‘Tracker’ Star Justin Hartley Teases What to Expect in Season 2 After Shocking Ending
In Sunday night’s Season 1 finale of “Tracker,” Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) learned that there was more mystery surrounding his late father than he realized — and it seems everyone in his family knew more than he did.
TheWrap spoke with Hartley ahead of the episode’s premiere about what we can expect in Season 2, along with some of the unusual stats his character racked up in Season 1. Hartley also told us we can expect to see Colter’s siblings Russell (Jensen Ackles) and Dory (Melissa Roxburgh), as well as the actor’s real-life wife Sofia Pernas, who plays Billie Matalon, also on the hunt for the reward.
TheWrap: In the finale, we find out that there’s a mysterious box with papers that belonged to Colter’s father, that his sister Dory has it for some reason—and that his father had an affair with Jennifer Morrison’s character’s mother.
Justin Hartley: There’s a lot more story to tell about this box and this affair, all of that, all of the bombshells she drops in the finale. The writers have created a bunch of opportunities to dig into Colter’s past and find out all of the richness of that character.
Now that we’ve met his brother Russell, we realize that there’s no way he killed their father. Their mother lied to Colter.
Colter has no idea what his father is doing, except that his father is a paranoid weirdo, that things are getting worse, and that his brother killed his father. It’s a crazy mess that’s destroying the family. Then, 20 years later, finding out that that’s not what really happened, and that maybe everyone in the family knows more about it than you do — crazy, right? I think that’s why he’s just sitting there silently on the beach at the end of the movie.
Let’s talk about Russell. He made his debut last week. It sounds like you and Jensen are having a good time.
He’s great. We’ve been friends for a long, long time. [Shortly after] he started “Supernatural,” I started “Smallville,” and we’ve known each other since those days. We worked in the same city on the same network [The WB, later The CW] and were away from home, so you bond in that way. And we’re just friends.
How did Jensen get cast as Russell?
I was watching a football game on TV one day and he saw the commercial coming on [for “Tracker”]. He texted me, “Can you please get your ugly face off my screen? I’m trying to watch this football game.” Then I texted him and said, “You should come play my brother,” and he said, “When and where?” And that was it. Then he came in and did a fantastic job, and I think we have more story between those two.
Then Melissa Roxburgh was cast as my sister Dory. I think it was the perfect choice. We have [former “This is Us” co-star] Jennifer Morrison as Lizzy. We’ve had so many great guest stars, we’re so lucky.
Do you know how much we’re going to see of Russell next season?
In a perfect world, we’d see as much of him as possible. But he’s a busy guy. So we’ll see what we can do, and the same with Melissa. We don’t need eight or nine, but it would be nice to have a couple of times with him and a couple of times with Sofia. I think we could sprinkle Sofia in a little bit more, just because there’s backstory with Billie and Colter and trying to figure out what the hell is going on with Jennifer Morrison’s character.
When you think about Russell throughout the series, you think about this guy who’s probably damaged and not a good person, and he killed their father. Then when you meet him, it kind of turns that character upside down.
We also know that Reenie (Fiona Rene) has quit her job. Do you think that means she’s going to be working closer with Colter?
I think that means she needs to find a better job, because the bills keep coming up. And I think that would give her more free time to do other things. I think we’ll see her out in the field a little more, doing other things on her own.
And Colter still needs someone to bail him out of jail every now and then.
I think he was thrown in jail three times in Season 1. [laughs] Have you kept track of how many times he’s been injured? I counted maybe two gunshots and one stabbing.
Yeah, two gunshots, probably. I’m keeping track of the times I’ve been injured more than Colter, because he seems to recover faster than I do.
How do you get injured?
Oh, I’m fine. But on a show like this, you get hit here and there. It’s like an athlete. You’re never 100%. And then in the offseason,
o be a hoodie that lists all of the things that he’s done — like assault, breaking and entering, kidnapping, all that stuff. But it’s a long list already. Every episode, he’s doing something illegal, right?
What was the most physically demanding scene to shoot in Season 1?
Gosh, we get pretty physical. Probably in the very first episode where we had to do close-ups of hanging off that truck. Even though I was strapped in and I wasn’t going to fall, when you tried hanging your whole body from one arm for 45 minutes, your arm went numb for like three days. That was probably the most physically demanding, just because it was awkward.
But other than that, I enjoy it. I enjoy the fight scenes and all that stuff. I got a kick out of it.
Do you ever make suggestions for scenarios you’d like to see Colter get into?
Part of me thinks I want to do a water episode, and then I’m like, “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re not doing a water episode.” Those take twice as long, they’re twice as hard and you’re in the water. But I think we have to do one, just because it’s cool. Yeah, I’m up for anything.
