In The Accused Season 2 Episode 3, a friendship ends in tragedy.
In the critically acclaimed hit series “The Charge,” Nick Cannon and Patrick J. Adams star as odd bedfellows, polar opposites as best friends and business partners at a technology company.
But a scandal causes a friendship built on shaky foundations to crumble and ultimately turns deadly.
We caught up with “The Accused” and “Suits” star Patrick J. Adams to explain this tense moment.
Check it out below!
Obviously, The Accused is an incredible project. What attracted you to the script and the role?
Well, first of all, just the entire series. It’s a great platform for actors. It’s clear that the show, the production, and the team want to be a place that attracts great actors to create great material. So their company was wonderful.
I was honored to be included even before I read the script. I just thought, “This is a great team to work with,” and I’m excited to be a part of those guys.
Then I read the script; it’s rare that I get a part like Pitt. Pete is not the nicest guy. He’s a bit dangerous. He didn’t perform well and didn’t make the best decisions. He’s a little erratic.
I’m often asked to play a safe person, a reliable person, a charming person, someone you can take home to your mom.
I’m grateful for all the roles I’ve played, but whenever I get to do something that’s outside of my comfort zone, it’s a good sign that it’s something I should be doing.
On top of that, the director of this episode, Clark Johnson, is a legend who I’ve always wanted to meet, let alone work with, my entire career. So when I saw he was directing, scripting and producing, it was a no-brainer.
This is a collaborative experience. It’s really amazing.
It was shot in Toronto, originally because we spent the summer in Ontario, Canada. I was there with my family and the timing was perfect.
The Accusation is a very timely episode, and this episode is certainly no exception. But what are your thoughts on how they address so many issues in a very nuanced way?
We have artificial intelligence, facial recognition, the ethics of technology, racial profiling, police brutality—the list goes on.
Yes. With anything involving artificial intelligence right now, the opportunities and dangers are huge.
Obviously we’re also dealing with a police story and interactions with police officers that go wrong, which is an important subject for us all to think about. The overlap between technology and policing is indeed ripe for discussion in an important place.
You know, there’s probably a lot of good that can come from doing this, but there’s also a lot of dangerous things that can go wrong.
Not surprisingly, it’s a great piece of writing and really has its finger on the pulse, and then this amazing team brings it to life. This is truly an amazing team from top to bottom.
It’s hard. It’s hard to pull off a show with a whole new cast every week.
One of the joys of being on a TV show is you get to know each other better and understand each other’s rhythms, so you get a show like Suits where you find its family and it’s easy and you both Getting to Know Each Other is shown every week.
Here, the whole team is brand new, right?
So, all these makeup artists and costume departments—everyone had to get to know this new team. These actors came in and had to get along with everyone, and they did an amazing job making everyone feel so welcome.
It’s really hard to make a piece that people can jump right in and do a good job, and that’s certainly the gift of this set.
I just wanted to ask about this. It must have felt like a mini-movie shot this way. You have a lot of character building and stuff to cram into an episode. How is this different from a serialized work?
Yeah, like a runway. you do not know. Sometimes I often think that our job as actors is to reduce the time it takes to adapt to situations that most people will adapt to.
So, all those first-day jitters and getting to know someone — on a normal show, maybe you’d have a few episodes to address that. You can relax and find your groove in episodes two, three and four…
But here you have to find your groove on day one. You get some “What is this guy doing? What am I talking about?” But I shot it for maybe four or five days, so it wasn’t a lot of time.
On day one, you’re shooting an important scene. You have to understand each other. Nick was obviously great, easy to work with, and a joy to do the same thing, and we got used to each other as quickly as we could because we had to be best friends.
Sometimes, that’s the joy of acting: when you have a great group of people. If it’s a difficult group of people, if someone doesn’t want to connect, it’s going to be difficult. I’ve been on sets like this before, but this time it was the exact opposite.
I found the dynamic between Pete and Marcus fascinating. They are at opposite ends of the moral spectrum. Can you talk a little bit about this dynamic?
It’s fun to play. When I first read it, I thought, “What makes these people friends?” Because they look so different.
And then we got to the set and I met Nick [Cannon]. We started playing it and I realized I had friends like that. I have some friends that you’ve known for so long and been in the trenches for so long that you don’t realize how different you are and how much you’ve changed.
You are more tolerant. You look away when you shouldn’t. This is the core of their relationship.
They have such a long history and built this crazy company. It was such a success that now their finances are completely connected.
They’re like a knot that’s difficult to untie, requiring something mysterious and historical to happen to the software they’re built on to begin to untie it.
It’s a really interesting exploration into how we can make and keep friends with people, maybe a little longer than we should, or not tell them what they need to be told early on.
I appreciate the nuances in their dynamic.
Pete is Pete, and Marcus accuses him of having the privilege and choice to remain indifferent or ambivalent about racial profiling. But Pete also makes a really good point by letting Marcus know that Pete has always been like this.
It’s like, “You need me. Without me, none of this would happen.
Sometimes people push us forward and give us confidence. If we are gentle and have someone with the confidence to lead us through it, it can change our lives in a better way.
However, things can get very complicated when you’re suddenly forced to face the reality Marcus faces in the story.
Until the end, I was still not sure if Pete was a bottom man protecting his own interests, really thought he was protecting Marcus, or both.
I like that quote. I have some ideas about it, but I like that it’s never too explicit in the script.
I feel like you can never play a bad persona of a person; you have to play a character they believe in. You have to play the role that they think they are fighting for—the right cause.
Ultimately, for Pete, the software will do some good things. He knew that making a billion dollars would be good for their lives and allow them to do great things with their lives.
So, is this really wrong? We resolved the issue quickly and you [Marcus] Thinking too much. Don’t think too much. let it go.
I think Pete has to stay positive and excited about the future, and Marcus is obviously really bothered by this detail.
It’s interesting that Marcus’ own wife comes from a completely different place but aligns with Pete in a very interesting way. I love the complexity of this show.
It plays well. It’s fun to put yourself in these positions. what do I do? When you put yourself in your shoes, you know something is great. If I were Marcus, it would be really hard. If I were Pete, this would be hard.
I know what I want to do, but I also know what I want to do. So what do you want me to do? It forces us to ask a lot of great questions. I thought that was great television.
Ultimately, the conflict resulted in Pete’s death. Do you think they would have gotten through it if that accident hadn’t happened?
Very good question. I want to believe that anyone can get through this. This may have changed their relationship or the structure of the organization, but I don’t know.
Clearly, this is a sticking point. This was a line Marcus drew in the sand that he could not cross. Pete didn’t want to hear it and really made room for it. I have no idea. This is a good question.
I hope people can figure this out, but I don’t know if they can continue to be business partners or even friends.
If you could write and direct an episode of “The Accused,” what would you want it to be about? What topic would you like to explore?
Gosh, this is a tough question and deserves a good answer.
I loved the exploration of policing and justice and the complexities of it at this moment in America. That’s one factor in it, but maybe I want to delve deeper into this question because I think it’s complex and there’s no easy answer. Honestly, I would be honored to direct any episode.
It’s possible! Michael Chiklis returns to direct an episode this season.
Now, the book is being published and made available to the world, yes!
It’s an incredible team and I can say, as a director, set producer and production director, it’s an amazing support team and it’s going to be an incredible place to work as a director.
I know how important it is to surround yourself with people who are at the top of their game, so yeah, this is definitely a dream job.
Thanks for putting it out there!
Well, The Accused is a conversation starter series. What conversations do you hope people will have after watching this episode?
I think this concept of how far friendship can go is really interesting to me.
Maybe people after going through this will look at their relationships and places where they allowed behaviors or things they shouldn’t have been said or done. Maybe people ask, “Why do I let that person get away with it? How do I talk to them about it?”
I wish these two had a different solution than they did on the show, but maybe this is a cautionary tale.
Don’t let it get to this. Look at the people in your life and find a way to talk honestly about what no longer serves you.
But yeah, I mean, friendships can be hard. All relationships can be difficult. I love that it’s about a really old friendship that’s stretched beyond its reach.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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