Damon Herriman talks ‘Justified’ season 5 finale, Dewey Crowe ‘he’s not really that bad’
The Elmore Leonard inspired hit show in FX, Justified, closed out the fifth season Tuesday. Timothy Olyphant and company head into this episode with a ton of unresolved storylines and the fate of Dewey Crowe (Damon Herriman) appeared to one of them.
Herriman saw an expanded role in season 5, and he starts by saying it was “fun” in his April 7 interview with Collider.
“It’s been so fun. In the past, I think the most I’ve ever done in a season is five episodes. And last season, I didn’t do any, at all. So, when I heard that I was going to get to do a bit more in this season, I was so excited because I just love playing this role and I love this show. It’s made a big difference, getting to be in most of the season, ‘cause you get an ongoing story, and you get so much more to do and sink your teeth into.”
Dewey is quite the troublemaker in season 5, so Herriman was asked if he was worried that his character would be killed off.
“Absolutely! Before we started shooting, I visited the writers’ room and they said, “Just so you know, there’s a 50/50 chance you’re not going to survive this season.” I was like, “Okay, I don’t know how I feel about that, but I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.” That’s a weird feeling, knowing that you have absolutely no control over this character that you feel some weird ownership over, but you really have no ownership of, at the end of the day. It’s their character, not yours. So far, I’m alive, but you never know what might happen.”
Fans know Dewey is not the brightest bulb on the tree and feel sorry for the hapless criminal.
“I guess it’s partly the fact that you know Dewey, so it’s the devil you know. You root for him because these other people have just arrived. There’s also just a quality in Dewey where he’s such an underdog. Nothing ever goes right for him. He’s a bad guy, in many ways. He has his tattoos and he commits armed robberies, and now he’s killed someone. But, there’s still something about him where you feel like maybe he’s not really that bad of a guy. He’s just found himself in this set of circumstances that have put him in this time and place, but he could have easily been a janitor with a wife and kid, and been perfectly happy and not been bothering anybody.”
Check out the full interview HERE
Justified airs Tuesdays at 10pm EST on FX with a sixth and final season set to follow.
