FOX’s newest procedural, Backstrom, hits our TV screens tonight. Backstrom stars Emmy Award nominee Rainn Willson as Everett Backstrom, an unhealthy, offensive, surly—albeit brilliant—detective who sees the worst in everyone. Fortunately—or unfortunately—he’s usually right. He spent five years in the traffic division after being knocked down there for offensive behavior, and he has now returned to lead Portland’s newly minted S.C.U. (or Special Crimes Unit).
Because of that, series lead, Rainn Wilson, recently spoke to the press about his character, how the show/character relates to what’s happening currently in society, and what it was like to work with the others on the show. Check out what he had to say…
On the relevancy of Backstrom, the show, & the characters to the current societal feelings toward the police
Rainn Wilson: Wait a minute, you might be describing a television show that’s actually relevant to modern society? Outrageous. Yes, there’s relevance there. You know, there are a lot of crooked cops—and I don’t think there’s near as many as there used to be—and there are a lot of racist cops, but once you get to know Backstrom, you’ll see that it’s really not racism like you think of it. He hates himself more than anyone. So he’s racist against whites and blacks and any other race; and he is sexist against men as he is sexist against women. He just is an all-purpose hater.
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