Adam Baldwin plays the second in command, Executive Officer (XO) Mike Slattery on Michael Bay’s new TNT series, The Last Ship (Sundays, 10/9C). Besides having a ton of genre cred (Day Break, Chuck, Firefly/Serenity), Baldwin brings a wealth of experience to the role from working with directors like Robert Redford and Stanley Kubrick.
When Baldwin took the time to speak with a group of journalists/bloggers recently, he proved to be a genial, intelligent and insightful interview. He is just as cool as you’d think he’d be.
Hi Adam, thanks so much for doing the call today.
Baldwin: Happy to be here.
Great. I’m a big fan of yours, so I’m glad to talk to you. So what was it that first attracted you to the role on The Last Ship that made you want to do it?
Baldwin: It was a TNT production with Michael Bay at the helm. How could I say no? The opportunity to work aboard a Navy-guided missile destroyer is a chance of a lifetime. We’ve had the opportunity to go over the horizon on an embarkation to see that ship – Arleigh Burke-class of destroyers in action is something I’ll never forget. It’s life altering.
And the character himself, the difference between him and the captain played by Eric Dane is one of – there’s a fine line there and we had to thread this needle of – you don’t want to be insubordinate and yet you need to be supportive and challenging of decision-making processes in a supporting role and I’m very good at that.
Did you do a lot of research before you started the role?
Baldwin: The research materials that we were supplied were mainly the book Command at Sea by Captain James Stavridis and Vice Admiral Mack, and it details how officers are to interact and also to uplift the crew while still being in a fighting demeanor. It’s been very helpful with the language, the stature that you must bring, and the respect of command.
So that’s been our main research and resource bible, if you will. Plus, the writers have done much more research than all of us put together. They’ve had a lot more time at it since then and we’ve had technical advisors detached from the Navy to supervise and collaborate with us throughout the whole process.
I really enjoyed the first three episodes of The Last Ship and you are terrific in them, of course, but what do you like most about Slattery as a character and what do you enjoy most about playing him if there’s any difference between those two things?
Baldwin: Well the thing I like most about Slattery is his ability to balance Chandler’s decision-making process and to be a leader. I love the leadership role that an executive officer must bring to the command in this world. Also, we get an insight into his background, his family. He loves God and country. He loves his family. He wants to restore order in civil society in this catastrophic scenario. So I thought the different levels and depths of a guy like that in a leadership position – plus you get to wear a really cool uniform. That’s cool.
What’s interesting is the relationship between Slattery and the Captain. And it kind of gets off to a rocky start and there seems to be a lot of room as they find each other a little bit to grow both of those characters.
Baldwin: That’s true. Again, it’s the supportive role and it goes both ways. The Captain, obviously, has the final say and Slattery, being second in command, must respect that in order to maintain discipline and order. It’s really a common sense benevolent dictatorship, if you will, on board the ship. We have to keep these ideals in mind as we’re going along — common sense, integrity, enthusiasm, composure.
It’s all managerial ability too. You have to manage this crew of several hundred in this apocalyptic situation and Slattery and Chandler are able to strike that balance while Slattery is still able to challenge him; but not in an insubordinate way, but in a man-to-man way within the command structure, obviously, of the Navy.
At this stage in your career, do you still have to audition for parts and can you talk a little bit about how this role came to you?
Baldwin: Pretty much everybody has to audition. There are very – it’s a very, very small club of folks that don’t audition, especially when you have such a project as Michael Bay’s The Last Ship. So yes, I auditioned for this, and it came to me through that audition process.
And how involved are Michael Bay and Brian Fuller in the day-to-day activities? Do they show up on set frequently?
Baldwin: We saw Michael Bay several times. He was busy directing Transformers, I believe, or a different project that he was actually at the helm of. So he delegated very well.
Mr. Fuller was there much more often and – but again, you hire people that you trust to make your show and if the dailies look great, you don’t need to show up and police it. You just need to keep helping facilitate it and hopefully throw more – if you’re turning in a good product, maybe there’d be a little extra in the budget so that you can get an extra half a day to get those shots that you didn’t get. But they’re certainly as hands-on as you can be without being intrusive.
Hey, loved you in Chuck and I was curious — is there any John Casey in Mike Slattery?
Baldwin: There will be an opportunity, I believe, you’ll see in one of the episodes where Slattery does get to go out into the field a bit. So, sure, there’s a little bit. I think there’s a little John Casey in all of us, don’t you?
My question for you is what do you think, in your opinion, are the biggest selling points for The Last Ship?
Baldwin: The biggest selling points for The Last Ship start with the United States Navy and its structure of goodness and power and discipline and civil order. These are the things that break down when you have an apocalyptic event such as we portray, and I think the honor that we show and the respect that we show to the United States Navy and to the other armed services is a huge selling point. I think there’s a huge appetite for that around the world. These are men and women that put their lives on the line and sacrifice years from their families and loved ones to basically allow you and me and the rest of us to make TV shows about it. So we try to portray that as best we can.
Plus, Eric Dane is a powerful, powerful captain as our lead. It’s always important to have someone in the leading role who is a kind and stern and reliable leading man. And Rhona Mitra is a powerful and strong, beautiful leading lady. And I’m just happy to be along for the ride to help support those guys and make this show exciting. It’s scary, it’s sexy, it’s – boom.
Given all the array of things that you’ve done in your career and that your IMDB bio goes on and on forever, how do you decide when you want to work on a specific project and where do you plan on going in the future?
Baldwin: My good friend Nathan Fillion, who’s the star of Castle over on another network — he said recently, “I don’t so much as choose the jobs. They choose me.” And that still holds true. I can say no to going in on meeting or something, but this was something that just jumped out at me. This is one of those ones where you almost do it for free, although that would make my wife uncomfortable.
So – and where do I see myself going in the future? I don’t know. I’ve been blessed to have been working this long, thirty-five years now — or thirty-six, going on — and I’m just grateful for the opportunity to have fun on camera and to work with wonderful, talented people. The one thing I learned from Stanley Kubrick when I worked on Full Metal Jacket many years ago was to be patient and to appreciate the work that you’re doing right now. And people say, “What’s your favorite project that you ever worked on?” Well, I have a few mile markers, but my favorite one is the one I’m currently working on, which is The Last Ship. So I appreciate it in the here and the now.
So my question is about the filming. I’d love to know more about what it was like filming on the Navy carrier and any other locations that you guys may have filmed at and what it’s like doing all the action sequences.
Baldwin: We film mostly aboard the Navy-guided missile destroyer Halsey – the USS Halsey during the pilot. And then we switched over to the Dewey for the run of the series and we also had some stages built at a local soundstage studio.
For the most part when we were aboard the ship – well, I can only speak for myself. Personally, I felt that I was in the way of an operating Navy ship, so I would try to stand aside as much as I could unless I was granted the room to actually be on camera while we were filming the scene. Although the captain and the crew were excited and they loved having us aboard, it’s a functioning Navy ship that has business to take care of. So in that regard there could be – I just wanted to respect where I was standing. So that’s the way I approached it. And the crew, they did as well. I’m just trying to personalize it as much as I can. It was exciting. We got to see guns fired while the ship was on maneuvers out across the horizon. All I can say is I’m glad they’re on our side after seeing what I’ve seen.
I just wanted to say also I’m a big fan, especially of Firefly. I wanted to let you know that.
Baldwin: Thank you.
I wanted to also – you’re welcome. We miss you. I also wanted to know as you being a husband and father yourself, how is it to play a father and husband on the show who can’t get to them? How is that?
Baldwin: Well, there were desperate moments and yet, as any solider/sailor/airman/marine knows when they’re deployed, they are responsible to the crew that is under their command. And Slattery – his wife is out there and his children are out there and he wants to get back to them, obviously, but first things first.
So there’s that inner conflict that he has to deal with, that everyone on board has to deal with. Do we stay? Do we go? What do we do? Do we go back on land and run to them? Will we get hit by the virus? So the higher purpose has to come into play. So we’re all torn and yet we know what our mission is.
I just wanted to ask you — you’ve been in lots of different series where you play the burly, hunk agent or a lieutenant or colonel or second command in general. I’m just wondering if you feel typecast and if you enjoy playing these characters like Slattery.
Baldwin: You have to remember that the root of typecast is “cast.” It’s work and I can’t deny my physicality. I am 6’4”. I am 245. I’m just a large guy and so those roles naturally fall to, I guess, just the appearance. So I don’t ever run away from it. Would I like to play the softer, gentler, kinder Adam Baldwin? Sure. But in the meantime, I’m having fun kicking ass.
One of the things that you mentioned is that the roles that you play choose you, and I’ve noticed that you do tend to do a lot of Sci-Fi roles. Do you find that you yourself might be gravitating towards that or do you enjoy those kinds of roles?
Baldwin: I definitely enjoy those kinds of roles. I first fell into that in a big way when X Files came along, and that led directly into Firefly. And so those exploded – obviously X Files was already huge, but Firefly exploded into the Sci-Fi world. Although it didn’t last very long on television, it’s still very popular after twelve years later.
What’s interesting to me about working in Sci-Fi or in these big films is that you can find the humanity while still in this extraordinary world. I find that the drama of someone’s life can be brought to bear while still having fun and chewing popcorn. I like that. Those are the kind of movies I grew up with, although more the Western and shoot-em-up vein that my dad called them — the Dirty Harry’s, the Wild Punch’s, The Good, Bad, and the Ugly’s — movies like that. I like Westerns in space. I just love the individual siding against the odds and that’s what The Last Ship brings you. You have a crew of individuals that must come together to fight against a common foe through teamwork.
One of the things that I noticed in watching the episodes is, unlike some of your other roles, you’re always on the ship. Is that a different sort of dynamic to play as an actor to stay in one location and still help further the plot or do you miss having a few more action scenes?
Baldwin: Well, there is something – I don’t want to give anything too much away. He’s not always there. You’ve begun the taste of the first few episodes. I’m not really at liberty to go beyond those. It’s challenging in that you are constrained within the bridge or the command and control center or the Helo Bay or wherever it is. So in that sense, you have to find things to busy yourself with or – you asked me if I want to go off the ship and kick ass? Yes. The answer is yes. And do I? I can’t say.
So what’s your favorite part overall about the experience so far?
Baldwin: The Last Ship – my favorite part? There’s so many. My favorite part is my friendship with Eric Dane. We’ve become fast friends and colleagues and we trust each other and that’s so important when you’re working on a project of this long term nature. First, the captain and the second in command — they need a good working relationship and because Eric is such a cool dude and so am I, it worked out great. So that’s my favorite, that relationship.
The experience itself overall — and I think Eric would probably echo that — is the opportunity we’ve had to walk aboard these ships in and amongst real sailors and have them welcome us and show us their equipment from the engine room on up to the bridge and for them to trust us. To be trusted by the Navy with depicting their branch of the service in an honorable way while still finding the flaws in human nature, which makes drama interesting over time, is a chance of a lifetime. I don’t know if that answers you question, but those are just my visceral reactions.
So your character is a very godly kind of man. You have your family up in (Jarrod) Park. I don’t know if you’re from Spokane originally as the character development goes or whatever since ((inaudible)). How do you as an XO, godly man and ((inaudible)) deal with the scientist, Rhona’s character, who’s actually lied to you and looks at the virus not only in a way that – she said it was an enemy you can’t see. How do you see your character and hers developing, yourself developing, your acting ability going across that kind of conflict?
Baldwin: It’d be interesting to see how that unfolds. I approach my relationship with Dr. Scott as, obviously, distrustful at first. And she has to earn back that trust. So let’s just see if she does. But working with Rhona has been remarkable because she has a work ethic unlike any I’ve seen in a long time and the dedication that she brings to the character and the integrity that she brings has been so rewarding to watch develop. So I feel so blessed to be third in line. It’s a great place for me at this time when I have Eric and Rhona as my one and two. How’s that?
That’s great. And so you do see your XO having respect for science in the character, but it has to be earned.
Baldwin: Well, sure. Yes, absolutely. You have to prove your mettle and whether she does or not – let’s just say she does. How’s that? That’s just common sense that you could figure something like that out, but nobody’s perfect.
I just wanted to ask a little bit of a follow-up. You’ve been talking about shooting on the ship, but what percentage of the show is actually shot there and how much time did you spend on board?
Baldwin: During the pilot it was all shot on board. We hadn’t built sets yet. And during the run of the show, I’d say twenty-five, thirty percent? The rest were on stages.
Okay. And then how long were you there, then, to do that?
Baldwin: Well the pilot episode, again, was three weeks and the other nine episodes was six months. I’m not good at math, you can figure it out.
You’re a huge talent. I’ve followed your career for years, from My Bodyguard, Independence Day and now The Last Ship. And I’ve always seen a thread that you’re really drawn to the hero, the guy who wants to do good. And I’m curious — for you personally, was there someone or something that draws you to those characters?
Baldwin: James Mason, the great English actor — he once said, “I never played a villain.” And I try to maintain that ethos. So whether the guy is actually scripted as doing something not necessarily heroic or good, he plays it as such because that’s his thing. I just think good is good. I like that. The question is what do you do? Jayne Cobb, for instance, in Firefly from before — he wasn’t necessarily thought of as good but he did have a good streak in there somewhere. There was an honor among his thievery. While Slattery is a completely different character, I’m still me and I’m still going to stand tall and be as strong as I can and I just fortunately have the benefit of being – working for the US Navy, which I consider to be all good. Well, almost all good.
How involved was Michael Bay in the day-to-day in terms of hands on nature of the show?
Baldwin: We had this question earlier.
I apologize.
Baldwin: He was there in the formative days and he helped shoot some second unit things and he was pretty much hands off when it came to actually being on the set because he was, again, shooting – directing another movie. He came and visited us but he delegated to his trusted lieutenants and generals the day-to-day oversight of our production.
I’m wondering – there are so many different types of acting processes, but they all seem to fall between The Method and Olivier’s ‘it’s all just pretend.’ And I’m wondering where would your process fall on that scale and how did that work specifically in developing Slattery?
Baldwin: Well, it’s important to do as much homework as you can and load up with as much information as you can. Obviously, I haven’t had the benefit of going to basic training and rising up through the ranks over the course of many years, so it all has to be in a sped up, accelerated fashion. But as far as method or it’s all just pretend goes — yes, I’d probably fall somewhere in between. Hopefully you reach a state of reality while the camera’s rolling and that can come across. But it’s a portrayal of a heightened reality and I try not to get too caught up in it because I live in Realville.
There are a couple of inner monologues that I always try to play, or mantras, and one is “help me help you” and “I’m on to you.” You’re not supposed to give away secrets, but these aren’t really secrets. Anybody’s that’s studied any acting knows that’s a way to play it for good conflict, yet play the positive. So I try to play the positive, “I’m onto you,” and “help me help you” as an undercurrent for whatever the scene may be. And if two actors or three actors do that in the same scene, it becomes very interesting, in my opinion.
It’s really interesting to talk to somebody as the series is debuting. So since you’ve been working so hard on this, what do you do in your free time that’s fun?
Baldwin: I play a little golf. I ride my mountain bike. I live near the beach, go down to the beach. I hang out with my dogs and my kids. I see a lot of music. I’m a big hockey fan. I go to the Kings games, they’re in the finals this year against the Rangers, which is huge. I like to read a lot.
Will you anticipate ,now that it’s going to really be fully green-lighted and as you keep going forward, that you’re going to have that much time off to keep doing all that?
Baldwin: I hope not. I hope I get – the less – it’s funny, it’s the dichotomy of life. While you’re working, you think when it’s in the wee hours of a “Fraturday” like three in the morning and you’re tired and you go “I’d just rather be golfing now.” But then when you’re on the golf course, you’re like “Crap, I’d rather be working.” So, the grass is always greener. But this show is so fun and it’s so cool to go to work that tech – I’m hoping against hope, I’m cautiously optimistic we will be doing more and I look forward to it with great anticipation because they’re such nice people.
I wanted to find out — did you always want to work in this industry while you were growing up, or did you have other professions in mind?
Baldwin: Well, when I was young I was a hockey player and I was a pretty good one because I was big and strong and fast and skated a lot since I was maybe 3 or 4 years old. But then came a bit of a family problem that short-circuited my going to hockey camp when my buddies would go to hockey camp. So when they came back after two summers of hockey camp in Canada, I couldn’t really compete with them at the highest level I wanted to so I had to find another group to hang with.
And the theater department where I grew up was very well-organized, great teachers. It was well funded and it’s this misfit collection of – see what I love so much about the theater is that you have this welcoming home for misfits. You have tall, short, fat, skinny, straight, gay, black, white, and up and down, square, round — all these different pegs in this one little – go in the theater and all you’re trying to do is make each other laugh.
And so from a young age, I got to meet this diverse culture of people and all we were trying to do is make each other laugh. And I think that’s such a valuable thing for kids and I’m sad to see schools lose their budgets that they can’t afford that. Music is so important, too. My kids — they do music and I did theater and it’s been such a blessing for me that I just feel very lucky.
So, were there any particular acting challenges while filming?
Baldwin: Such as?
I don’t know. Well, I don’t want to say different, necessarily, from usual, but that stuck out to you as thinking about it now that maybe it was the most challenging.
Baldwin: Well there’s always acting challenges. You just have to solve the problem. Generally, the most difficult things to do in my mind are when you have technical speak that needs to be rattled off in a coherent fashion. It’s important, it’s expository, but it’s still storytelling. So those under the pressure of the production schedule are very challenging. There are some people that are very, very good at it. I’m pretty darn good at it and it takes those – it’s a challenge though because I learn more rhythmically, musically. So if there’s time to run it over and work it, great. If there’s little time for that, then it gets to be a bit of a struggle. But you just get it done. There are always challenges.
I just wanted to ask you — you seem to talk so passionately about the relationship between Slattery and Chandler. I was wondering — how did you work on developing that with Eric Dane and can you kind of tease where their relationship is going to go as the season moves on?
Baldwin: Well, again, Eric is a grizzled professional. He’s a dedicated pro and I think the mutual respect that we had, we both operate that way. We remain calm in the tempest that can be production because time is money and we’ve got to get it done. And as long as you remain calm in there, you can stay focused. And he’s very good at doing that and I consider myself pretty damn good at it too, so I think that mutual respect grew from that.
And then, we just hung out and played cards together and talked in our breaks. We’d play some cards and talk about family. He’s got young kids. My kids are grown pretty much. So we were able to – we had that in common. We both have beautiful wives and we had that in common. And so it grew from there.
Photos by Karen Ballard, Maarten De Boer and Richard Foreman/Courtesy of TNT