'Tracker' star Justin Hartley sits down with THR at San Diego Comic-Con and teases what is to come in season 2 of the CBS show. Plus, he dishes on working alongside his wife Sofia Pernas, connecting with the audience and shares his first Comic-Con memory.
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00:00Yeah, I might take another crack at the green arrow actually, why not? It's been a while.
00:09I'm Tiffany Taylor for The Hollywood Reporter here at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 with Justin
00:14Hartley. Thanks for joining us. Of course, yeah, fun. I love walking around and seeing people,
00:19you know, excited about things that they love and it's just a big love fest, isn't it?
00:24It is, and we're talking all about Tracker here today. Season one saw Coulter Shaw track down
00:30so many different people and solve all these cases. Did you have a favorite case and episode
00:35from season one? My wife was in episode six, I think, so that would be my favorite one.
00:40But you know what? They were all so different. I mean, in terms of, and one of the things I love
00:44about our show is the way the writers, they basically take every episode and turn it into
00:50sort of like its own movie kind of, right? Which I really love. There's this underlying storyline
00:55that you get, you know, you get these little nuggets from episode one all the way through
00:59the end of the season and probably through the end of the series. But you can also kind of
01:04watch episode six, for instance, or eight and really enjoy that from top to bottom without
01:10having to watch the entire series as well. So we've sort of, we've hit, I think we've hit both
01:15of those things. We're firing on all cylinders over here, I think. Hopefully, you know, in season
01:20two we have a lot more of that to come. So we're excited. What was it like working opposite your
01:25wife and playing sort of these, you know, enemies? Yeah, I know. Well, it couldn't be more opposite
01:30of who we are. But we really enjoyed doing that. I mean, she loves acting and I love acting and we
01:35love storytelling and I love watching her. I'm a fan of her work as well. She's just, she's a
01:41brilliant actor. But to get to work with her is great. I mean, she elevates the show and, you know,
01:47my performance and everything. So I'm grateful for that. We've had a lot of great guest stars,
01:52actually, on our show. We got Jensen Ackles, a lot of great guest stars from last season coming back
01:57for season two as well. Jensen Ackles was introduced as your brother, Russell. How much
02:02of him will we see in season two? Because he's a busy guy. He was just announced to have this new
02:06The Boys spin-off series. Yeah, and great. Good for him. He deserves it and they're lucky to have
02:11him. But he's, we'll have, I think we'll have more of him, I want to say, hopefully. I think so.
02:18There's a little story to tell there. I actually work with him tomorrow.
02:21So there's a little tidbit for you. So you're filming right now for season two? We are. We're
02:26in the process of filming. I go back tomorrow. Yeah, start with him. What can you tease about,
02:33what else we'll learn about Coulter's family in season two? Well, in the end, at the end of last
02:40season, we hopefully will unpack that box quite literally. What was in the box, right? The box
02:46that my father left behind. So there's something in there. There's a reason why Dory had it and
02:55didn't show it to Coulter. There's all of the stuff that Coulter thought about his father's
03:00death, that tragedy, and how that had to do with sort of like a, it was interwoven in the family
03:08and the brother was, his brother was responsible for it, has kind of been tossed on its head now.
03:12And Coulter's sitting there going, wait a minute. So for all these years, I've thought this
03:17about my brother and my family, and now maybe I was wrong. So we have to unpack all of that.
03:22And I think we can get deeper into the storyline about, or what I would like, is to get deeper
03:26into the storyline about the estrangement between he and his mom, what that's all about.
03:31What can you say about how this realization will change Coulter in season two?
03:35It's like a bit of an ego check, isn't it? I mean, it's what he does for a living,
03:39and he's very good at it. But yet this thing right in front of his face, it's almost like he was too
03:42close to the matrix. He didn't see it. He's just like, oh, wow, I didn't realize this was happening.
03:47He was dead wrong about all that stuff. And there's also this idea of trust, right? I mean,
03:55people keeping secrets from you inside your family is never really a comfortable place to be.
04:00But that's where he is. But it's intriguing, and it's fun to watch. So that's what we're doing.
04:04I wouldn't want to be in his position, but I'm happy to play the character.
04:07It's such a fun show to watch, and Tracker has done so well in the ratings.
04:10What do you think it is about this show that's really resonating with audiences?
04:15I'm kidding. No, I have no idea. I think that it's, look, Ken Olin and I had this idea for a
04:22show, sort of like a throwback show, but with a sort of a contemporary modern character vibe to
04:29it. And we have the right writers, the right studio, the right network. It's a huge team effort,
04:35and then we got people to watch it, and they're loving it, and they fell in love with the
04:38character. I think I've never seen, really, a character like Coulter that does what he does.
04:46I guess there's... How do I describe this? Like masculine energy without being aggro. He's all
04:51heart, you know what I mean? And I don't know if we've really seen that in that way. I know that's
04:55the kind of character I like to watch when I'm watching movies and TV. So it's just been a dream.
05:00And the fact that Ken and I thought this would work, we hoped it would work, was something we
05:06wanted to do. And it did work is really quite humbling, but it feels great. I love that people
05:10are enjoying it. Since we're here at Comic-Con, I have to bring up the fact that Smallville fans
05:16still remember you and loved you as the Green Arrow. You were at Comic-Con last in 2009, 2010?
05:23That sounds right. That sounds right, yeah. Something like that. What do you remember from
05:27that time? So I didn't really know about Comic-Con. I was just a kid, and I didn't really know
05:36anything. And then I got Smallville, and I was lucky enough to get hired on that show
05:42for like three episodes, I think I was supposed to do, if I remember correctly, something like
05:46that. And it ended up being a lot more than they thought, because people really loved that
05:51character. I didn't know anything about that world. And so when I got the job, I was like,
05:57I would love to... That's awesome. I can't wait. And then it dawned on me that I don't know
06:00anything about that world. So I was just like... Well, from people sending me, but also I just
06:06went to comic book stores, and I would just buy all of these comic books about this character and
06:10try to find out the backstory. And I read everything. And then I was like, oh, this is a
06:17really great world. This is absolutely like the real life, except just in costumes. And then to
06:24come here and to see just the fandom is unbelievable, and it's grown every year.
06:29And I remember being a little overwhelmed. And I remember just thinking, wow, this is so cool
06:34that people have found something safe that they can escape into and really get behind and just
06:40have fun with their lives. It's amazing. And when you walk around the streets and at the convention
06:45center and all that here in San Diego, it's just everybody... And there's no pushing show. I didn't
06:50see any anyway. It's packed full of people that are just happy to be there. It's really wonderful.
06:54It's all good vibes, really.
06:56It's great.
06:57So now we're going to do a quick rapid fire with this.
07:03The Wolverine popcorn bucket.
07:04Oh, wow. Okay. I say yes to everything. Okay. Yeah.
07:08So just stick your hand in there and pull out a question.
07:11I might have to turn it upside down. I got big mitts.
07:13I can help you hold it.
07:15All right. You hold this. I'll try to get my hand in there. I might have to...
07:21Your hand's too big. You're the first person to have this problem.
07:24Can't fit my hand in there. Can't fit my hand in there.
07:27Yeah. I don't know how we do that.
07:28Here. I'll pull one out.
07:31Yeah. You pull it out and I'll answer the question. How about that?
07:33Yes.
07:34You have little mitts. You can get your hand in there.
07:36And you're just too brawny.
07:38It just happened overnight. I don't know what happened.
07:41If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
07:46Oh, man. One superpower. What would it be? I'd probably choose something simple because
07:51I wouldn't want to know people's thoughts. I'd probably fly. Something simple.
07:57Flying.
07:58Yeah. That'd be cool. That'd be cool.
08:01We'll do a couple more.
08:02Okay. There's only one in there.
08:07There's just a couple.
08:10Who is the most iconic voice in an animated series that comes to mind?
08:17Homer Simpson, I guess, right? It would be probably... Yeah. Homer Simpson probably
08:21would be the most iconic. Yeah. Or Bart. I mean, all those guys. Yeah.
08:26And one more.
08:26Is that the wrong answer?
08:27No, that's a great answer.
08:30Somebody else gave me that answer earlier today.
08:32Okay.
08:33So it's a popular one.
08:34All right. It's been around forever, so...
08:37So it's classic. It's iconic.
08:39Yeah. It's iconic.
08:40And last one. If you could cosplay as one character, who would it be?
08:46Yeah. I might take another crack at the Green Arrow, actually. Why not? It's been a while.
08:50Yeah.
08:51Fans would love to see that.
08:52It'd be great. That'd be fun. Why not?
08:55Awesome. Thank you so much.