Graham Patrick Martin: Navigating His Path with Trust and Intuition

By M. Sharpe

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Photo credit: Jason LaVeris/Getty Image

Before joining the cast of Major Crimes, Graham Patrick Martin admits to being a little nervous. “It was really scary at first, because all these actors had been on the show for so long, and they’ve been together and have this already established family. But fortunately everyone was really cool and really inviting, and it made me feel at home. It was great.”

Quite literally the new kid to Major Crimes both on screen and off, Martin also had concerns about how his character, Rusty Beck, would be accepted by audiences, especially in light of how he was introduced. “There was a brief moment where yes, I was concerned, because I knew right off the bat that Rusty butts heads with all of our heroes, all of the Major Crimes division. They’re nice to him, but Rusty is not kind to them, and I knew that people weren’t going to like to see that. But at the end of the day, all I can do is focus on my work, and trust that if I do the best job I can do, I trust that the writers are leading my character in a great direction, that ultimately will be successful.”

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Tony Denison, Graham Patrick Martin and Mary McDonnell. Photo credit: TNT

Martin’s trust and intuition paid off, and for the past two seasons the storyline involving his character has become one of the most talked-about aspects, and series creator James Duff has described the relationship between Rusty and his guardian, played by Mary McDonnell, as “the heart of the show.”

But it almost didn’t happen at all. According to Martin, Rusty was never part of the original plan for Major Crimes, and he was brought on only as a guest star for the final episode of The Closer. “It was really kind of crazy, because it was really supposed to just be that one episode, and halfway through James Duff came up with this idea to spin off the character of Rusty, and he did, and that’s where I stand today, it just never stopped.”

Martin spoke to MajorCrimesTV.net a few days after wrapping filming on season two, and he teased that the last few episodes of the season were “absolutely crazy. The Rusty storyline really picked up, and once we wrapped I did a whole lot of sleeping and a whole lot of catching up.”

Born in Thibodaux, Louisiana, Martin’s first foray into acting came when he was eight years old, and he and his sister expressed an interest in acting. Supportive, his parents sent him and his sister to a performing arts camp in upstate New York every summer. When the family moved to Rochester, New York when he was twelve, Martin’s continuing interest in acting led him to begin traveling to New York City for auditions. A year later the family was planning to move back to Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina hit, and instead relocated to New York City. There he began auditioning in earnest, and getting jobs in commercials.

At fifteen, Martin says his agent encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to audition for bigger roles, but Martin was resistant. “I didn’t want to, but he’s like go on out there, check it out, go on a few auditions. So I came out to LA for the first time for two days, and the first audition I went on was for The Bill Engvall Show.” He got the part on that show and moved to LA. After three seasons there, he spent another three years working on Two and a Half Men, and just as his time on that show was coming to an end, he landed the guest-starring role of Rusty Beck on the final episode of The Closer.

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Graham Patrick Martin and Mary McDonnell. Photo credit: TNT

Along with being pivotal to the prosecution of Phillip Stroh, a story arc from The Closer that still reverberates strongly in Major Crimes, Rusty also became vital in changing the way audiences adapted to Sharon Raydor taking charge. On-screen, it also gave the Major Crimes squad a way to warm up to her as well, says series creator James Duff. “I think, that (her interaction with Rusty) made her likeable to her team. They saw how far she was willing to go to help their witness, and it changed their attitude about her.”

The bond between Rusty and Sharon is something Martin relishes playing. “It’s a really interesting relationship, because Rusty starts off the show desperate to find his mother, and that’s his huge driving force. He doesn’t try to get emotionally connected to anyone in the beginning, because he’s trying too hard to find his mother and get her back. And ultimately, she didn’t. She bailed, and she didn’t come back, so he’s not going to see her again. But then ultimately he ends up finding, what I think, is a better mother, and someone who is going to be there for him, and cares for him and loves him.”

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“I think as the show progresses it really growing to the rest of the cast mates, going to Provenza and everyone else, and you really see everyone’s relationship with Rusty.” Mary McDonnell, GW Bailey and Graham Patrick Martin. Photo credit: TNT

Martin points out that Rusty’s presence hasn’t just given viewers an opportunity to see a different side to Sharon Raydor, but has brought out changes in the dynamics of all the characters. “In terms of it being the heart of the show, I think that starts with Sharon and Rusty, but I think as the show progresses it really growing to the rest of the cast mates, going to Provenza and everyone else, and you really see everyone’s relationship with Rusty. It brings out this different side, because everyone is so used to these hard nose detectives who are so very, very good at their jobs, but I think Rusty really brings out the heart in everybody. Everyone really becomes a family, with the sense of protection over this kid who faced a very tough circumstance, and he winds up being there for them, as well as them being there for him.”

While up until now much of his scenes have been primarily with Mary McDonnell, Martin says that Rusty’s involvement with the action of the show itself is shifting. “If you look at the formula of Major Crimes, they always have the A-story which is the crime, and the B-story which is Rusty, and what’s going on with him. And I think the writers are really brilliant, and they do a great job of making the two stories compliment each other. So even though they might not always be intertwined, they still deal with similar themes and they complement each other, which I think is really great and makes for great television. In terms of down the line, I think that the two stories, between the crimes that go on each week and Rusty’s story line, become closer and closer until they actually merge.”

The focus of this season of Major Crimes has been identity, and one part of Rusty’s identity, his sexuality, has been explored as the season has progressed. “That’s something that’s really interesting to me. It’s something I really didn’t see coming at first, and then James and I had a lot of conversations about it. Rusty’s sexuality has been acknowledged, and it is acknowledged later in this season as well, kind of the same as it has been in the first half of this season. It’s really wild for me, because looking at someone like Rusty, in terms of romantic relationships, Rusty hasn’t had any. And what he has had- and these are James words that I’m stealing- he hasn’t experienced it as an act of love, what he’s experienced has been an act of violence. So his opinions towards his sexuality has been very tough, because he obviously has actual feelings, but at the same time they are all linked to this negativity.

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Rusty finally agrees to talk to a therapist (Bill Brochtrup) in an upcoming episode. Photo credit: Doug Hyun for TNT.

So what I like to say is right now, Rusty is anti-sexual, because there is nothing that’s really appealing about that world to him right now. Now later in the season, maybe we’ll touch on it, and his identity definitely comes into the question, and it’s something he really tries to face, but none of it is positive, it’s all negative. It’s all a very tough thing for Rusty to face, or even acknowledge. And for me it’s really cool, because as a straight actor to try and explore this question, and this really hard thing that Rusty has to face, which is questioning who he is, is really amazing to have an opportunity to do.”

Martin is tight-lipped about who the threatening letters that Rusty has been receiving might be coming from, or how that part of the storyline might resolve. But, he teases that “everything ends up being very closely related towards the end of this next season.”

With Major Crimes returning tonight to TNT to finish its season two run, fans aren’t the only ones eager to see how it all plays out for Rusty. Says Martin, “It will be really fun for me to watch, I know, and I think the audience will find it interesting too, because it’s the two worlds colliding and merging, in very intense and high-risk circumstances.” As for speculation of what might ahead for Rusty in season three, Martin doesn’t know, but he’s confident that he won’t be led astray. “I know that none of it is in my control, and all I can do is represent Rusty as best as I can, and try to do the great writing justice.”

Additional reporting by C. Bullen