SPOILER ALERT! This story contains details from the penultimate episode of Task on HBO.
Jamie McShane wasn’t always recruited to play a bad guy. Early on in his nearly 30-year career, McShane says he would typically snag roles as someone who was aggrieved or had fallen on hard times. But then Sons of Anarchy came along in 2008 and McShane was cast as an Irish gun runner named Cameron Hayes who would serve as a key antagonist in seasons 2 and 3.
McShane had found his calling. Depicting someone who everyone wishes were dead has become a particularly lucrative line of work for the New Jersey native, who believes he’s found his best baddo yet – a motorcycle club leader named Perry Dorazo in HBO’s Task.
“This has been the most incredible job of my career,” says McShane, whose previous roles as an antagonist include the merciless Marshal Kent in 1923 and Ben Mendelsohn’s partner in crime in Bloodline. “Bloodline was a tough one to top, and this actually topped it. The response has been amazing. The writing is so good and the actors are all so good. And I’m fortunate to have been a part of it.”
Here, McShane reflects on his career, his character’s bad decision in Sunday’s episode and what to expect from the the Oct. 19 finale of the Brad Inglesby series.
DEADLINE You’re so good at playing bad dudes that I just want to believe in real life, you work quietly as a pastor while running an orphanage and raising bunnies.
JAMIE MCSHANE Yes, I have a bunny farm. And I am a pastor with lots with kids. Absolutely, that’s me.
DEADLINE Have you always migrated to these roles?
MCSHANE I don’t know when I first started getting the bad guy things. I guess Sons was the first big one, but I didn’t really see him as a bad guy. I played a lot of cops as well, but sometimes they were dirty cops. I don’t know. It’s this Irish English Dutch mug I got, I guess. Hang on. One of my bunnies just jumped up on me.
DEADLINE I’ve always wondered about the use of the phrase ‘character actor.’ Is that a nice way of saying you don’t look like Brad Pitt?
MCSHANE I heard Ruffalo say during an interview recently that he went to bed as a leading man and woke up a character actor. I thought that was hysterical. I take pride in being called a character actor. I mean, I’m very grateful and fortunate that I get to work a good amount and make a living and support my family. I left Jersey after eight, nine years of trying to act in New York and came out here to LA. It took me 12 years to get an agent. And then once that started kicking in, it’s just been pretty magical. I’ve climbed the ladder pretty nicely.
DEADLINE Did you jump into Task after 1923?
MCSHANE No, I did Task prior to 1923. I went out there on Valentine’s Day in 2024 to Philly, and then we filmed pretty much from March until early August. During that time I was back and forth to Ireland doing season 2 of Wednesday. And then when I wrapped with Task, I went to Austin, Texas, and they compressed all six episodes of 1923 into a month of shooting in Texas. After that I went back to Ireland to finish up Wednesday. It was wonderful. That was an incredible year for me. I started with Bosch: Legacy. It was right after the strike had ended, and I was fortunate enough to do Bosch: Legacy and then Task, Wednesday and 1923. It was pretty remarkable and wonderful.
DEADLINE How was Perry described to you? I don’t know how much time you spent with creator Brad Inglesby ahead of time talking about the role.
MCSHANE A good amount, Brad. There’s so much established just in the writing. Brad is such an amazing writer. Basically, Perry was described as one of the leaders in the mother club of the Dark Hearts gang. And he was described as someone who moves very slowly until he has to be quick. I found him moving almost like an alligator or a shark. And yeah, he is a little bit off his rocker. That’s what makes him so dangerous.
DEADLINE Is there is any humanity there?
MCSHANE There’s tons of humanity.
DEADLINE He drowned a woman!
MCSHANE That was an accident. I gave Eryn [Margarita Levieva] a chance to get out. I even said, ‘I will put you and the kids away where he’ll never touch you.’ And I meant that. And then I find out that she’s the rat within our club. I track her car and was like, ‘listen, I gave you a good way out. Now we got to handle it differently, which means I’m going to take you and I’m going to put you in front of Jayson [Sam Keeley] and tell him exactly what’s up, and you’re going to confess to him and Jayson’s going to deal with you.’ Not my problem. Jayson’s going to deal with that both as head of the club and as her husband. So then she runs from me and I just impulsively chase her and then realize she’s screaming and I’m in the water with this woman. There are a bunch of kids up in the hill having a little powwow. I just try to shut her up. I don’t need to go back to jail or whatever. And finally I get her to shut up. I don’t realize I’ve been holding her underwater. Then it’s a look of, oh my God, I can’t believe I did this. I did like this girl a lot, and I love Jayson, and this is his wife. And then kicks in the criminal side. What do I do with the body?
DEADLINE So where else is the humanity in Perry?
MCSHANE I think in his love for Jayson. He’s treated him like a son and he’s been good to him in the best way he can. I think Sam Keeley described it very well. He said Jayson is like this ferocious lion, and Perry’s the lion tamer. But I think Perry truly loves him. And Perry loves being in the Dark Hearts. I do think Perry can be a loving guy, but he’s also had this background.
DEADLINE The shootout in the woods was intense. Perry did try to convince Jayson to walk away.
MCSHANE Basically we go down there just to find Robbie [Tom Pelphrey]. We’re going to meet him in the cabin to get the dope. We’re going to deal with him however we decide to deal with him. And then all of a sudden as we’re going by that bridge, we start hearing these voices and we see Robbie, the FBI guy. I’m like, all right, let’s go back to the trucks. We’ll regroup, see how this plays out. We shot that it in Wissahickon Park, which is referenced just outside of Philly. The bridge was actually about a four hour drive outside of Philly towards Pittsburgh. The bridge was in a very different location.
DEADLINE How was it shooting in Philly?
MCSHANE Oh, it was fantastic. You get to shoot in actual locations rather than a make believe thing in the middle of Europe when it’s supposed to be New Hampshire or whatever.
DEADLINE How was it working with Tommy Pelphrey?
MCSHANE Oh my God, I think he’s just mesmerizing on screen. I got to work with him in Mank. We only had one scene together. We didn’t really have any dialogue, but I got to know him very well. I really love the guy, he’s an incredible talent, and this is one of those roles that was just right for the right person at the right time. He just shines.
DEADLINE So what’s to become of Perry in the finale?
MCSHANE He’s going to hell, depending on what you believe. Perry is just trying to protect Jayson and his club, and at this point, he’s accidentally killed Jayson’s wife, and he’s got to deal with, that. Hopefully the body’s not going to be found. How does he play this with Jayson?
DEADLINE How do folks react to you out in the wild? I have to think you were really hated after 1923.
MCSHANE It’s funny, I don’t get recognized right away for that one. I think because of the big hat, my face, and my mustache was a little fuller. I was dirtier. It’s usually like, ‘wait, what else have you been? That was you.’ It’s kind of one of those thingies.
DEADLINE Are you recognized for Wednesday?
MCSHANE Not as much as I thought I would because I look kind of like me and I act like me in Wednesday. I thought I’d get recognized a lot more for that than I have. Sometimes with little kids, it’s so fun when they put it together or they’re told that I’m the sheriff on Wednesday. You watch it pop in their head.
DEADLINE So what is next for you? A Hallmark movie?
MCSHANE I’m launching my own Hallmark card line with lots of bunnies on them.