Well-knowncharacter actor Ron Canada brings new layers of family drama toThe Irrationalseason 2. Canada plays Eli Mercer, the father of Jesse L. Martin’s protagonist Alec Mercer. It’s not the first time the pair have worked together, either—Canada and Martin previously collaborated on anepisode ofLaw & Ordercalled “Bottomless" (season 18, episode 4). Canada is known for his work on that show as well as on projects includingThe West Wing, Wedding Crashers,andThe Shield.
The Irrationalis loosely based on the life of behavioral economist Dan Ariely, and informed by his 2008 non-fiction bookPredictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions. The series’ protagonist, Alec Mercer, is similar to Ariely in that he offers his considerable expertise up to governments and other organizations and corporations. The series makes new creative steps by highlighting the personal and professional dramas of its characters (as seen in thisThe Irrationalepisode 10 clip), and Canada makes the most of that as Eli Mercer.
The Irrational Season 3: Will It Happen? Everything We Know
NBC’s hit procedural, The Irrational, returned for its sophomore season in late 2024, but will the Jesse L. Martin series earn a season 3 renewal?
ScreenRant’s Rachel Foertsch interviews Ron Canada about his work onThe Irrational. While Canada didn’t weigh in onEli’s potential return, he did speak to his history with Jesse L. Martin and the lasting impact of his collaboration with the actor onLaw & Order. Canada also shared his well-informed perspective on what makes a successful character actor and TV guest star.
Ron Canada Shares His History with Jesse L. Martin & Talks Working On The Irrational
“I Knew I Could Trust Him On Camera”
ScreenRant: I was super excited to see you inThe Irrational. I know you’ve done over 150 projects, but was this the first time that you’ve collaborated with Jesse L. Martin?
Ron Canada: No, no. There’s a very well-received Law & Order episode called “Bottomless”, and if you can get ahold of it, I highly recommend it. It’s during the S. Epatha Merkerson period of the show, when Jesse was partnered up with Jeremy Sisto. We worked together on the episode that week, and we had a couple of pretty good scenes together. And, of course, Jesse was already famous for originating the character in Rent, the super successful musical, so certainly the fame is well deserved.
But at the end of the episode, “Bottomless”, Jesse gave me with a gift that I still have, and I still wear: a long-sleeved black Law & Order t-shirt. In New York City and Manhattan, Law & Order gear has tremendous cachet. When people comment on it when I’m wearing it and say, “Where can I get one of those?” I say, “Oh, you had to have played on the team.”
But that was a gift that Jesse gave me at the end of the episode, so we had that history. I knew I could trust him on camera and I think he knew he could trust me. Trust in the professional sense, and the work sense. So, we had background going into this and I’m sure, in his position, he had some say in who got cast as his dad. They had to run it by him, so I knew, since I got cast, he certainly didn’t hate me.
Canada Discusses Upending Parent-Child Dynamics & Filling In The Gaps For Himself In Taking On The Role
“My Job Is To Come In, Be Proficient, And Help That Person Make Shots And Tell The Story”
Outside of Jesse’s involvement, what really stood out aboutThe Irrationaland differentiated it from your past projects?
Ron Canada: For one thing, in this particular episode, a certain parent-child dynamic is reversed or stood on his head. I don’t want to do a spoiler thing, so I’ll just say that the father-son relationship is looked at from a little different lens. That’s number one.
Number two, whenever you have class at the top of the call sheet… number one on the call sheet [is someone] the studio believes in and is invested in, and the audience is invested in. They have a tremendous responsibility in a TV show like The Irrational. The work burden on Jesse and all other lead actors without a huge ensemble—people who are on screen in an episode 75% of the time—is enormous. The viewers have no idea what these folks go through and how hard they work to maintain the show, and they earn deeply their money.
I’ve been around this a long time, as you cited, but when you have class at the top, there’s a sort of civil atmosphere that makes it easy for people to work. There’s a kind of conduct all around that. Number one sets the example, and then it permeates everything else. And that was here. [It’s] not just successful TV, but successful TV with class at the top. I’ve worked with Blair Underwood, Martin Sheen, the late James Garner, I did a long run on Broadway with Bryan Cranston… I cite these gentlemen because they’re all who I want to be when I grow up. That kind of class at the top permeates the atmosphere.
We learned a good amount about your character in this episode, but I am curious if you were given any additional background information about what Alec’s upbringing was like, [or] about the Mercer family dynamic?
Ron Canada: No. That stuff happens sometimes in movies, but television episodes, no matter what the series, are a kind of industrial process. When you get hired as a guest star, you’re brought in as the acting department. You show up on the set combat ready. You are supposed to read the script and answer those questions and supply that background because there’s really, literally, no time in the process of producing series television for, “Well, what is my motivation here, and how long have we known each other?”
You come with all of that based on your experience in film and television and, most importantly, all the plays that you’ve read and done and directed. You bring all of those skills learned in rehearsals and plays all over the country and theaters large and small. You bring all of that to the set and that’s why you see a pretty consistent cadre of character actors across American TV over decades—the people who know and who come in and assist the stars of the series in creating the world of the series and making shots.
In television, we shoot seven and a half pages of script every day on an average day, and some days [it’s] eight, eight and a half pages. Everybody has to come prepared and ready on time and get it done, and there’s no time for indulgence of the actors in working out things. That attention must be paid to the star—the person whose face is on the billboard, [and is] number one on the call sheet. They have earned that latitude and my job is to come in, be proficient, and help that person make shots and tell the story.
About The Irrational Season 2
Created And Executive Produced By Arika Lisanne Mittman
The Irrationalfollows world-renowned professor of behavioral science Alec Mercer (Jesse L. Martin) as he lends his unique expertise to high-stakes cases and mysteries. His insight and unconventional approach to understanding human behavior lead him to work alongside varying clients ranging from the FBI to everyday people caught in perplexing situations desperate for answers. With the help of his trusted team and social-science experiments, Alec solves crimes and uncovers the truth to answer intriguing, and irrational, questions.
Check out our previous interviews withThe Irrationalcast and crew:
The Irrationalseason 2 airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
