In the “FBI: Most Wanted” Season 4 premiere, which airs Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 10 p.m., Dylan McDermott’s character Remy Scott goes undercover as a motorcyclist in a case that begins with the murder of an entire family in Georgia.
McDermott told TheWrap that it was his idea for Scott to go undercover, but he didn’t know he’d be playing a badass biker. “That just kind of came down the pipeline, no pun intended,” he says of the episode, which is titled “Iron Pipeline.” “Luckily, I ride motorbikes and motorcycles. So it was perfect.”
And those arm tattoos? Totally real. “They also played pretty well going undercover as a biker because they didn’t rub off,” McDermott said, adding he got his first tat in his 40s.
“I think we have some kickass episodes. It’s a hands-on show and we do not disappoint,” he said of the fourth season, which sees the addition of Edwin Hodge as a new agent who transfers to the Fugitive Task Force after the exit of Miguel Gomez, who played Ivan Ortiz. And Roxy Sternberg’s Sheryll Barnes returns after both her and her character’s maternity leave.
TheWrap: I think Remy really got a kick out of going undercover.
Dylan McDermott: That was one of the things I asked for actually, to see Remy go undercover a few times during the season to create a character within a character. I was really pleased with it, because I think that’s something he’s adept at. And he does have fun doing it. He likes to disappear into a character and sort of go all the way with it.
When he goes undercover without backup, Barnes tells Remy that Jess would never have done anything so reckless.
I think he does live on the edge a little bit. He is a thrill seeker. He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. And you know, he’s on a mission [to stop murderers after the death of his brother.] There’s a fuel there that really keeps me connected, keeps me purposeful in many ways and unafraid. That has been such a great source throughout these 11 episodes I’ve done so far.
There are still some trust issues there with Barnes.
Absolutely. And I like that. That was something that I also talked about with [showrunner] David Hudgins, creating that tension. There are bumps in the road as people are getting used to each other and figuring each other out. It’s not going to happen overnight. And that’s a fun thing to play.
What’s it like working with Edwin Hodge, who shows up in the second episode?
Edwin was terrific. I worked with his brother [Aldis Hodge] years ago on a movie called “The Tenants” with Snoop Dogg. He’s terrific. What a great addition. He’s just so smart and he’s up for anything. He’s funny, and we get along great.
What’s the relationship like between Remy and him?
Remy walks a fine line because he is the leader. And at the same time, he wants to be friends with everybody, but there are certain things he has to do as the boss and sometimes that rubs people the wrong way. But that’s his job. He’s saving lives. And he’s been doing this longer than anybody on the team, so that’s why he’s there.
But he still turns to his colleagues, like Kristin Gaines (Alexa Davalos), to ask their opinion when lives are on the line.
Oh, 100%. He doesn’t know all the answers. A lot of this stuff is on the fly. You have to make quick decisions. There are other people there who know sometimes better than he does, and he will defer to them.
What kind of changes have you brought to the series since you joined last season?
There’s more fun, hopefully, on the show than there was. That’s really my main goal, for everybody to have fun on this show, because this is a dark subject matter. I like to rewrite a few things or ad lib or come up with things. I think it’s important to study the script frontwards and backwards, but at the same time, I like to stay open in the moment, so you can create and that’s an interesting place to live, because it’s a little bit dangerous. When you’re open like that, really good things happen. Since I turned 50 I changed the way I work. I like this a little bit better than the way I was working before.
So you and Remy both like to take chances.
I think so. At this point, we’re tied together. I’m more Remy in my life than I am Dylan because of the amount of hours I work, so he probably has taken over at this point. (Laughs)
“FBI: Most Wanted” airs Tuesdays on CBS.
