ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to The Irrational star Jesse L. Martin about the NBC procedural, which returns tonight at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Martin also reminisced about his time in Law and Order, The Flash, and Rent.
“The Irrational follows world-renowned professor of behavioral science Alec Mercer (Jesse L. Martin) as he lends his unique expertise on an array of high-stakes cases involving governments, law enforcement, and corporations,” says the synopsis. “His insight and unconventional approach to understanding human behavior lead him and the team on a series of intense, unexpected journeys to solve illogical puzzles and perplexing mysteries.”
Tyler Treese: In The Irrational, you play an expert in behavioral sciences. How did you prepare for that? You can’t be an actual expert in that field in such a short time, but I assume you want to know some of the jargon, so you’re not just learning the lines. So, how do you find that balance? I don’t know where I’d start.
Jesse L. Martin: I challenge you on that. I bet you would! The truth is like we all observe, we all like pay attention to behavior. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t. I think the big difference is I suddenly have scientific terms to put a name to something we’ve always done.
More than prepping, I started to learn how much I already knew. What the scientific background and jargon for those things that I already knew. And that certainly makes me feel smart, you know. [laugh] So I would think that — if you were put in the same exact position — you’d start to realize how much of your observational skills you’ve been using […] that suddenly have these wonderful scientific names.
One element of the show that I’ve really enjoyed is seeing Alec’s personal life, especially his interactions with his ex-wife. What do you find most interesting about that dynamic?
Absolutely, man. So one of the most interesting things about joining the show — and playing the character — you don’t wanna be just the smartest guy in the room. That’s not that interesting. And one of the that is absolutely true about [my character] Alec Mercer is that he may be an expert at other people’s behavior, but he is not an expert on his.[That’s] why his relationships, his personal relationships, especially with his wife, have broken down. That makes the entire story for me — and hopefully for the audience — quite interesting. And [his ex-wife] is the one who is an expert on his behavior. [laugh]. I find that dichotomy very, very interesting. And one of the reasons I jumped into this.
Maahra Hill plays your wife in the show. What’s stood out the most about her as a scene partner? Because it seems like you both have such great chemistry.
We do, and I never know what people mean when they say great chemistry. Maahra’s a great actor and any great actor is very easy to work with — and that’s what she is. She’s extremely easy to work with. She’s also beautiful, so that helps!
But it has been very easy to go. The television schedule can be long and quite difficult. So you need somebody who’s entirely consistent and who’s very good at what they do. So that’s what she is. She’s very, very astute. She’s very keen on playing and exploring these things with as much time as we have. And she knows exactly how to play her role. So it gives me something to play with and to bounce off of constantly. So it’s been fantastic, actually.
That’s great. Something that’s unique about the production was that it had to be stopped due to the strikes right before the last episode was filmed. How was it like leaving it unfinished, then having to come back?
Well, it wasn’t [just] unique to us, as you said. It was unique to almost every production, everywhere. But it was a quite a long time to actually soak in what we had done already. What I was most interested in is how much that affected everyone involved. Not just the actors, but the crew and the writers and our producers. How much they had had time to sort of sort out where we would go if we would continue. Now that we know we’re continuing, I feel like everybody came back into this full steam ahead. So the future is bright for what we can bring to the television audience.
This is a big leading role for a TV show, and you’ve done so much great work as a main role, but not always the lead. So what has it been like being in that spot, knowing the network and all the creatives really have that trust in you to center the show?
It certainly feels really nice to get that confidence and to have people say, “Hey, we’re counting on you to make this happen.” And certainly, that could lead to a lot of pressure.
But as far as my day-to-day, it doesn’t really feel any different to be the lead character or the second lead character. I don’t even think of it that way. I just think of it as the character that I need to play — this one. I just happen to have to do it every single day.
So it’s just sort of a physical adjustment, where I’m meant to be on and ready at any given moment during the work week. So that’s the biggest difference — just physically.
You were so great in Law and Order. Was there any hesitancy in joining another procedural, or was it different enough that you felt like this was the right type of show to come back for?
Great question. I do worry about that. Not only did I play a detective on Law and Order for several seasons, I played a detective on The Flash for several seasons. I was not very interested in playing a detective again. So you already had me at that notion that this guy wasn’t a detective.
Yes, he helps in investigations. Yes, he does all kinds of work with police, the FBI, and such. But his real love and passion in all of this — besides studying human behavior — is helping students study human behavior. And that was the thing that hooked me: the professor angle.
You mentioned The Flash. That series came to an end last year. What are you most proud of during your time on that show?
Like you said, I’d played detectives before, particularly on Law and Order […] which was a fantastic experience. And it was almost like my bootcamp when it comes to television, and playing detectives in general.
The big difference for The Flash was I was most needed as a father on that show. Of course, I did detective work, but I was most needed as a father. That’s what hooked me there. In this case, I’m not playing a detective. And I feel like my huge duty for this one is how I can take my investigatory exploits back to the classroom.
You spoke about your prep earlier. How you were already doing a lot of the observing behavior and now you have names for it. But doing the show and thinking about it more, have you picked up on anything special? Do you kind of view certain actions differently? I was curious if that kind of seeps into your day-to-day life in it.
It certainly does. What I said before is still very, very true. What I’m learning more is I’ve always observed things that way. I don’t know if that’s a function of an actor or a function of human, or a hybrid of both. But to have technical terms to them sort of makes me feel a little bit more intelligent about what I’m seeing and doing. But I think, again, I could say that about you. You probably have the same abilities, but once you’re aware of them, you become more astute.
I’ve always loved your performance in Rent. You were also able to do that on Broadway. What just has that role meant to you on a personal level – to connect with audiences for decades at this point? People still go back to it, and they still celebrate it.
Yeah — shout out to the Rent-heads. All the people who have been fans and had that show change their lives entirely. I’ve met people from almost every generation who have some story about Rent. Whether they saw it, or they were part of it, their own production. And it has gone worldwide. It’s in so many different languages, and I’m amazed how many people still reach out to say, “Hey, that moved me, that changed my life.” That put me on a trajectory that is great for me. I always call Rent the gift that just keeps giving. So it was an astonishing experience for me, and I’m very grateful to have had it.
