Man, was this a fun interview to do. The great Robert Patrick is known for his roles in Terminator 2, The X-Files, The Unit and more, and currently can be seen playing the formidable (and funny!) Joseph Prosser on Last Resort.

When I spoke to Patrick on the Hawaiian set of the series, something quickly became clear: he was totally in character during our interview. As you’ll see below, he sticks to using “I” when discussing Prosser most of the time, and gets quite heated – but it was clear it was all in service of the character, and yes, he did crack a grin more than once during his Prosser-tirades.

His approach was highly entertaining to say the least. At one point during the interview, while he was going off, Prosser-style, about women’s lib, his co-star Daisy Betts, sitting nearby, cracked up. When we finished the interview and I wanted to ask him a couple of questions about his movie roles, he smiled and remarked, “Let me shift gears – get out of Joe Prosser’s head!”

IGN TV: Obviously this show begins with such a heated, emotional scenario. It starts pretty quickly.

Robert Patrick: Yeah, it hits it running.

IGN: Have you thought about what the dynamic was like before that?

Patrick: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Let’s go back a little bit. Chief of Boat is the highest-ranking enlisted man on the boat. The percentage is like .05 percent of guys in the Navy that can actually rise to the Chief of Boat. It is the elite of the elite. There are only two people on the boat that aren’t in training. That’s the Captain and the Chief of Boat. The XO, the Lieutenant -- they’re in training. That’s how high the esteem is for the Chief of Boat. Now, where we’re at in this story is I witnessed a captain that I’ve had a long relationship with completely ignore protocol, completely abandon his oath to the U.S. Navy, completely commit an act of treason against the United States government. I watched him do it, and I watched his XO follow suit, and I watched his Lieutenant follow suit. None of them sided with the Chief of Boat. The only people that sided with the Chief of Boat, interestingly enough, are the E-7s, the enlisted men. I think that’s a clue right there of what’s going on.

Robert Patrick as Joseph Prosser in Last Resort.

IGN: Andre [Braugher] was telling me yesterday that you guys have had some spirited conversations about whether Marcus or Prosser are right in this situation.

Patrick: I have told Andre that he’s f**ked up. I will continue to tell him that he’s fucked up. What he’s done is an act of treason. I will never agree with him. It’s like trying to get a Michigan fan to be an Ohio State fan. I will never be on your side. I will never agree with you. Do I like you? Did I have a relationship with you before? Yes. Do I feel betrayed? Do I feel violated? Yes. When it came time to do your duty, you went soft. You turned on a dime, you traitorous son of a bitch. F**k you! That’s how I feel about Andre’s character. Now, Andre the actor, I hold him in the highest esteem. He’s incredible, he’s a great guy, he’s a joyous human being, and I love him dearly.

IGN: Your character is now in this very tough spot because he’s so adamant that what they did is wrong.

Patrick: What they did was wrong. Let’s get this straight. It is wrong. You don’t do that. You can come to me and say, “Okay, but they fired on us.” I will say, “Dude, they fired on you because you went rogue. What do you think they’re going to do? You’ve got a submarine with 14 nuclear warheads. What do you expect!? You disobeyed the orders! What do you think they’re going to do, go, ‘Oh, have a nice day’? No!” They’re gonna try to kill you, and that’s what they should do. That’s the message that they should be sending. So, I’m right, they’re wrong. He is the antagonist of the show, and I am the protagonist.

IGN: You’re the hero.

Patrick: You’re goddamn right I am! And I guarantee you people in the United States will see it that way.

IGN: What is his next move, given this situation?

Patrick: Well, I don’t know. [Marcus] is a commie rat bastard! Maybe he’s going to sell the sub to the Chinese, maybe he’s going to sell it to the Russians. Who the f**k knows what he’s going to do, but he’s been corrupted. He’s obviously got something up his sleeve. And I tell you what, Prosser’s going to be on his ass, he’s going to watch him every day, he’s going to see if he does anything, and once he does, he’s going to take him down. I would just as soon dive on a grenade to protect my men, and I would just as soon blow up the submarine with everybody in it to protect the United States of America.

Robert Patrick (center) with Scott Speedman and Andre Braugher in Last Resort.

IGN: It feels like if anyone was going to lead an actual mutiny, it would be him.

Patrick: Wait a second. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. How can you commit a mutiny when there’s already been a mutiny? I could squash a mutiny. I could throw in the brig the mutinous traitor bastard that Marcus Chaplin is. I could do that. I could corral him for the NCIS. I could see that happening, but Prosser didn’t create a mutiny.

IGN: He knows he has support, as you mentioned. He knows he’s not alone.

Patrick: There you go! Now you see where this show’s going. That’s one of the possibilities.

IGN: Prosser and Grace have a really interesting dynamic.

Patrick: I respect the office of Lieutenant. Do I respect the individual who’s holding that position? That’s a different question. Now, I’ve got a problem with a woman being on the sub to begin with. Up until a few months ago, that wasn’t a reality. But because we did this show and we put a woman on this sub, the U.S. Navy has now added women to the submarines. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not, but I’m going to run with it! [Laughs] Prosser loves women. Prosser respects women. Prosser opens the door for women. Prosser believes that men are men and women know it. So, Prosser’s got to deal with the fact that he’s got a female lieutenant, right? How do you deal with Lieutenant Grace Shepard now that she’s got to get through training? How am I going to deal with that? These are the challenges that Prosser’s going through now -- add the caveat to the fact that she’s an admiral’s daughter. There’s a point of nepotism, resentment towards her for that -- possibly. These are the things I’m working on. Resentment towards her because she’s doing a man’s job, possibly. Resentment towards her because she’s silver-spooned; she went to college -- all this kind of s**t.

The other thing that Prosser is dealing with, that he’s never had to deal with before, is the sexual tension. Now he’s got to quell his 100 percent, red-blooded American maleness and watch himself in a sexual way not to offend her. But when he looks at her, she’s drop-dead gorgeous, so what the f**k’s he going to do with that? That’s a problem. She’s an incredibly attractive woman, and Prosser is a red-blooded American man -- that’s twice her age, but that doesn’t matter. That’s exactly what kept women off the subs.

IGN: She is an authority figure on the boat. How is he handling that?

Patrick: I’m trying to treat her just like I’d treat a man. It’d be the same thing if this was a man. The only reason it becomes different is because she’s a woman. People’ve got to make it different because she’s a woman. “Oh, okay. So you’ve got to treat her like a woman.” No, you’ve got to treat her like a person going for that job, and that’s what Prosser’s going to do. Prosser would haze any lieutenant, male or female, because that’s his job. Are you going to be able to handle the pressure? People will look at it and go, “Oh, you’re treating her badly because she’s a woman.” Am I? Or are you just saying that because she’s a woman. If she’s a black woman, “Oh, you’re treating her different because she’s a black woman.” Am I? Or are you just saying that? Are you putting that on me? You see what I’m saying? People do that all the time. I don’t think he’s treating her any differently. I think he’s treating her like he’d treat any lieutenant, and I think he’s treating the XO the same way. Prove it to me. Now, is there a brotherhood amongst men? Yes. Do we nudge each other and go, “Heh heh heh”? Yes, that’s there. Is there anything wrong with that? Again, I tell you, Prosser does not believe in women’s lib. He thinks she should be home, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. There’s a place for women. It’s called the kitchen.

IGN: Has he had any interaction with the locals?

Patrick: I haven’t had any interaction with the locals on the island? I’m totally focused on the boat, taking care of my men. I’m confused by some of the stuff that’s going on because there’s been a French lady on my boat. I’m not really sure what the f**k she’s doing there. Why is she important to this mission? My world has been turned upside down. A guy I put a lot of faith in, Captain Chaplin, has gone soft. He’s committed an act of treason. It’s bewildering to me. I was saying this to one of the other journalists here, that Prosser is so hook, line and sinker in love with his country, and I am setting myself for a big disappointment if in fact I find out that the system didn’t work and they sent me off to do a bogus mission. The men and women in the armed forces are not supposed to be used that way. The men and women in the armed forces are supposed to be used as a last resort. If in fact Prosser’s set up for this and he’s going to fall from that level, it’s paramount to a Vietnam vet coming home from Vietnam and finding out that your country doesn’t love you or support you, because he’s invested everything. You can’t ask for more. The men and women of the armed forces are the elite of this nation. They are the best we have to offer. It’s not the people we have in the Olympics, it’s the men and women of the armed forces. These are the best Americans, and if you don’t believe that, I don’t know what to say.

Last Resort airs Thursdays at 8pm on ABC.

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricIGN and IGN at ericgoldman-ign.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com