No one is safe in Kingstown — except Jeremy Renner
For Hugh Dillon, the guiding ethos governing every creative decision on “Mayor of Kingstown” boils down to: “No one is safe in this town.”
That has definitely been the case for every character who calls fictional Kingstown, Michigan, home across three seasons of the Western Pennsylvania-shot Paramount+ crime drama. Bodies pile up quickly on that show, and based on season 3’s inaugural outing premiering June 2, that trend is likely to continue.
Dillon — who co-created “Mayor of Kingstown” with Taylor Sheridan and stars as grizzled Kingstown detective Ian Ferguson — had one person’s safety on his mind during the entire season 3 shoot that began in early January and ended last week throughout the Pittsburgh area. He wasn’t going to allow any more misfortune to befall star Jeremy Renner, who made it through four-plus grueling months of filming despite the many injuries he sustained after a horrific snowcat accident on New Year’ Day 2023.
“I feel just so proud of Renner, and Renner making it through,” Dillon told the Post-Gazette earlier this week. “We had a conversation early on: ‘You’re going to get to May and say to yourself, you did it.’ To see that come to fruition was an exceptional experience.”
“Mayor of Kingstown” remains centered around Renner’s Mike McLusky, Kingstown’s unofficial “mayor” who has been trying desperately to keep something resembling peace in a town economically dependent on its prison industrial complex. Its first season was shot in Canada, while seasons 2 and 3 were both made in Western Pennsylvania.
Dillon said there were four “Mayor” scripts ready to go when the Writers Guild of America began its prolonged strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers in May
2023. SAG-AFTRA joined them a few months later, and the labor disputes shut down most film production nationwide until SAG’s was resolved in early November.
That waiting period is a blur for Dillon, but the silver lining of delaying the season 3 shoot was that it gave Renner more time to fully heal. There was never any chance of the production leaving Pittsburgh, he said.
“It was just like family,” he said of reconnecting with this region’s filmmaking community. “Pittsburgh’s like my second home now. I have some other projects in development that I want to shoot here.”
While season 2 was shot here during summer and fall 2022, season 3’s shoot was during a brutally cold Western Pennsylvania winter. It was “a different beast” logistically, as Dillon put it, with more accommodations due to limited natural light and to avoid anyone — especially Renner — falling on ice or snow.
The whole crew “had their head on a swivel” all season regarding Renner’s health, Dillon said. There was nothing in season 3 that Renner wasn’t up for, especially after he established a consistent eating, sleeping and workout regimen. Dillon knew for sure that Renner was on solid footing once he started performing his own stunts with no reservations.
Renner is “a real team leader” who paid back everyone’s attentiveness by organizing a late April Kennywood outing for cast, crew and his own family. Dillon viewed that excursion as a great way “to kind of cap off Pittsburgh this year.”
“He’s a resilient, tenacious individual. He also cares about his family. His family came with us, the cast came with us, my wife came with us. It was very much a family thing.”
Family plays a big role on “Mayor of Kingstown.” The McLusky clan includes Mike’s brother, Kyle (Taylor Handley), and, until this season, matriarch Miriam McLusky (Dianne Wiest). It was announced before season 3 began production that Wiest wouldnot be returning.
Pittsburgh also is now an integral part of the “Mayor of Kingstown” family. Dillon said that season 3 filmed everywhere from the Strip District to McKees Rocks to “on the water.” They did a lot of shooting Downtown — including in the mayor’s office located in the City-County Building.
Filming closed the 16th Street Bridge for parts of almost two weeks earlier this month. Dillon confirmed that shoot was for a sequence that will be featured prominently in the season finale. Dillon believes everything “looks pretty good” for a “Mayor of Kingstown” season 4 that will likely shoot in and around Pittsburgh again.
“I’m super proud of this show,” he said. “It’s my pride and joy. I’ve had it in my mind’s eye since I was 17 years old. … We don’t take anything for granted.”