'All Rise' actor Alex Brinson says real cop enacted scene in which his character Luke Watkins gets arrested
One of the main characters on CBS's new legal drama, 'All Rise', is Luke Watkins, a bailiff who is also a law student by night. In the first episode, he stops another bailiff who had gone off on a racist tirade. In a later episode, Luke receives a medal for his act of bravery, but in the same episode, he is also a victim of racial profiling by the police.
While on a morning run, Luke is stopped and forcibly arrested by the police and only released after it was confirmed by third parties that they got the wrong guy. He suffers from post-traumatic stress due to the arrest through the episode and later confronts the man who arrested him at the event where he receives the medal and tells him to do better.
In an exclusive interview with MEA Worldwide (MEAWW), J. Alex Brinson, who portrays Luke Watkins, spoke about the challenges of shooting the episode and the authenticity factor. Brinson said, "one of the cops who arrest me (on the show) was actually a cop, and he was treating (Luke), the way he grabbed me and put me down, from an authentic standpoint", and added that it was a different feel when it's not an actor doing that to him. Brinson said that as an artist, he was eager to explore the emotions, the pain, and anger behind such a situation.
When it comes to the episodes of 'All Rise' that deal with difficult, and often, traumatic, subjects, Brinson agrees with his co-star, Jessica Camacho, who plays public defender, Emily Lopez. Brinson is proud that the show made a bold statement at the beginning itself with the ICE episode, and credits this to the showrunner, Greg Spottiswood while adding that they received support from CBS as well.
For fans wondering what's next for their favorite bailiff on TV Luke Watkins, Brinson says that his character successfully graduates law school. Further down the line in the first season, Luke will be facing a difficult decision: whether to become a public defender like Emily or to go into the District Attorney's office as Judge Lola Carmichael did. Brinson adds that there will be some tension between Emily and Lola as each of them tries to influence Luke's decision.
Brinson got into acting as a kid but took a break when he went to college, after which he got back into it. His role on the initially Netflix and Showcase co-produced 'Travelers' was initially meant to be a small one. However, the producers were impressed with Brinson so much that he stuck around for more than 20 episodes.
For Brinson, getting cast for 'All Rise' was almost serendipitous. One of the executive producers for the CBS show is Michael Robin, who Brinson met when he auditioned for a show four years ago. Back then, Robin sent Brinson a mail complimenting Brinson's acting and when the latter auditioned for 'All Rise', Robin proved to be a great reference check.
When Brinson isn't busy filming, he indulges in his other passion fashion photography and hopes that he can shoot for Vogue one day.
'All Rise' airs on CBS on Monday nights.