The series, which sees Hartley play Colter Shaw, a skilled tracker who assists law enforcement, premiered after Super Bowl LVIII and quickly became a hit.
The actor revealed that the opportunity for his role in ‘Tracker’ opened up after ‘This is Us’ ended.
“When This Is Us ended, our producer, Ken Olin, came to me and said, ‘I really want to work with you again,’ and I said, ‘Me too,'” Hartley shared on Live with Kelly and Mark.
“So we found this book, The Never Game, written by Jeffery Deaver, and took the character of Colter Shaw and developed it into a TV series.”
In addition to his starring role, Hartley also served as an executive producer on Tracker. The role gave him a say in the adaptation of the source material, the novel The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver.
Hartley spoke to PEOPLE about the decisions he made for his role. “I think Colter not having a girlfriend was one of the things I wanted to keep,” he said.
“I felt like if he had a wife and a girlfriend and a family, and he continued to do all these dangerous things, it would be selfish.”
Hartley also helped cast his ‘This is Us’ co-star Jennifer Morrison as Lizzy in ‘Tracker.’ On casting Morrison, the actor said, “I met her on This Is Us and I really loved working with her,” adding, “I couldn’t think of a more perfect actress to play that role than her.”
CBS greenlit Season 2 after just four episodes of the first season, solidifying its commitment to the show.
While an official premiere date has yet to be announced, viewers can expect new episodes in the 2024-2025 season.
Details on the returning cast have yet to be revealed, but Hartley is likely to reprise his role as Colter Shaw.
‘Tracker’ is available to stream now on CBS. Fans can also purchase individual episodes or the entire season on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.