Dylan McDermott loves a challenge. That’s why the veteran actor relished the chance to go from portraying crime boss Richard Wheatley on “Law & Order: Organized Crime” to playing Special Agent Remy Scott, the new lead on “FBI: Most Wanted.” Here, he talks about making the deliberate choice to play a good guy, his audition for “The Princess Bride,” and the importance of trusting yourself.
You’ve had such a long and varied career. What calls out to you now when you’re choosing roles?
It really comes down to people letting me be me. Ryan Murphy knows who I am, Dick Wolf knows who I am, and [they] let me discover and come up with things. The hardest thing is trust in any relationship. Once you prove yourself, you can have that trust.
Were you interested in taking on a good guy role after “Law & Order: Organized Crime”?
I’d been playing some questionable people for a while, and I felt like I was maybe going to overstay my welcome if I kept doing it. So I knew it was time to make that move once again into playing someone noble and good. When [“FBI: Most Wanted”] came along, that certainly was on my mind.
“FBI: Most Wanted” Credit: Mark Schafer/CBS
You joined “FBI: Most Wanted” in the middle of Season 3. What was it like entering the show at that point?
I think there were only, like, six episodes left in the season. It’s an established show, and you have people who love the show. I knew going in that it was going to be a bit of a challenge. I made sure that my character was fully formed. I talked with [executive producer] Dick Wolf and [showrunner] David Hudgins about what I wanted for the character. Coming from “Law & Order: Organized Crime” into “Most Wanted” was pretty seamless, because it’s the Wolf universe, so some of the people were the same. I felt very home and at ease going into the whole situation. I knew I had a character that was great, so I felt really good about it.
What are you most looking forward to exploring with your character, Remy, on “FBI: Most Wanted”?
There’s a mystery about him that I like playing. I think he’s always going to be a leader; he’s going to be the first one in the door. He loves what he does. But at the same time, he’s trying to repair something in himself for letting his brother die. I think that’s why he continues to do [his work] in such a passionate way.
Similar to the work you’re doing with Dick Wolf now, you’ve been in multiple projects from Ryan Murphy. What makes you keep coming back when he gives you a call?
Ryan gives me characters that no one else does. You look at my character in “Hollywood”—there’s no one else on the planet who would have cast me but Ryan Murphy. Ernie West was one of the great, great characters of my career. All of the characters he’s given me have been things that have been incredible and pushed the boundaries of my own talent. I love that about him: He sees things in me that maybe I don’t even see in myself. That’s why I’m so lucky to work with a genius like Ryan. And also with Dick Wolf—he’s trusting me to take over [“FBI: Most Wanted”] and carry it on.
Thanks to Ryan Murphy, Dylan McDermott Is Finding New Ways to Challenge HimselfWhat’s the wildest thing you’ve ever done to get a part?
It would have to be “The Princess Bride.” I was a young actor, and I was up for the role Mandy Patinkin ended up getting. I really had worked on the accent; I had everything down. I remember Jane Jenkins and Janet Hirshenson were the casting directors, and I made them laugh. I jumped up on the conference table, if you can imagine. I think that would have to be the most outrageous I ever was in an audition. Because of that audition, I ended up getting “In the Line of Fire.”
Do you have an audition horror story that you would be comfortable sharing?
Most of them are horror stories, because it’s so hard to walk into a room and show yourself. I think that’s something for young actors to understand—that it’s OK to have bad auditions. I wish I could give you one example, but there have been so many.
How did you get your Equity card?
Joanne Woodward was my mentor when I was a young actor, and she taught me so much. We were doing “The Seagull.” She was the lead, and Michael Christofer was also in it. That was at the Woodstock Playhouse, I believe. It was either that or “Biloxi Blues” [on Broadway], where I ended up replacing one of the cast members.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I would tell myself to trust more. That’s proven to be true for me. I look back over my career and say, “I wish I’d trusted myself more and trusted the process—trusted that it was going to happen,” because so much of the time was just clouded with doubt. Am I good enough? Are they gonna like me? All that stuff. I think that changes as we get older and wiser. You end up understanding that; because it never works, hoping that other people like you.
What’s one performance that every actor should see and why?
Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront.” There was something so compelling about it. After that, acting changed for everybody. His realism was so true. The pain was so true.
This story originally appeared in the Oct. 6 issue of Backstage Magazine.