Rising at 5 am may sound early to a lot of us but it’s a typical start to the day for Justin Hartley. But, come on, would you expect anything less from the guy who is both starring in and executive producing Tracker, last season’s biggest broadcast series? “You wake up in the dark and then you work all day and kind of open your eyes and all of a sudden it’s dark again,” Hartley laughs from Vancouver, Canada, where he’s on day three of an eight-day shoot for the second season’s fourth episode. He adds with sincerity, “It’s a lovely life.”
Today is what the Illinois native calls a “light day,” which seems like anything but considering it’s filled with meetings, reading Tracker scripts (and others he may want to develop), working out, grabbing a bite to eat, checking in with his 20-year-old daughter Isabella as well as spending time with wife Sofia Pernas. Also, pressing pause on all that to talk with this reporter about Tracker’s second season, which begins October 13 on CBS.
It’s no surprise that hard work is in the 47-year-old actor’s Midwest blood. “My parents are really hard workers and they’re from the Midwest as well, so there’s definitely something to that,” he said prior to Tracker’s post-Super Bowl premiere in February “It is funny, isn’t it, when you meet someone from the Midwest, you automatically are like, ‘oh, brother, or sister.’ It’s an interesting thing, right?”
The path from Illinois to our TVs started in 2002 when he played often-shirtless Fox Crane for four years on NBC’s daytime soap Passions before leaping to prime time for heroic roles like Oliver Queen (aka Green Arrow) on the CW’s Smallville (as well as Arthur C. Curry, aka Aquaman, in an unsold TV pilot). More guest roles came along on dramas like Revenge and Mistresses as well as a daytime return from 2014-16 as Adam Newman on The Young and the Restless. But his career catapulted in 2016 when he began playing troubled actor Kevin Pearson, one of the Big 3 siblings alongside Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Kate (Chrissy Metz) on NBC’s heartfelt hit This Is Us.
Oh, she’s the best and such a talent. She comes in and she just delivers and brings so much more to it than is on the pages. It’s just been a blessing having her and then also I get to spend time with her! It’s my favorite days in the world when I get to work with her.
What happens in the episode?
She calls on Colter because she needs his help for something. And of course, he’s like, “You need my help, huh?” It’s that kind of thing, like, “Well, okay, then ask for it. I’ll help you. You got to ask me,” that kind of thing.
How are you being challenged in Season 2 either as an actor or with the physical stuff?
Well, the episode order is a lot bigger so that’ll be a challenge. We’re only on Episode 4, so I feel great, Jim, to be honest with you. But it’s classic me. In three months, we’ll see how I feel. But there’s more physicality in certain episodes. The fights certainly are more physical but I don’t mind a bruise here so I just trying to keep my body healthy.
Going back to Jensen. You guys obviously have a lot of fun working together but when did you two first meet?
Well, we were both on the CW. He was on Supernatural and I had joined Smallville. I got to know him and Jared and all those guys over there at Supernatural. We’re all actors displaced here in Vancouver and we have a lot in common. He’s a family man and he’s got kids and loves his work and loves his family and loves his fans. We’re the same age and we just developed a friendship. I’d never had a chance to work with him until Tracker. He’s a very busy man, but I love working with him. It’s a treat.
Where do you see the show going, say, five years down the line. Do you have a vision that far ahead or are you just focusing on what’s in front of you?
That’s a good question. We’ve thought about it. Well, first of all, I would just say that, from your mouth to God’s ear, if we’re lucky enough to do a third season, a fourth season, a fifth season, a sixth season, that would be wonderful. I think the show works in the long run in that we have adopted this idea that although we are a Rockford Files [type show], we do develop the character going forward.
What I really loved about This Is Us…look, I hate to keep talking about it, but I just adore that show and being a part of it. I just love that when you watch a show like that and you tune into Season 1 and then you tune into the last season, you see the development of the character and you go, “Wait a minute, are they playing different roles?” But then if you watch it throughout the years, you go, “Oh my gosh,” and you experience those things with the characters. As competent and confident as Colter is, I don’t at all think for a second that he doesn’t have a ton to learn, especially about himself and his family and all that. Going forward, I think that will be how the show lives on a long runway, is that we keep developing this character and he becomes better at what he’s doing. He’s a restless man, and for an audience member, at least shows that I love to watch, you love to see that growth of a character and we have that.
