Justin Hartley Is “Banking” on More Success in Season 2 of TRACKER
CTV’s TRACKER’s Justin Hartley has been a staple of television for 20 years, on a variety of shows. But when someone suggested to him that he had clearly reached the stage where he could be considered a “bankable TV star,” his eyes lit up mischievously.
“You see, THIS is why I came into this room,” Hartley said excitedly, gesturing playfully toward the few people present. “Do you hear what this guy is saying? I’ve been trying to tell you this! Start writing this down!”
As the laughter died down, Hartley took the “bankable” compliment more seriously and said a sincere “thank you.” He then reflects on his career path heading into the second season of TRACKER, which premieres Monday, October 14 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app.
Hartley first made a name for himself in daytime dramas and with recurring roles on several primetime shows, before he truly rose to fame as Kevin Pearson on THIS IS US from 2016 to 2022. The massive success of that series landed Hartley the lead role in TRACKER, in which he plays a skilled survivor named Colter Shaw who makes a living helping citizens (and sometimes law enforcement) find things — especially missing people — in exchange for reward money.
“I guess it’s been a long time since I’ve been on TV, but I feel like I’ve never worked a day in my life, because I love it so much,” Hartley says. “I know I’ve been incredibly, incredibly lucky to have had great parents, and a mother who told me to learn all my life. I’ve surrounded myself with incredibly talented people and I’m constantly trying to, you know, learn from them, to this day. So, I don’t know, I think I’ve just been incredibly lucky to have the right attitude. We’re all human, and we have good days and bad days, but the important thing is to surround yourself with really great people and learn from them. You don’t do it alone, right?”
Hartley points out that there have been some bumps along the way.
“Every project I’ve ever done hasn’t been a winning project, but people only talk about winners, right?” he says with a laugh. “They don’t talk about the losers. But you learn from all of that.”
So how quickly does Hartley feel TRACKER will triumph?
“I don’t know, and I don’t know,” he says. “There might be some people out there who say, ‘Oh, I knew it was going to work.’ The truth is, I feel like I have good taste, and I feel like we have something really good, but I don’t know if we’re going to be successful. Those two things aren’t necessarily the same thing. You’re not successful until people watch it. For me, the same thing happened with THIS IS US. When I saw the first episode, I thought, ‘This is the best episode of television I’ve ever seen in my life.’ I knew it was great. But that doesn’t mean anyone else is going to watch it. The stars have to align.”
Hartley says his initial confidence in TRACKER was further bolstered by the decision to launch the series in the coveted post-SUPER BOWL timeslot last February.
“You don’t get that timeslot unless the network thinks it’s great – but again, you know people are going to watch it right after SUPER BOWL, because their TVs are on, but you don’t know if they’re going to tune in next week,” he says. “That’s the key, week two, week three, week four. That’s what you’re looking at. And we’re very lucky that the things we really love about the show seem to be the same things that the audience really loves about the show. So it’s a good marriage.”
In addition to Hartley, returning cast members scattered throughout Season 2 of TRACKER include Abby McEnany as Velma Bruin, Eric Graise as Bob Exley, Fiona Rene as Reenie Greene, Jensen Ackles as Colter’s brother Russell, and Sofia Pernas—Hartley’s real-life wife—as Billie Matalon.
One thing that hasn’t changed in Season 2 is Colter’s philosophy of not taking any payments until the job is successfully completed. Would Colter’s accountants have discouraged him from such a risky business model?
“You would think so,” Hartley agrees. “But the thing about Colter is, if someone cheats on him, he’ll probably find them.”
