CBS’s Tracker returns for Season 2, as Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) continues to search for missing people and collect rewards. With the help of his survival instincts and his friends — attorney Reenie Green (Fiona Fene), caseworker Velma (Abby McEnany), and tech guru Bobby (Eric Graise) — Colter is capable of completing almost any job he can find, as long as it doesn’t involve dealing with his own family tragedy.
In this exclusive interview with Collider, Hartley talks about Colter’s delay in addressing the family bombshell that hit him last season, why he’s so like Kevin Pearson, the show’s incredible guest cast, what he loves most about having a wife to play, continuing to explore Colter’s relationship with his brother (Jensen Ackles), and why he thinks Tracker is the perfect fit to try anything without taking a risk.
JUSTIN HARTLEY: I don’t know if he’s necessarily in denial. He was asked that question at the end of [Season 1] when [Jennifer Morrison’s character] told him all that, and she’s like, “What are you going to do now?” You tell that guy all that stuff and he’s a dangerous guy. He’s like, “Right now, nothing.” I don’t think he’s in denial, he’s just waiting for time to figure it out. What is he going to do? You don’t often see Colter in situations where he doesn’t know what to do, and I think he really needs a minute to think and figure out how to do it. He’s putting all those pieces together. He’s like, “Okay, that means Dory probably lied to me. My mom lied to me. My brother is probably still lying to me. This woman who’s supposed to be my friend knows all this and isn’t telling me. An affair? What affair? What are you talking about? Does that mean your dad? Did he push my dad? That’s crazy.” So he just surfs.
HARTLEY: He’s one of those people who will bury it and work on it for a little while, until he’s ready to deal with it. It’s also something that you don’t think about a lot when you think about Colter, but he has feelings. He’s probably hurt by all of that. He was like, “Sure, I’m brave, but I’m emotionally damaged.” It’s very Kevin Pearson. Your life is in chaos and you say to other people, “You know what you should do….”
HARTLEY: No. They’re my friends and I really like them. I really like Jensen [Ackles]. I’ve always admired his work. Even before we became friends, I admired his work. I always thought it would be great to work with him and never got the chance to work with him, and then this came up as a great opportunity and I knew he would be happy. We had a lot of fun on set. It was hard work, but it was fun. And he’s used to hard work and a lot of fun. I think, once he got a sense of what we were doing here, he wanted to come back, and we had a lot of fun together. Same with Melissa Roxburgh. She was a dream to work with, and she’s a great friend and actress. And then, with Sofia [Pernas], I knew where she lived. I would just drive her to the set and not tell her where we were going.
HARTLEY: I loved the story of how they had something in the past and she may have tricked him a little bit. That’s how he felt anyway. They didn’t work it out, and he was forced into this awkward situation of being with someone he probably didn’t want to be with right now, not because he didn’t like her, but because it was painful. Again, Colter has emotions. He’s just a really vulnerable person. We had a great story, she’s a great actress, and we had a little fun with it. There’s pain there, there’s history there, and it’s a pride thing, trying to make sure she doesn’t know how hurt he is. It’s a really great look at an old relationship, and I’m glad people like it. I hope people like it. It’s a very different character than she actually is in real life. She’s not like that. And I’m not a big fan of compliments. We just had a great time on set. She’ll be back at the beginning of the season.
