When Banshee dropped down on Cinemax in January of 2013, few people knew who Antony Starr was. He had been doing a film in Sydney when he got the script and was largely unknown to American audiences. That quickly changed after Banshee launched into its first ten episode season. As ex-con turned sheriff Lucas Hood, Starr was a revelation that TV addicts hadn’t digested before. He was Rocky with a badge and an edge. Starr’s Hood was a tornado with a smile. He tore through Banshee trying to do good but ended up destroying everything in his path.
Starr combined parts of Steve McQueen, Bruce Willis and Clint Eastwood to create Hood and the character has evolved over the first 30 hours of the series. He has gone from an ex-con wanting diamonds and the love of his life back to being protective of friends and the daughter he didn't even knew he had. Starr hasn’t played much else the past few years, diving completely into the Hood persona instead. The result has been one of the most under appreciated performances on television. Banshee is a treasure, but it is held in check by its anchor, Starr. A day before the Season 4 premiere, I had a chance to speak with the 40 year old New Zealand native about learning to play a physical role, going out on top and how this ride has treated him.
Dan Buffa: I’ve been a big fan of your work ever since your dropped onto the Cinemax scene a few years ago. My first reaction was, “Who is this guy?”
Antony Starr: I know!!! You’ve been such a huge supporter of the show for a long time and we all appreciate it. Thanks very much.
Buffa: Like many, I am going to be sad when it is gone, but I can just go back and watch it again and again.
Starr: The great thing about the show stopping now is that we aren’t going to cough up substandard season that leaves people scratching their heads. Jonathan (Tropper, the show creator) has been very smart about how he has orchestrated the timing of it.
Buffa: Most shows stick around too long. Banshee is going against that.
Starr: I’ve been involved on a show that went one season too far. It does not feel good and it wasn’t received well. People agreed that there was no need. I think it’s a testament to Jonathan’s foresight and strength that he didn’t want his baby to get kicked around and leave people with a sour taste in their mouth.
Buffa: The last four years you have ate, slept and breathed Lucas Hood. How has this ride been for you?
Starr: It’s pretty intense. It’s a crazy show to make. When I started it, I was doing a drama in Sydney. The change was insane. I had done a couple stunts before, like throwing a punch. When I read the first script, I loved it but I saw the drama. I saw it as a love story. I’m an actor, right? I didn’t look at the stunt sequences. They were huge and got bigger and bigger. It took on a new form and found its identity. We jumped into the deep end. It was intense and very rewarding. I had to learn very quickly how to do a lot of new things. It was so ambitious. Whenever you have that intensity, the people bond really tightly. It became a (messed up) family really quick. Good times, bad times but overall it’s been a helluva ride.
Buffa: Season 3 left Lucas in some bad shape. He needed all the whiskey in Pennsylvania. Siobhan’s death, Job’s kidnapping and fighting a pair of monsters in Chayton and Stowe. Is there any hope for Hood in Season 4 or is he still going to be a sad driven mess?
Starr: That’s the question of Season 4. I’m a believer in not answering questions and putting them out there. For Hood, where do you go from here? He’s lived by a moral code since he got out of prison and it’s there for the right reasons. That has had tragic consequences for those around him. He has to face the music. It’s a much more internalized conflict in Season 4. There’s still a lot of action, but others characters are taking the heat. I had a much more internalized journey in Season 4, which I really loved and wanted. I think we were owed that.
There’s always been a level of truth. When you think about the events you listed and we are only talking 6-8 months in terms of the show’s world, your question is exactly what should be asked. What now? There has to be consequence. Season 4 is all about that. Seasons 1-3 was Hood looking out at the world. Season 4 is him looking in. Can he be a part of this world? Should he be a part of the world or which people should he be around? The whole season is really about, “Where to from here?”
Buffa: The show has always been about consequence. I loved the episode in Season 3 where it sort of went back in time and showed what if this happened at the bar in the pilot instead of what did happen.
Starr: Yeah. I would call that moment reflection. The consequences have always been external. There’s always been an eye for an eye. Truth for truth attitude. The guy that shot Emmett at the end of Season 2…
Buffa: Hondo.
Starr: Yes! There’s always been this biblical sense of justice on the show. Old testament, when God was a real rock n’ roller. All fire and brimstone and the good stuff. It’s always been external. The ramifications of his actions come home to roost in Season 4. We’ve always had an emotional core set up. For an action show, it’s pretty deep. The flexibility was there to go pretty dark in Season 4 and we did. Knowing it was the last season that was the only way to go. At some point, Hood has to stay still and face it all. He’s always been a man of action. What happens when a man of action has to stand still? That is what Season 4 is all about.
Buffa: There’s only much ace bandage wrap to go around for Hood and that wrist?
Starr: Ah, the wrist. It’s better in Season 4. The damage is not just external this time. It’s internal.
Buffa: Adam told me in September that I wasn’t going to see what was coming and the reveal knocked me down. Now that Lucas isn’t a cop, he is doing more detective work than he ever did as sheriff.
Starr: Ironically, yes he is. That whole “where to now” question. We turned a negative into a positive when shooting locations switched. Tax incentives changed in Charlotte so we switched to Pittsburgh. Finally, we are in the right neighborhood. It’s a different show in a lot of ways. The physical change was an opportunity to make sweeping changes across the board. We had OC Madsen, Jonathan and Adam Targum running the show this year, so there’s a tonal shift as well. It has a more urban feel. The pacing is slightly different. It feels like we aren’t afraid to adjust the page. It doesn’t always have to be foot to the floor. More quiet and more introspection. Slightly different lens on the show. I think it’s great.
Buffa: When Hood is walking through the station in episode one and looking around, the whole audience is with you in a way, discovering a world for the first time.
Starr: There’s a whole new world. It shifted gears from Season 3 to Season 4. We were lucky to have this creative team. OC has been our best director, hands down, from day 1. Having him onboard full time was great. He has that Danish sensibility and take on the show. Having him around has a huge effect on the show.
Buffa: Banshee shoots like a film over 4-6 months and then the cast gets to experience it with the fans. How is that interacting on Twitter?
Starr: It’s great. We have a very passionate fanbase. I am not massively huge on social media. The fans of Banshee are true fans and we are lucky in that respect. The other cast members are better at it than I am. I am a bit useless. I try. I’m 40. I don’t know what I am doing. Interacting with them is a way of giving back. Like yourself. Fans of this show are very intense and it’s great to chat with them.
Buffa: I didn’t see this show coming and now it ranks as my favorite because I can watch it for the fifth time and get something fresh out of it.
Starr: It’s pretty stacked. Initially, Jonathan wrote it as an action series. We’ve talked about it. He never intended for the show to have a dramatic feel. He quickly realized what the cast had to offer. Having the drama at the core makes it more compelling. It gives you that ability to go back and rewatch. There’s a lot packed into the episodes. It’s great to be a part of something so multi-faceted.
Buffa: The show has largely tilted off the Hood versus Proctor story thread. Will these two collide in Season 4?
Starr: Yeah for sure they will lock horns. The funny thing is they are the most similar characters on the show. The two sharks or wolves circling each other. There’s a mutual respect. It’s going to come to a head. It’s a funny relationship. Love and hate. Ulrich is so much fun to work with because you never know what’s going to happen. He has his own way of looking at the world and goes to the beat of his own drum so that makes it really interesting to do scenes with him.
Once he was cast, the show was always going to have this villain at its heart that wasn’t quite like anything you’ve seen before. Jonathan has said that the character was meant to be huge and menacing. When they cast Ulrich, they abandoned that and went to something more dark, sinister and compelling. There’s something charming about Proctor. Having a villain like that is gold for a show like this. Season 4, everyone is going to love what comes between he and I.
Buffa: Before you go, I want to say that the moment between you and Proctor in Season 1 after the MMA fight where you limp out of The Forge towards Proctor still ready to fight was my official all in commitment to this show.
Starr: That was one of my audition scenes. That scene is a huge clue into the character and the show. It’s reflected in every facet of the show. This inability to give up. The spirit that won’t die. That was one of the aspects I had to come up with. I’m not a real brawny guy. How am I going to be taking on four opponents? I know a guy like this back at home, who reminds me of Bigby in Trainspotting. You’d meet him and wouldn’t think anything of him but he’s a bit of a red mister or berserker. Hood doesn’t care about himself and it’s hard to fight someone who is ready to die. This character has this inability to give up and has this resolve. It’s a pit bull fighting to the death. So that scene with him walking out all beaten up with the chips being down and still wanting to fight was a huge clue into this character.
When you watch Starr play Hood, you can tell this guy went full immersion with this character. He gave all of himself to a role and for a fan of the show that means a lot. Nobody likes a half measure when a full push could turn something that looks ordinary into a special experience. Starr is going to grace CBS television screens this summer on the new series American Gothic, but for me he will always be Lucas Hood. Some would call that a pigeon hole or limitation. I call it a special performance that will live on for decades.
