“Shades of Blue” star Dayo Okeniyi says that his character, Det. Michael Loman, is grappling with a lot very quickly on the new NBC cop drama.
“He’s in his feels a lot lately,” Okeniyi told TheWrap’s Stuart Brazell during a new installment of “Drinking With the Stars.” His character got into the thick of things right away when he accidentally killed a drug dealer and Det. Santos (Jennifer Lopez) helped him cover it up. Okeniyi says the pacing of the show will not let up as the season continues.
“We shot 13 episodes and each episode is almost true to a day, so the show tends to have that kinetic pace to it,” he said. “Once the ride starts, you really don’t get off that train.”
Okeniyi also addressed the kiss between Lieutenant Matt Wozniak (Ray Liotta) and Donnie (Michael Esper), which set the Internet ablaze when it aired.
“Making the show, we were sure that was going to be something that everybody was going to be very interested in and something that was going to spark conversation,” he said. “But again that’s a character thing. It’s very much at the core of who he is and it will play out as the show goes on. It’s not just a gimmick.”
He also discussed Lopez’s hands on approach as a producer on the show. “When you watch the show, her fingerprint is in everything,” he said. “She knows the script in and out to the point that if you’re doing a scene with her and you throw off a comma or something…she’s very specific about stuff like that.”
“Shades of Blue” airs Thursdays at 10 p.m./9c on NBC.