Shea Whigham pulls no punches in new season of ‘Perry Mason’
The 1930s “Perry Mason,” now in its second season on HBO, has reconceived its once-familiar characters. Perry — played by Matthew Rhys — is no longer a celebrated celebrity lawyer defending the innocent. Della Street (Juliet Rylance) is now his partner — and a passionate lesbian. Paul Drake (Chris Chalk) is Black, a family man and Perry muscle.
“Updating the show is one of the great things that we’ve been able to do. Hopefully, everyone sees a little of themselves in the piece,” said Shea Whigham who plays Perry’s tough ally Pete Strickland.
“Pete is probably Perry’s closest confidant, the only one that Perry can really tell everything to,” Whigham, 54, said on a call from LA. “They’re thick as thieves. At the start of Season 2, I think Pete is really searching for meaning.”
That’s because as the Great Depression rages, Strickland has a wife and kids to support which means working for the assistant Attorney General who threatens his loyalty to Perry.
“Pete’s at the bottom of the pool, man, at this point. Both emotionally and financially. I don’t feel he’s getting what he absolutely needs at home and he may miss Perry. A lot.
“But back in the day, Pete couldn’t tell Perry that. Men didn’t talk like that. So he starts to act out, which you’ll see as the season progresses. There’s just a lot going on.”
To the extent that at one point these two friends are fighting furiously, trading punches and body slams with each other.
“No stunt doubles,” Whigham said. “It’s funny. I’ve had a couple of bruising fights on ‘Boardwalk Empire’ but I always want to come to these matches with long talks about the fight and what a fight means when there’s so much hurt underneath. Basically, I miss Perry, there’s so much hurt, and I’m not able to have an outlet to be able to tell him that.
“So by the time we get to this fight, it’s all about what is underneath. A fight is never just a fight if you really think about it.”
As one of Hollywood’s most in-demand character actors, Whigham chooses his roles carefully. He squeezed “Perry Mason” in-between the years-long filming of “Mission: Impossible 7 & 8.”
He’s Jasper Briggs. “Without giving too much away, I play a guy who’s really trying to track Ethan Hunt down for something that I feel he’s guilty of. I track him all over the world.”