Accused: Josh Hamilton Breaks Down ‘Jessie’s Story’ [Interview]

Please note this interview contains spoilers from Accused Season 1 Episode 14, “Jessie’s Story.”

The first thing that struck Josh Hamilton about the script for his episode of Accused was that storyline focused on a girl searching for her biological father. Not only was that storyline intriguing to him, but it was also personally relatable.

I recently had the chance to speak with Hamilton about his role on Accused and what went into filming “Jessie’s Story.”

Hamilton said he was interested in the storyline of “people finding out that they had children or parents that they don’t know about” because it feels so very relevant.

“I just feel that’s happening all the time. It’s happened in my extended family now a few times over the last few years, and so it’s a topic that I find intriguing,” Hamilton said.

“I have an uncle that I never knew about that I just discovered two years ago. With all these DNA sites, my father’s obsessed,” he continued. “We’re really into genealogy, and so he’s found all these family members that we never knew about. In this age of DNA technology, I just find that really, really interesting.”

On this episode, Hamilton plays Dominic, a father who learns he has a daughter he never knew was his — though he’s known her for her entire life.

It makes for an emotional story, and we see his character dealing with a whole host of different feelings when he learns that Jessie is his daughter — and he’s known her for her whole life.

“It’s all these different dynamics. First of all, he has to come to terms with this reality for himself, and then there’s the feelings that he has to try to help his wife come to terms with it, which is obviously going to be very challenging. And then his children, too,” Hamilton said. 

The way Hamilton’s character is portrayed also shows that, even though he made a mistake when he cheated on his wife, he’s ultimately a good man.

“I think they were going through a hard time in their marriage,” Hamilton said of Dominic and his wife, Andrea. 

“It was a one-time thing, and people make mistakes,” he continued. “He wasn’t a serial cheater. It was — people go through hard times and act out in different ways. I think it was very much on purpose that he not come across as an unredeemable jerk.”

The ending is also a fairly positive one, as we see everyone come together once the truth is out.

“It’s nice that the potential is there, because I think that underneath it, they all really do like each other and it seems that they are trying to be mature enough and understanding enough,” Hamilton said.

“I like that it’s an aspirational ending, because it would be nice if that’s how these situations worked out. I think it shows real empathy for everyone involved”

Hamilton said working with Betsy Brandt was one of the most enjoyable parts of filming this episode of Accused.

“Betsy Brandt is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. She’s the kind of actor that I think probably crews love to have, because she comes on set and she just starts cracking jokes,” Hamilton recalled.

“There were a couple of scenes when we were all together, and she’s the kind of person that just gets everyone laughing and telling stories, which I always just really appreciate.”

He said that though this episode isn’t being shown as the season finale, it was the last episode to be shot for the season, and you could tell the crew was tired.

“I think they were only supposed to do a certain amount of shows, maybe eight or 10, and then they added on another 15. [The crew was] so tired and strung out, but still doing great work because they were professionals. I think it was a lot more of a commitment and intense journey for that crew than they thought.”

“Betsy would come on and she’s just so funny. I think they all really appreciated her. I mean, I know I did,” he continued. “You can feel her sort of lift the crew’s energy up.”  

This particular episode of Accused is lighter in tone than others we’ve seen this season, and that also presented an extra challenge for the actors.

“I think they purposefully wanted to do one that was a little lighter, still dealing with an important or potentially heavy subject, but to attack it in a lighter way,” he explained.

Hamilton said they’d often to a “heavier take” and then follow it with another take that was lighter and more comedic.

“Trying to find that tone, I liked. I mean, it was challenging,” he said. “In general, it was trying to find that sweet spot of a little bit of a lighter touch and I like the challenge of that.”

Oddly enough, one thing that left a lasting impression on Hamilton was a new realization about cilantro. One of the final scenes shows Jessie and Dominic connecting with one another over the things they have in common. Jessie asks him if he likes cilantro, to which he replies, “No, it takes like soap.”

“It’s so funny, that line about cilantro, because I know people have very strong feelings about cilantro. To be honest, I have always been like, ‘I think I could take it or leave it.’ It’s not something I feel strongly about. But for some reason, ever since doing that scene, even just a couple of nights ago I had cilantro and I was like, ‘It really does taste like soap,” Hamilton laughed.

“It’s something I’ve never really thought that before and now I can’t get it out of my mind. Every time I eat cilantro I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s soapy.'”

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Accused airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on FOX. The season finale airs on May 9th.

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