Teach Grant Talks USA’s ‘Damnation’ and the Show’s Innovation [Exclusive Interview]

With the series premiere of Damnation right around the corner, everyone is buzzing about the crime series that promises to simultaneously entertain and reveal the brutal history of the 1930s deadlock between industrialists and the lower classes.

Shrouded in mystery, this period drama’s previews hint at an insightful look into the socioeconomic plight of the poor and the proletariat’s inevitable revolution.

In order to uncover more information about Damnation, I spoke with Teach Grant, who plays Preston Riley in the new USA series, about his role in Damnation and why this show will be your new winter favorite.

“I think there are a number of things that are going to make this show stand out from other shows that are currently on standard television,” Grant began. “I think this show is going to thrive in the binge-world, the Netflix-world, globally. It sits right down with cable productions and I think there is a severity to it that you may not see in other shows on TV.”

Grant then went on to explain how the audience will be able to make thematic connections between this drama and the long-standing hit, House of Cards. “I think our political undertones are going to have some reflection [of the Netflix Original].”

As Grant zeroed in on what makes Damnation such a treasure, he listed off the strong female presence in the show. As his co-star, Sarah Jones, also explains in her own exclusive interview about USA’s Damnation, this series is one big step for women’s empowerment in television.

“I think we’re going to see female characters transcend the norm of what we have on television in Damnation. In the cases of Sarah Jones, who plays our Emilia, she has a lethal brand of intelligence. Melinda Paige Hamilton, [who plays] Connie has her own brand of lethality just as Chasten Harmon has her own lethal adaptation [of her character, Bessie Louvin]; she is a survivor at all costs.”

According to Teach Grant, this amazingly progressive content and production can directly be attributed to the people behind the scenes. “We have six directors in our first season: three who are women and three who are men. I think that Damnation not just passes the Bechdel test, but I think it’s setting a new standard,” Grant explained.

“You don’t really feel a division between [actors] number 1 and 51 on Damnation. You really get the feeling that everybody is toeing the same line and that there are no small parts. Tony [Tost] didn’t leave anything frivolous left on the page. I felt like there was a unionship in which we all felt like we were lucky to be there, and we all felt like we were toeing the line with Tony’s narrative and collectively felt the importance of what we were trying to say.”

“It was an incredible team experience. There’s just something about Tony Tost and the filter by which he attracted cast, crew, and co-executives that, on a television/filmmaking perspective — not to blow smoke — was absolutely Utopian,” Grant gushed.

He explained that these progressive aspects of the show, the writers, and directors are what drew him to the project in the first place.

Grant mentioned “writer and director Tony Tost of Longmire, as well as Director David McKenzie and actor Jeff Bridges of Hell and High Water” as huge motivations to join the period drama. He then expanded by stating that “it immediately stood out as something I hadn’t encountered in standard TV, and I felt like I was getting the opportunity to work on a project with a narrative that felt both timely and important, both politically, regarding the state of the current nation, and socially, and how we arrived here to begin with.”

His passion for progressive dramas and stories “that are real and reflect the state of our humanity,” as Grant explained, are reflected in his past works, such as Down Here. This indie film was co-written, directed, and produced by Grant that explores the mystery behind the missing young prostitutes in the downtown, eastside of Vancouver.

Grant explained that because it’s “part of what we’ve seen happening in the northwest, in several real-life cases […] it stimulated a lot of conversation [and also acted as] a warning to parents” as well as “young girls about the dangers that are out there.”

For those who don’t know, there are thousands of cases of missing women in D.C. and other Northwest areas. And similar to Damnation, this film takes a serious social and political issue, opens it up, and scrutinizes this phenomenon.

Grant confirmed that although “Damnation is set in a simpler time [and] things have become a lot more complex now when you look at the story being partly about the haves and have-nots, it’s easier to see it in its infancy or its inception and draw the parallels to modern times.”

One can only imagine the nuance necessary for characters in a story that has such large ambitions such as Damnation. To this effect, Grant insightfully responded with how he approached the role Preston Riley on Damnation.

“For me, all of my characters are somewhere within me, no matter how dark they may be. I think there is a piece of myself that I offer up to each of them. So, with Preston, it was more about having a look at my personal insecurities are and I think that [Riley] kind of went off the rails long before the audience gets into the story that is in Damnation. And that’s all surrounding his personal insecurities and what he feels are his shortcomings, and what has made him basically go into that internal place where he’s become withdrawn.”

“I think we’ve all been there” Grant continued. “Whether it was in junior high school or high school, there was always a group of people that were in some way always able to make you feel like you were less than what you really are.”

Although Grant can always find a bit of himself in most of his characters, he wanted his fans and the Damnation audience to know that there are still integral parts of his character that don’t reflect him. “There is a brothel scene later in the season that may surprise people about Preston,” he began. “You have to know that [I] would never go there and would never do that. Absolutely not.”

“In the context of it, it’s really quite comical,” he added. But he made sure to clarify that “there is a vulnerability and a softness to Preston. And the truth of it is it’s just one of those things that I just enjoy [acting] most.”

Grant further explained Preston, calling the role “both challenging and encouraging.”

“For me, I generally play very active characters. Very often dark and stronger characters that are more effective. [Preston Riley] is about the lowest of the low,” Grant continued.

“In the story, he’s impoverished and he’s an alcoholic. He doesn’t really know where he sits. He’s sort of really struggling to find that place. He makes a terrible mistake in the first episode, and it’s something that the writers have given him the opportunity to try and spend the season making up for.”

“So, I don’t know if it was so much a challenge to sit back and be that quiet observer looking to other people to provide him with encouragement and strength in order to do what he needs to do [and] atone for his mistake,” he noted.

“I wouldn’t say it was so much a challenge as it was a blessing. I really do like to play characters that are either harder on the exterior and softer in the middle, quite like Preston even though it’s buried, or the people who are the inverse,” Grant continued.

Grant made sure to note that he got to play his character with such complexity due to his co-workers, Killian Scott, who plays Seth Davenport and Logan Marshall-Green, who plays Creely. “Their dedication, commitment, and focus are unlike anything I have ever seen from a number one and two. They were absolutely driven and enjoying the work.”

Grant admitted that his favorite scene from the series is his “first scene in the speakeasy,” which was “with Logan Marshall-Green [and] was directed by David McKenzie. It’s where Preston makes that first mistake that kicks off a big part of the story point for the season, but also what has become his recovery arc,” he said. “It’s quietly intense.”

“It might be the most enjoyable scene I’ve ever had the opportunity to play. And to get that out of the TV, that’s just remarkable.”

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m excited to see it myself. This TV rarity sounds like it will be a marvel to watch.

Be sure to catch Teach Grant on Damnation, premiering Tuesday, November 7th on USA.

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