In a new interview with TVLine.com, Emmy-winner Tom Berenger talks about his upcoming 3-episode arc as Jackson Raydor, the estranged husband of Captain Sharon Raydor.
TVLINE | So tell me, under what circumstances do we first meet Jackson?
He suddenly appears in the kitchen in the house of his estranged wife, in the middle of the night. He still has a key. She thinks it’s a burglar, intruder or something in there, so she gets her police weapon and heads down the hallway, only to find me in there putting away groceries.
TVLINE | How would you describe their marriage? It would seem like “complicated” doesn’t begin to cover it.
Yeah, it was complicated. They were very much in love and very much attracted to each other when they met. And he was probably a pretty good attorney too, so she was impressed by his professionalism and all that. He did have a drinking problem, which he overcame, but he still gambles. And as this begins he has just returned from Vegas, where he was living – and which is not a good place for gambling.
TVLINE | They just decided to put some distance between each other?
I think they had little bickering sessions, but they’re not too heated. They’re sort of always charmed and amused by each other. And then they, you know, just separated. Their [two] kids are grown up, living on their own…. They don’t get divorced, because I guess they’re both extremely Catholic. And they just never got around to it, I suppose.
TVLINE | What’s his take on the Rusty situation?
Well, it’s funny because he immediately takes to him and starts teaching him card games and tricks and stuff. [Sharon] notices that he is sort of spending more time with Rusty than he did with his own children, who are now grown up and on their own, so she makes him call his son [and] you see one scene at the end of the episode where he’s just a nervous wreck about it.
TVLINE | It sounds like you have some good verbal volleying with Miss Mary McDonnell.
Oh yeah, absolutely. And I think the good thing is it comes off sort of as comic relief. And certainly a break from the homicide.
TVLINE | Is there still a spark between the two of them?
I think we were kind of playing it that way, but only the writers know where this can go. I did a three-episode arc, and beyond that it’s up to them.
Read the whole interview here.
