‘Line of Fire’ Creator Joshua Safran Breaks Down the Hollingsworth Family — And That Jack Reveal
Spoiler Warning: This article contains major spoilers from the Line of Fire series premiere.
The Hollingsworth family may spend their days protecting presidents, investigating crimes and working across some of the country’s biggest government agencies, but after the Line of Fire series premiere, one thing is abundantly clear: this family has some serious issues to work through.
NBC’s new drama introduced viewers to Mike Hollingsworth (Peter Krause) and Jane Hollingsworth (Hope Davis), along with their children Clare (Kat Cunning), Micah (Tommy Martinez) and Russ (Taylor Dearden). Each member of the family has carved out a place in or around public service, but their professional lives may be the least complicated thing about them, especially once Jack (Charlie Barnett) enters the picture.
The premiere saves its biggest Hollingsworth secret for the end when Clare’s boyfriend, Logan, discovers that Jack, Mike’s son from his first marriage and the sibling Clare led Logan to believe was dead, is not only alive but has been living right next door to him. Before Logan can do much with that information, Jack kills him, and suddenly all those strained family relationships feel a lot more important.
Ahead of the premiere, The TV Cave spoke exclusively with Line of Fire creator and showrunner Joshua Safran about creating the Hollingsworths, the complicated relationships within the family and what that shocking Jack reveal means for what we thought we knew about them.
Every Hollingsworth Has a “Superpower” and a Kryptonite
When we asked followers to submit questions for Safran, one viewer wanted him to describe each Hollingsworth in just one word. It turns out that question was surprisingly close to how Safran originally pitched the series.
Safran explained that he developed each character around a defining quality that functions as both a “superpower” and a kryptonite, something that allows them to excel professionally but can also work against them personally. Jane’s word was distrust, Mike’s was focus, Clare’s was meticulousness, Micah’s was charm and Russ’ was idealism.
Those qualities are already visible throughout the premiere. Mike’s focus drives him to continue digging into an investigation even when he has to bring Russ into it, while Micah’s charm certainly isn’t hurting him in his very inappropriate relationship with the president’s daughter. Safran’s approach also explains why the Hollingsworths can be so good at their jobs while struggling to communicate with the people sitting across from them at the dinner table.
“This is the first pilot I think I made where I was so clear on their relationships in my own head,” Safran told me.
That understanding extended to the actors once the family was assembled. Safran compared the early process of putting the cast together to working on a play rather than a television series because of how quickly the actors understood their characters and relationships.
Jack and Russ Have a Much Deeper Relationship Than the Premiere Reveals
One of the most noticeable dynamics in the premiere is how differently Mike interacts with his sons. Micah works directly under his father in the Secret Service, creating a relationship where Mike can be both parent and boss, while Russ appears to occupy a much different position in the Hollingsworth family.
According to Safran, there’s a reason for that, and Jack is a major part of it. Safran revealed that Jack’s biological mother died when he was one and that Jane raised him. Jack ultimately followed his parents into their world, while each of the younger Hollingsworth children developed a different relationship with Mike and Jane and their respective careers.
Russ, meanwhile, was the youngest child on the outside wondering who was paying attention to him. Safran explained that the answer was Jack, who would return from deployments and other assignments and spend time with his much younger brother.
“It was Jack that paid the most attention to Russ,” Safran explained, noting that the two formed a particularly close bond while Russ was still very young. Safran went even further, describing Jack as essentially a parental figure to his youngest brother. “Russ’ parent, in a way, was Jack, and he’s not there anymore,” Safran said, adding that the series will explore that relationship further in future episodes.
That puts an entirely different spin on the premiere’s final revelation. Jack isn’t simply a mysterious threat coming after the Hollingsworth family; he’s someone who helped shape at least one of the siblings he may now be targeting.
That Jack Twist Was Almost Easier to Figure Out
If Jack being alive caught you completely off guard, Safran has some good news: it was supposed to. The creator revealed that the pilot originally contained another scene between Jack and Logan that was ultimately removed when the episode needed to be cut for time.
In the deleted scene, Jack encouraged Logan to return to the Hollingsworth house and apologize to Jane following the disastrous family dinner. Removing it turned out to have an unexpected benefit because Safran said viewers who watched versions containing the scene began realizing that “something was up with Jack” because he was pushing Logan to return to the house. “We removed it, suddenly people were surprised,” Safran said. “So I’m glad we removed it.”
Safran also told mentioned that casting Charlie Barnett wasn’t originally designed around helping conceal Jack’s identity. Barnett was simply an actor he had wanted to work with, and when his name came up, Safran jumped at the opportunity. The added surprise became a bonus.
Viewers also shouldn’t expect Jack to remain confined to brief appearances forever. Safran teased that Barnett appears in smaller moments early in the season before becoming increasingly prominent as the story progresses.
Peter Krause Was the First Piece of the Hollingsworth Family
Building the Hollingsworth family started with finding Mike, and Safran landed a television veteran in Peter Krause. Safran explained that Krause’s name actually came to the production through the actor’s team during the fast-moving pilot casting process, and once Safran learned Krause was interested, the possibility immediately felt like a “dream come true.”
Krause read the script, liked it and arranged a Zoom conversation with Safran, but the two barely discussed Line of Fire.
Instead, Safran said they spent roughly an hour talking about their lives. Afterward, Krause texted Safran. Although they hadn’t spent much time discussing the project itself, Krause loved the script and enjoyed their conversation enough to sign on.
“He was the first one in,” Safran said. “And once that happened, everything else sort of just fell into place really perfectly.”
Safran also praised what having Krause and Davis at the top of the call sheet brings to the production, particularly their experience and understanding of the television process. He described the cast as having quickly become deeply connected to their characters, sometimes to the point where an actor will tell him that their character wouldn’t use a particular word. Safran said that by this point, they may know their characters better than he does.
The Hollingsworth Family Has a Theme Song — Seriously
Another TV Cave follower asked Safran what song would serve as the Hollingsworth family’s theme, and once again, what sounded like a fun fan question uncovered something Safran had already thought about while creating the series.
His answer was “Everyone Is Good” by The Roches. Safran, who described music as his “first love,” explained that the song’s central idea helped inform how he thought about the Hollingsworth family. For Safran, these are characters whose professions repeatedly put them face-to-face with people who have done terrible things, but their jobs also require them to understand how those people reached that point.
“No one starts that way,” Safran said, explaining that the idea behind “Everyone Is Good” became something he “really clung to” while developing the family. That philosophy becomes especially interesting after the final minutes of the premiere. We now know what Jack is capable of doing, but Line of Fire has only begun telling us how he got there.
The song remains important enough to Safran that he revealed he had been trying to find a place for it, although he doesn’t expect the attempt to work out. He also joked about finding some way to take advantage of the musical talent scattered throughout the cast.
For a series that begins with a family full of investigators before revealing that one of their own may be the person they need to investigate most, “Everyone Is Good” might be a surprisingly fitting choice. After what Jack did to Logan, the question now is whether that belief can survive whatever he has planned for the Hollingsworths.
Comments