.png)
22 hours ago
14 ARTICLE AD
SPOILER ALERT! This story contains details about the debut of Prime Video’s On Call.
Eriq La Salle would like to gently remind his fans that he never actually went anywhere.
Though he hasn’t done regular series television since hanging up his scrubs as Dr. Peter Benton in 2009, La Salle for the last 17 years has been firmly embedded in the “Wolf camp” — the nickname for Dick Wolf‘s vast empire of cop, fire and medical shows. Ever since he made his episodic TV directing debut on Special Victims Unit in 2007, La Salle has played a behind-the-scenes role in Wolf’s primetime lineup, from serving as an executive producer on Chicago PD to directing multiple episodes of Chicago Justice, Chicago Med, Law & Order, L&O Organized Crime and FBI.
“It’s a camp that is a bit of a meritocracy where if you prove yourself, they give you a lot of respect and support and allow you to grow within the company,” La Salle tells Deadline.
As part of La Salle’s deal with NBC-Universal, La Salle was asked to help usher the Wolf camp into the streaming world, which was how On Call — Prime Video‘s action-packed police drama series that dropped today — was first conceived. From Tim Walsh and Elliot Wolf, On Call stars Troian Bellisario and Brandon Larracuente as a veteran officer and rookie duo who patrol the streets of Long Beach, CA. In addition to serving as one of two directors on the series, La Salle plays Sgt. Lasman, a hardened vet of the police force.
“It was just right on my alley. I love the originality of the storytelling. I love the characterization, love the writing,” La Salle tells Deadline. “I think this show is a hybrid. It feels like a pseudo documentary. It feels like cinéma vérité. It’s got so many different elements to it. Is there a show that exists with all of these elements? I don’t know. The key thing now is finding originality. They say that there are really only eight stories that exist in Hollywood, and they just sort of keep getting retold. Well, if that’s true, and maybe it is, I think we just have to find original ways. I liked the fact that we were able to do that and we’re all very, very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish.”
Here, La Salle talks about his decision to return to acting, the show’s unique use of body-cam, dash-camera and cellphone footage, and why he supported the idea of casting Lori Loughlin at as a police lieutenant.
DEADLINE Was the discussion always to have On Call based in Long Beach?
ERIQ LA SALLE Yes. Dick Wolf has conquered New York and he has conquered Chicago. He did one show in LA that he wasn’t pleased with. During the years that I was doing Chicago P.D., he would come out for the Christmas party. I remember one year I cornered him and said, ‘Dick, please do a show in LA.’ I wanted to be home. I was thankful for the job in Chicago, but I was like, I want to be home. I want to sleep in my own bed. He was like, ‘yeah, it doesn’t quite work, and blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada.’ That was years ago. His son, Elliot, came up with the idea of Long Beach because it is unlike LA. New York, Chicago and LA are all overshot at this point. With Long Beach, we can explore a whole new area and the diversity of the community. It’s just offers more original storytelling. There hasn’t been a big show that has shot in Long Beach about Long Beach. And the city really welcomed us. They aren’t tired of Hollywood people. I thought it was a brilliant idea. And I got to sleep in my own bed.
DEADLINE Obviously, in the Wolf camp you’ve directed a lot of cop & legal shows. What feels different about this compared to the others?
LA SALLE I directed the pilot of On Call, and the reason I bring that up is because it was an opportunity to establish the look and tone of a show. As I started developing a reputation as a director, I was known as sort of a Mr. Fix It. I would come into shows and help elevate them. Sometimes I would help find shows that hadn’t quite found their groove yet. But I always wanted to originate what the tone should be, what the standard should be, instead of fixing other people’s things. So I was very passionate about this opportunity. There was no real formula for this. I mean, the show is a bit of a hybrid.
DEADLINE The first few minutes of the pilot are especially angst-ridden when we see Monica Raymund’s character pull over some gangsters. You can sense pretty quickly how nothing good is going to come from that!
LA SALLE That is the goal of the show, to solicit exactly that feeling. We’re putting the viewers right there and making the show feel more interactive instead of it just being a different type of voyeurism. I think in general, we’ve grown accustomed to watching television from a very safe point of view from our living room, and there’s something detached about it. We’re trying to create point of views and camera styles that force you to come a little closer.
DEADLINE Why the decision to go with the half-hour format?
LA SALLE It’s actually not original. It’s a throwback to dramas that were a half-hour like Adam 12 and Dragnet. I think that with the landscape of what’s happening in the entertainment industry right now, people are trying to find more economical ways to tell great stories. After Netflix had its moment a couple of years ago when it realized that it had been overspending, the entire industry shifted as a result. Now everyone is trying to say if this is going to be a sustainable industry, we have to become more innovative in our budgeting and how we tell stories. They still want the big thrills, the compelling storytelling, but they want it now for a lot less. The one thing I will say about this show is that it feels like an hour. This feels longer than it is for the right reasons.
DEADLINE A question about your character, Sgt. Lasman. Is he potentially problematic or is he just exhausted with how much policing has changed over the years?
LA SALLE He is both of those. I was talking to Tim Walsh, the showrunner, and he said something very interesting. He said my character represents people’s rush to judgment without having all the facts. We are at a point in society where it’s so easy to do that. We’re trying to use that as an interesting way of storytelling, to let you think something about a character before all of the facts are in. As the season goes on, and particularly toward the end, let’s just say what you think you’re seeing is not what you’ve been seeing.
DEADLINE You immediately seem at odds with Bellisario’s character. Are you trying to get her fired?
LA SALLE It’s not so much that I want her [fired], it’s just that you will find out later that something happened. Just as I am being judged in some ways before you know who my character is, my character is also guilty of judging Trojan’s on things that he’s not a 100% clear about. My character is an old school cop. One of the many sub-themes of this show is about the right way to police. Is it this new way? Is it this old way? Is it something in between? Some faults can be found on both sides. In the second episode, something happens that has ramifications in some of the later episodes, and that’s based on the new way of policing. Obviously, some of the old ways of policing definitely need to be examined more. This is not a pro-cop show, nor is it an anti-cop show. It’s just a show that’s focused on people in very difficult jobs trying to find difficult answers to very difficult questions.
DEADLINE You were very supportive of Lori Loughlin joining the cast at Lt. Bishop. Why?
LA SALLE I worked with Lori back in the ’90s and had such a great time with her. From a creative point of view, I love casting people in roles that you would not normally see them in. I think you get the best out of the actor. If you give an actor who’s known for being a goody two shoes something bad and juicy, they’re so hungry for that. From a creative point of view, you get the most out of actors because you’re giving them the sustenance that they have been really hungry for a major part of their career. As an actor, I know what that feels like. I think she delivers in abundance.
DEADLINE It was great seeing you back in series TV. Do you get that question a lot? Like, why haven’t we seen you more?
LA SALLE Yes, I do. Obviously I’m honored by it. When this was announced, so many people were like, ‘Hey, it’s going to be so great to see you back in front of the camera.’ I don’t have to have these huge leading roles. Those are so rare and few and far between for a middle aged African-American male, in particular. If I were just dependent on being an actor, my journey as an artist would be very different. But I get to pick and choose. I get to sustain myself doing another form of art that I love and I’m passionate about. And then when something juicy comes up, like how I did a Hallmark movie with Gloria Reuben a couple of years just to have fun because on ER, we were always so serious. So we did this cute little love story, because we weren’t allowed to express that side of us on ER. The writers did not write to African-Americans having this type of romance. They didn’t write the same way they wrote for our white counterparts who were going on dates, doing all these great things. And we were like, ‘Hey, people of color do that, too.’ They never quite got that. And so years later, it was just something Hallmark called up and said, ‘Hey, would you like to do this movie with Gloria? It’s light, it’s fun.’ So I do things for different reasons, but the beauty of it is right now I’m at a point in my career where I get to choose and I like the choices before me.
DEADLINE How did you feel about the talk of reviving ER? Did you get a little sentimental or were you like, ‘nah I’m good.’
LA SALLE Yes, you nailed me. Actually, I didn’t even give it that. People also ask me about Coming to America and why didn’t I do that sequel. I’m much more interested and intrigued by what’s before me than what’s behind me. I’m blessed and I am fortunate and I’m appreciative of everything I’ve been able to do in this industry and that I get to do, but I’m also appreciative and grateful for the possibilities of what’s in front of me. So I focus much more on that. I haven’t seen the pilot of ER in 25 years, and at some point I will go back, but I’m too busy trying to make new things happen.
All eight episodes of On Call dropped January 9 on Prime Video.
