- In a new interview with Celebrity Extra (part of a larger piece that will be released later this week) Mary McDonnell talks about her character’s long-estranged ex-husband, Jackson Raydor, that Tom Berenger has been brought on to portray.

“We’ve worked together before, so we knew that working together again would be awesome,” she said. “He’s been on the set for the past couple of weeks, and it’s been absolutely great! It is exciting because we learn more about Raydor’s past. As we learn about her and how she deals with this personal relationship in her life, we get a much more revealing picture of the woman. The more I find out about her past, the more I understand her present.”

About the new season, McDonnell also says: “We are about to finish shooting episode No. 5, so we have a good sense of at least the beginning of the season, and I can tell you we’re pretty excited. It’s fantastic. It’s new, and it’s interesting, and it’s complicated. I don’t want to give away too much, but let’s just say there’s a lot to be learned, and it’s been tremendous fun to shoot.”

“Major Crimes police captain ­Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell) is getting a major pain in the keister this season when her estranged husband, Jackson (Tom Berenger), moves in with her starting July 8 for three ­episodes of the TNT drama. “He is ­extremely charming and funny,” says Berenger, who collected an Emmy last year for Hatfields & McCoy’s.

So why did the couple split? It seems that smilin’ Jack has an addictive personality. “He was a big defense lawyer at one point, making big bucks, but he had a drinking problem,” Berenger says. “He quit drinking, but then he started gambling in ­Vegas. He’s ­always out of money and the kids don’t want to talk to him. And now he’s gotten himself back in L.A. on the court-appointed attorney list.”

That’s how he turns up on Raydor’s doorstep, and he’s intent on winning her back. “Jack’s a hopeless romantic who still wears his wedding ring, but she doesn’t,” Berenger says. “He ends up sleeping on the couch.”‘