Bosch interview: Jamie Hector previews Jerry Edgar’s season 5 story

With Bosch season 5 arriving this Friday for all Amazon subscribers, there’s a great deal to look forward to — Bosch is going undercover, and that’s going to lead to Jamie Hector and his character Jerry Edgar being in an interesting spot. That’s without even getting into everything that’s going on in his complicated private life. Can he shore up his relationship with Latonya, and continue to keep his career moving full speed ahead? There’s a lot on his plate this season, and we imagine that much of it will prove to be worthwhile. The past four seasons have set that precedent quite well.

In leading up to the start of season 5, Hector tells CarterMatt more about his character’s journey, the story this season, and also how he analyzes and works to get himself in the right mindset as a prolific detective.

CarterMatt – When you end up meeting people who love the show, how fast do they tell you they blow through these episodes? I feel like every time Bosch rolls around, it goes so quickly.

Jamie Hector – My experience is people saying ‘I watch you guys over two nights’ (laughs). We didn’t drop a ten-part series; we dropped a movie. When I got into it, I go into it thinking that I’m shooting a movie.

I’m grateful in so many ways. For one, I’m grateful that you’re watching an entire season — if you don’t think a project is that good, then maybe you’ll watch one or two, but you won’t stick through until the very end. The majority of people I meet are those who’ve seen all of seasons 1 through 4.

So how long does it take you to shoot a season?

It takes us around five months.

So you’ve basically spent about five months working on this show, and people then blow through it so quickly — though that’s also what it’s like with some movies, so the comparison does work.

It’s pretty cool, but yeah it’s definitely more like a movie. You go to the theaters, you see it in one day, and if you like it, you go back and revisit it.

When you look back at season 5, do you think that there’s a specific theme or vibe to it that feels different than what else you’ve done?

We have a really well-oiled machine in terms of the people behind the scenes always getting what they want. For me, what’s always is impressive with the storyline is how they can marry the books and add their own twist to the story. So whenever I sit down and I speak to Lance [Reddick], we always talk about the characters and where they are going and just not knowing. It’s always like ‘oh wow, I didn’t see where they were going with your character, Lance,’ and then he’s like ‘Jamie, they’ve introduced this in your storyline, and I had no idea that was going to happen.’

There are so many twists and turns that happen with Bosch, and we’re on this journey with the audience also. We don’t know what’s going to happen.

When you think back to where Jerry Edgar was at the start of this series, are you surprised with the spot he’s in right now?

Let me tell you the reason why I’m not surprised. I’m not surprised because of the creators. It’s not a one-hit wonder. You start with Eric Ellis Overmyer and Michael Connelly and they develop these characters. They flesh them out. They don’t like one-dimensional characters. Then, it takes a collective body of people to make the story.

When I jumped on as Jerry Edgar, my understanding from my conversations with them were that these characters were going to be developed. Whether it’s in season 1, 2, or 3, one way or another you’re going to know about these characters and their family life behind the scenes, children, or what makes their heart beat. Your personal life and your public life. So it didn’t surprise my that Jerry Edgar would take that journey.

In season 1, I had people ask me questions like ‘I wanna know more about the character,’ and I was like ‘wait and see,’ because I had that much confidence in the creators of the show.

Where do things pick up with Jerry and Latonya at the start of the season? They’ve certainly been through their fair share of ups and downs as of late.

At the start of season 5, what I know is that tragedy brings people together, especially if you love that person and you fight for that person. One thing that will allow people to come together is when someone is dealing with something that is a little overwhelming. A true friend always shows up. That’s the beginning of this season. It’s like ‘listen, safety means something to me. Self-preservation and life means something to me, when it’s yours as well as when it’s mine. I expect you to care.’ You’ll see some of that with them this season as they come together and try to make a decision as to whether or not they push this thing forward, to serve each other and protect each other and hold each other down. To let you know when you’re right and when you’re wrong.

This is a guy who is trying to reconcile what he does, the dangers of that and the long hours, and then also trying to be a family man and keeping his life away from work together. Where do you weigh those two things in your performance? Are both sides always there?

Both lives are there in my head all of the time. What Jamie Hector does for a living is that I’m an actor, and I travel around the world telling stories and creating imaginary circumstances. But, deep down in my gut, I think about my wife, my mother, and my children. That motivates you, whether you’re having a good day or a bad day.

Then, when I’ve got the work in front of me in my hands, I’m focused on that. The same thing with Jerry Edgar. He thinks about his family, but he focuses on what needs to be done in service to the community, the people, and his family. So Jerry Edgar is doing the work when he’s out there doing the job. With being a detective, he’s coming after the crime has been committed. We’re not really coming before. We’re thinking ‘okay, this has taken place. This man is dead,’ but sometimes, it turns out that we’re in the middle of things. We get there when this person is there, we attempt to solve that, and in the middle of attempting to solve that, we’re in the middle of this thing that is taking place and transitioning into something else. It’s bigger than what you thought.

So while Jerry Edgar is processing all of that, he’s also keeping his family in the pit of his stomach — and also for Jamie Hector. It exists it our personal life, and it carries over to our public life.

Are you and Titus [Welliver] at a point now where you guys can get together at the start of the season and just go based on the chemistry that you’ve built over time?

Absolutely. We have a relationship. When you start back on a TV show, it’s the same as when you’re coming back from Christmas vacation as a detective and you come back to work to a new case. You get in and you’re like ‘okay, this is interesting. What do you think about this, partner? I want to hear your ideas. Why do you think this happened? What would allow a person’s mind to think like this?’. We start asking each other questions and we dive into the work.

It’s always fun as actors when we get that first page, since we get to see what these creative minds sitting in a room are writing for us.

What are you the most excited for people to see this season from your character?

The history of Jerry Edgar. Where he comes from. His family tree and how that impacts his everyday life. I’m really interested in them seeing where they thought Jerry came from compared to where he truly comes from. He’s a seeker, and he’s constantly seeking. Why is he always seeking? I think you’ll see it in season 5 — that thing that makes him want to ask all of these unanswered questions. There’s a whole group of people from another country that’s going to be like ‘oh my god, for real? I didn’t know that!’. My partner didn’t even know that — but he would know that, if he was paying attention. But, he’s always focused on the task at hand.

You’re also in a cool place in that you already know that there’s another season coming up. So, provided of course nothing terrible happens to your character, what does that mean to know that there’s still this opportunity to do more?

You know what it means to me? One, I’m grateful that the audience is receiving this show and that Amazon is receiving this show and appreciating the work being put into it. Two, it keeps my mind moving in that way when you’re being a detective. As a law enforcement individual that is solving cases, you’re forced to constantly ask questions. Without the hard facts, you’re forced to come to a conclusion. You’re just assuming and hoping that your needle is falling in the right area. I’m doing that in life also. My wife is really good at that. She won’t come to a full conclusion, but she’ll be able to say ‘you know, this probably happened because of this.’ Whether it’s true or not, by the time you reach the truth you are like ‘oh, I was off a little bit, but I wasn’t off too far.’

That’s what my mind is constantly doing as Jamie, knowing that I’m playing Jerry Edgar — ask a lot of questions and solve a lot of problems. Then, try to figure out if your answer is the right one. That’s a question that we’re going to be asked a lot — what do you think about this case? ‘Hmm. Okay, let’s look at this individual on the floor right now. What do we know about him? His social media pages say this. Here’s the conclusion. This is the person who we may need to knock on their door, this is why it happened, this is not why it happened.’ You are constantly asking questions.

For more Bosch interviews…

Be sure to head over to the link here! That’s where you can also read our full interview with Amy Aquino setting up the new season. (Photo: Amazon.)