Over the past three seasons, Ramón Rodríguez has played the very intelligent and observant yet socially troublesome and often misunderstood detective in ABC’s police drama “Will Trent”, which is adapted from Karin Slakt’s best -selling books. His character’s off-book strategy for crime solution, positive views of life and compelling backstory-very, his serious dyslexia and traumatic fetal growth-growth-have made him one of TV’s most fascinating detective. That is why Rodriguez, which is an executive producer, has deep affection for the character. Oh, and Wills loved Sidekick, a chihuahua named Betty, is also quite the stage bar.
“I have a soft place for Will,” Rodríguez said. “My love for him has only grown, and it depends on writing – the things we are willing to explore.” Family, and his character’s constant search for what it means, is a motivating factor behind Will’s persistent driving force. “At all levels, we all try to find new territories where we feel happy about the material and we feel inspired.”
It is rare nowadays for all TV programs, let alone a network process, to steadily build on their audience season by season. Nevertheless, “Will Trent” has proven to be a unicorn in a declining grading market.
“He is a very resilient spirit and he is someone who has gone through a lot, and maybe there is a certain connection there by someone who continues to move forward in life despite much of the things he had to overcome,” Rodríguez said. “And to see someone who is willing to try to fail and be awkward. He is a bit left of the middle and strange. Maybe it’s refreshing, because he says what is thinking about.”
His underdog mentality also makes him “easy to root for,” the actor believes. “He is so set in his own way – the suit, the look – but then you see him with Betty and you just go,” AW, he is a fungus. “He is such a loyal character.
Unexpected plot movements have also held the role (and the audience) on the toes. One of them came in Season 3’s 16th episode, “Push, Jump, Fall”, where will drink “Sacred Water” while he undercover at a cult compound and hallucinates an Outland three and a half-minute dance sequence to Donna Summers’ Disco-Hit “Last Dance.” It was so from the left field that the episode became a favorite among the viewers.
“Everyone buzzed when they read (the script),” reminded Rodríguez, whose previous dance experience helped him nail down the movements in a “stressful” 90-minute zoom test. “For me, it really speaks to the writers ‘ability to be brave enough to try something bold and the actors’ commitment to jump and go, ‘OK, we trust that it might work. Or is the moment the show jumps the shark,'” said Rodriguez. “Fortunately, I think it worked.”
Rodríguez hopes “Will Trent’s” steady rise is proof that network drama can produce absorbent stories. “On broadcast TV, when you are placed under this (label) of procedures, there always seems to be a stigma with it,” he said. “I hope we continue to press the envelope, to creatively raise and try to do the best we can to do something convincing and interesting.”
This story first ran in the drama issue of Thewraps Awards Magazine and came soon.
