Since 2021, the USA Network had stacked its lineup with reality shows and sports, entirely forgoing original, scripted programming. Fans of “Suits”, “White Collar” and “Monk” were left with only memories of those shows’ case-of-the-week storytelling. But on Friday, the network returns to scripted TV with the legal thriller “The Rainmaker.”
If the title sounds familiar, it’s because it’s based on the 1995 novel by John Grisham, which was first adapted into the 1997 Matt Damon-starring film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In this “Rainmaker,” British actor Milo Callaghan plays Rudy Baylor. It’s the first leading role for Callaghan, who had previously played recurring characters in shows like HBO’s “Dune: Prophecy” and Starz’s “The Spanish Princess.”
Baylor is fresh out of law school and about to start working at the largest law firm in the state, run by Leo F. Drummond (John Slattery). On his first day, Baylor gets fired after challenging Drummond in a meeting. Desperate for work, he takes a job at a small ambulance-chasing firm that works out of a former taco joint. His boss is Jocelyn “Bruiser” Stone (Lana Parrilla, in a gender swap from the film where Mickey Rourke had the role). She’s smart, confident and not afraid to use her sex appeal to get what she wants. Rudy’s first big case pits him against the big, fancy law firm that let him go — and his girlfriend who still works there.
Callaghan told The Associated Press about learning legalese while doing a Memphis accent and familiarizing himself with the source material. Answers are edited for clarity and brevity.
AP: Did you watch “The Rainmaker” film?
CALLAGHAN: I watched it when I got cast. Matt Damon is somebody that every young actor would look up to. I wanted to be aware of the work that he did. I mean, it was a Coppola movie as well, so I was excited to see it. And then I gave it maybe like 20 minutes’ thought and focused on the script because it is different and I think we have 10 hours of television to explore this character. We go on a windier road than the movie.
AP: Did you read the novel as well and did that help to find your version of Rudy?
CALLAGHAN: Yes. It’s a slow-paced thriller, really, but fantastic. And there’s this chunk, it must be about 100 pages, of him just preparing for this case for months and months and months. So I never wanted it to feel like it was off-the-hand genius. It felt like this is a situation that has to be honored to a certain extent. Like, you can be a fantastic lawyer, but you don’t get there without grinding and grafting. We had great scenes where we were working late into the night.
AP: Did learning your lines to play a lawyer also have you working late?
CALLAGHAN: You prep a court scene, and it’s eight pages, and it is a deposition. And you know it and you’ve worked on it and you’re ready to go to sleep, and it’s quarter to midnight, and you have an email saying, “We’ve rewritten this scene and we’re shooting it at 8 a.m.” And you’re like, “Not only am I relearning all this, but I have to go back through the dialect to make sure that this is airtight.” It was definitely an extra component that I probably lost a bit of sleep over.
AP: You’re also British and Rudy Baylor is from Tennessee. How did you lose your accent and master a Southern one?
CALLAGHAN: Consistent work with a great dialogue coach. I remember I got there on my first day and I was running lines with P.J. Byrne, who plays Deck, and he’s kind of looking at me funny. He’s like, “Why are you talking like that?” I was like, “What do you mean? Because we start filming in three days.” I was pronouncing everything phonetically because that was the way I learned. I had to really work on paring it back into a place that felt so natural. For a movie, you might get away with it, but for 10 hours of television, it just has to be light, it has to be quick, it has to be at your fingertips.
AP: Was there a word that gave you trouble?
CALLAGHAN: “North City Hospital.” It was the hardest thing. I was like, ‘Why did you call it this?” I got all this legalese down and then “North City Hospital” would shoot me in the foot every time.
AP: There are also differences between U.K. and American law. Did you study U.S. law?
CALLAGHAN: I went through major trials, like the whole O.J. Simpson murder trial and the Gwyneth Paltrow trial. And also obscure trials. I studied attorneys and their patterns of speech and the way they address the court. We don’t really have the same kind of pop star element to the legal system of like, “That’s the guy who represented this person and that person.” Studying that is fascinating.
