Based on Karin Slaughter’s 10-book Will Trent series, about an Atlanta-based special agent with a highly successful clearance rate but a challenging personality, ABC’s highly anticipated Will Trent procedural (Tuesdays at 10pm ET/PT beginning Jan. 3) stars Ramón Rodríguez as its titular character. Rodríguez was happy to share some details about his upcoming role as the complicated special agent.
How are we first introduced to Will Trent in the opening episode?
Ramón Rodríguez: We meet him when he is bringing in a dog that was tied up outside to a shelter. Unfortunately, he learns that they won’t be able to keep the dog, and so he ends up actually adopting this Chihuahua named Betty. He has no idea how to handle the dog. He has no clue. He’s never had a dog. This is somebody that is very rigid. A large part of Will is really based on routine and control.
Join Ramón Rodríguez in a sneak peak of the new ABC series Will Trent. Premieres January 3 and stream next day on Hulu. pic.twitter.com/k0WH6lrWgD
— Hulu (@hulu) December 29, 2022
We know Will comes with a complicated past — tell us a little bit about that.
He’s an orphan and was raised in a group home in Atlanta, and it was a pretty tough childhood. Slowly throughout the season, we get a sense of what actually happened to him. A lot of it has shaped him and has made him who he is. And he really enjoys solving things, particularly cases. He’s got a really high solve rate. I think even in the book it’s sort of attributed to what he’s been through. He’s got a lot of secrets. I don’t want to spoil them all, but they do come out in the pilot. Very quickly, you learn one major one.
Does this difficult background hinder his personal relationships?
He’s very much a loner. There is a character, Angie, in the book and in the series, from his childhood, who works in the Atlanta Police Department. He works in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. They have a complicated relationship. It’s sort of an on-again, off-again type of relationship that has gone way back. There’s a different side to him when he is with Angie.
Have you read any of the Will Trent books by Karin Slaughter in preparation?
I read most. And then after a while, we had to start shooting the pilot. But I had a lot of conversations with the writers about what’s in the books and what they’re incorporating into the series. Karin Slaughter came to set, and I can only imagine how she must have felt. She seemed to be really excited. I was really excited to meet her, obviously, because I just thought she created a really compelling character in Will Trent. I think he’s a fascinating guy, and I wanted to thank her for that, for writing someone who I am really drawn to. I really feel for everything he’s been through, and how he’s overcome a lot of things in life. He’s been able to take some of this trauma and turn it into a way to help him at work.
Was there anything specific the author asked you to do when playing her popular character?
No, it was very hands-off. I think she really loved everything she saw. And the reality is, her books are really dark, and we can only go so far on network television. People who read the books and are fans of the books, I think they’re going to be happy. Obviously, we want to honor that, yet also make our own choices with the series and make sure that it’s its own thing.