Wyatt Russell and Brent Jennings Preview ‘Lodge 49’ [Exclusive Interview]

If you’re ready for something a bit different to watch this month, look no further than AMC’s Lodge 49, which premieres next week.

The series is described as a light-hearted modern fable set in Long Beach, California about a local ex-surfer, Dud (Wyatt Russell), who’s drifting after the death of his father and collapse of the family business.

Dud finds himself on the doorstep of a rundown fraternal lodge, where he meets Ernie (Brent Jennings), who welcomes him in.

Earlier this summer during the ATX Television Festival, I sat down with stars Wyatt Russell and Brent Jennings to discuss what fans can expect from the new series.

Jennings was intrigued by the story of Lodge 49 right away.

“I just thought it was very good material. The writing. The characters. The tone of it was so unique,” Jennings said. “[It’s] a kind of slice of life, but it’s not a comedy, it’s not a drama. It was just very unique in how it was played.”

“I thought it was just very different. And I like the community — the broader picture that it paints of Long Beach, the people, the faces that you don’t see on television. You know, I called it character actors’ heaven,” Jennings continued.

For Russell, it was appealing to be able to play a character that would have such a wide breadth of emotions.

“You could go from being very sad in a real way, to very happy in a real way, to goofy in a fun way,” Russell said. “It’s fun to be able to play a lot of different emotions and have people want you to do them in a way that tracks, and not just a way that services a story.”

What seems like a simple story on the surface of Lodge 49 is much more complex. This is a story that has a lot to offer its audience.

“If I’m right about it, I think at its core, what it’s really about, this show, there are stories, but thematically, from the heart, what it really is about is celebrating life through all of the hardships and bullshit you go through, you still celebrate life, you know. Because these people, all of them, are very feisty, are very lustful, are very aggressive in their own ways,” Jennings explained. “Everybody is really trying their best to get the most out of their lives.”

The relationship that develops between Dud and Ernie early in the series is a special one, and in terms of the lodge, it comes with its own terminology — the squire and the knight. Both actors agreed that these characters have a lot they can learn from one another.

“It’s a give and take thing. A lot of times, I’m learning from him. It’s not that I’m the mentor and he’s the mentee,” Jennings noted.

“Yeah. I think that our relationship as squire and knight is — I don’t know. I think it’s a really interesting relationship. Honestly, I’ve never seen it on TV. It’s a way that I think you see two people connect over, literally, just no other reason than who they are,” Russell added. “They’re a total odd couple. But none of them judges the other, necessarily, for things that they don’t see. [They] don’t make assumptions about each other in a way that is detrimental to their overall relationship.”

“It carries a sweetness to it. And Dud really looks up to Ernie as a father — as more than a father figure in a way, and almost as like an overarching, meta, how-to-live-your-life figure, because he just looks at everything he is, and sort of understands how good of a person he is,” Russell continued.

That relationship works because there’s a certain level of openness.

“I think Ernie is at the point in life where he’s been honest about his life. So I’m teaching, for lack of a better word, from lessons that I’ve learned. I open up and I’m open with Dud. I’ll say things to him like, you know, ‘Don’t ruin your life. Don’t make this mistake that I made. Don’t do this, don’t do that.’ But when we meet Dud, he’s kind of ready for that, because he’s searching a little bit, and I’m someone who is open. So it’s just like we’re just coming together at the right time in our lives,” Jennings explained.

Something else that makes Lodge 49 unique is the way the story is being told.

“That’s another big part of the show that I hope people enjoy, is that there’s the magical realism aspect of it, where it is a fable. I like it because it’s a story that’s being told to you. It’s Jim Gavin and Peter Ocko. Jim Gavin, the mind of Jim Gavin saying, ‘Let me tell you a story. Like, sit down, I’m gonna tell you a story of this magical kingdom called Long Beach,'” Russell said.

This is also the kind of television series you’ll have to pay close attention to.

“It’s an active watcher show, absolutely,” Russell noted. “It is a show, no matter whether it gets 17 seasons or 1, that you can go back, and you can watch right after it’s over, and you can watch the whole show again, and almost see a different show. That’s part of the magical aspect of it. Not a lot of people would do that, but if you could, there’s a lot of Easter eggs that they put in there.”

“Jim is an author, and his book, Middle Men, is fantastic. He writes very much as he wrote the book,” Russell explained. “It’s vignettes of people’s lives. [Lodge 49] watches like you read a book.”

“It’s almost parable-like too,” Jennings added. “The meaning is in the events of the story.”

—

Be sure to catch Wyatt Russell and Brent Jennings in Lodge 49, premiering Monday, August 6th at 10/9c on AMC.

Check out all of our coverage of the ATX Television Festival right here.

Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!