Bill Dawes Breaks Down the Shocking ‘Alaska Daily’ Midseason Premiere [Interview]

Please note this interview contains spoilers for Alaska Daily Season 1 Episode 7, “Enemy of the People.”

Shortly after Hilary Swank’s character on Alaska Daily moved from New York to Anchorage, she began receiving disturbing calls from a man who called himself a “concerned citizen.” Those calls then turned into threatening packages, and then finally, a surprise visit.

On Alaska Daily Season 1 Episode 7, “Enemy of the People,” the midseason premiere, this “concerned citizen” takes Eileen hostage for a powerful, emotional episode. 

I recently spoke with Bill Dawes, who plays the concerned citizen (we eventually learn his name is Eric) about his role and the shocking end to this episode.

Dawes revealed that the way the episode ends wasn’t always the plan. “I know that there were rewrites, and I know that they discussed different things. I think there was an incarnation where my character actually wasn’t killed at the end,” Dawes shared.

While that could have posed some interesting possibilities, it does make sense that this story wraps up where it does. “I think this is a better way to make it about Eileen and Eileen’s story,” Dawes said.

Eric sees Eileen as a symbol of everything that has ruined his life. Losing his job on the oil rig set him “on a path towards suicide,” Dawes explained, adding that it ultimately ruined his family, his health, and his marriage.

Dawes spent a lot of time doing research for the role and learning about the changes in the oil industry.

“What happened with the Alaska oil industry is, it’s very accurate,” he said. “A lot of these men who, that was basically their life’s mission was to have a family and work on oil rig. And when this was shut down by EPA and Greenpeace, a lot of these men became alcoholics, and became suicidal, and had massive depression that wasn’t really dealt with or talked about. So I think that he just looks at her coming there as a personal affront to everything that he believes in.”

As a series, Alaska Daily focuses a great deal on the media’s effect on people’s points of view and the way society has become more and more divided. In this case, a biased news blog has only fueled the fire for Eric. 

“I think it works for both party lines in America, people who just think what they believe is right, and they will push for it and push for it, and the more resistance they get to it, the more firm and staunch they become in their belief system until it becomes violent,” Dawes said.

For the character of Eric, reading that blog and communicating with its editor, Dennis, only gives him more reason to think taking Eileen hostage is a good idea.

Dawes pondered how much of an effect Dennis had on Eric’s decisions, stating, “I think it’s one of those things, people are thirsty for something and then this person represents whatever that is that can quench their thirst, and they just keep getting slowly, slowly more indoctrinated to that belief system.”

While Eric has Eileen held hostage, they manage to start having some real conversations. Dawes discussed one of those scenes, where Eric is starting to seem just a little more human.

“It’s the blessing of having good writers and having really erudite people like Tom [McCarthy] being part of the series when they discuss things that can come off as very, I don’t know, academic or pedantic, but they have such a personal connection.”

“For example, she goes, ‘What, you don’t believe in global warming?’ She’s basically saying, you don’t think that Greenpeace and activists had a right to shut this down, what was happening to the community? And he goes, ‘You really think that fossil fuels are worse than green batteries?’ And it’s a very interesting thing because it’s one of those bizarre, hush, hush moments that happens in American media,” he said.   

“But I’m looking at Hilary [Swank] going, ‘You really think there’s a difference between fossil fuels and green batteries? Think about that.’ So there is an actual conversation to be had with the person in the room that I think is legitimate.”

“In terms of working with Hilary, it’s interesting to me because she doesn’t really know me and obviously, I know her, which is part of the dynamic of the show too. Because I’ve been studying her, I’ve noticed her work, and she has no idea who I am. So a lot of it is just me going like, ‘Hey, listen to me.’ My character’s like, ‘Hey, listen to me.’ And also Bill Dawes the actor is like, “Hey, Hilary Swank, two-time Oscar winner, listen to me.'”

“And I think that was kind of a great dynamic because my desire to communicate with her personally plays into my character communicating with her was, ‘Hey, just pay attention to me. I have a lot to say.'”

“I think my character [is] someone who believes that this is his only chance to make a difference in the world because everything else has been robbed from him. And that he, to make himself some sort of martyr, which is obviously really wrong-headed and unfortunate,” Dawes said.

“You wish someone could have spoken to this guy,” Dawes added. “For him to be a martyr because he lost his wife, he’s lost his relationship with his daughter — his only chance to actually do something that he thinks will make a difference when it really doesn’t.”

“It’s really a shame. I think when I played the character, I wanted to play it more of like a tragic figure who’s trying to do right, but doesn’t really know what that is because of how he’s been indoctrinated over the years,” he said.

By the time the episode ends, the audience, and Eileen, have real sympathy for Eric. But then just as it seems everyone might make it out okay, he pulls a gun, and the police shoot him.

He dies on the spot just as his daughter calls, making for a truly heartbreaking moment. 

 “I think that’s sort of the message that the writers and Tom are going for, is a message that at the end of the day, everything is very complicated, and there’s lots of layers to people,” Dawes noted. “And if we are able to step outside of our own comfort zone, our own echo chambers, and actually look at other people’s points of view.”

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Alaska Daily airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.

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