstown. But we'll see what we can make work.
There are other projects that I'm looking at, for sure. There are other long term plans, and there's some Marvel-ous stuff I would like to do. [Laughs] I've been putting that seed out there about a very Blue Marvel character I would like to play.
Let's start the campaign now!
Rob Kirkland: Rob Kirkland for Adam Brashear! [Laughs] And then I've got some projects that I've written, and I've been a filmmaker of shorts for a while. There are a couple of features that I have been developing, and that I'm looking to move forward with and getting some great traction on. That keeps me busy, writing keeps me busy, jujitsu keeps me busy. All that keeps me in and out of the world, so I don't get all consumed about acting.
I just look at it as storytelling, and however I can be of service to a great story. Right now it's as an actor, and I feel very appreciative of those opportunities. I feel fortunate that there's a lot on my plate, but there's room for more. But I'm excited for people to watch more of Mayor of Kingstown. Because where this story's going is gonna blow people's minds by the time they get to episode 10. And where Yellowstone is going too. I'm very, very excited.
Mayor of Kingstown airs new episodes every Sunday on Paramount+, while Yellowstone airs Sunday nights on Paramount+.