Walker returns from its midseason break tomorrow, and we got the chance to catch up with Keegan Allen, who plays Liam Walker on the series. We talked about Liam’s repercussions after his very bad decision (calling in a fake police report), his contention with the Davidsons, and Keegan’s first experience at a Supernatural convention.
Nerds and Beyond: We see at the end of the last episode that Liam made a very bad decision (calling in a fake police report) — a “career-ending” one as Cordell puts it. How does that affect Liam going forward with the rest of the season? Will there be a lot changing for him?
Keegan: We’re gonna see the repercussions of his decision of essentially calling out a false police report. This is a difficult season for Liam. It’s a lot of finding his feet, finding his way back after this. But ultimately, it has a lot to do with the seismic effects of what Liam has done and why he did it. So we get both sides of the street. We see you know, his sort of like call for help, how his family comes to his side and how he comes to his own side… and recognizes a lot in his life. You know, he needs to figure out before he can move forward in his career and in his life.
Nerds and Beyond: Liam was at odds a lot with Cordell so far this season. How does that relationship grow? Will they still be at odds for a while?
Keegan: Like any family dynamic, there’s always going to be ups and downs and we get to see, you know, how this particular incident affected Liam’s career and it is not a good look for Cordell. Being a Texas Ranger and being not only associated, but related to the incident. So, we get to see kind of the flip flop. I said just in a previous interview, [that] it’s like we get to see this flip flop of how last season Liam was there supporting Cordell, [and] in this season, how it is Cordell supporting Liam and what are those effects that kind of seep into the relationship. So … we get a real, I guess, taste of the test of their friendship. And it’s a really interesting season. But mostly in this episode coming up, you know, Liam makes some poor, poor decisions, to say the least. And you know, there’s repercussions to all of this stuff.
Nerds and Beyond: So Liam was very suspicious of the Davidsons as soon as they arrived. Do you think that was genuine suspicion on his behalf? Or do you think Denise taking over as the DA also kind of played a role in that?
Keegan: So yes, and no. I’m just drawing this from my own side of this script, but, you know … Liam was never a big fan of Denise … growing up feeling like, you know, she kind of stole away Cordell in those formative years … and Liam probably felt like an outsider. But besides that, there’s some sort of a gut feeling that Liam has, that seems to be I guess, invisible to Cordell or Cordell is rather, you know, not taking his gut feeling serious enough. And [he is] sort of siding with the Davidsons so much because he has his history with Denise. And because Liam doesn’t have that history with the Davidsons, he’s able to, I think, see a bit clearer into what [he] feels as something wrong. So obviously, that feeling coupled with the history, and you know, the fact that here is someone who’s very much primed and ready to take over as District Attorney in Travis County, [and] suddenly gets … just completely blindsided with the reality that now his boss is someone that … there’s so much contemptuous behavior toward and contention. I think that there’s so many facets to why Liam feels the way that he feels, that it’s almost like he has to take a step back and recognize himself why he feels the way that he feels and why he made the decisions that he’s made and moving forward what he wants in his career.
Nerds and Beyond: So in the first half of the season, we see Liam almost get shot again and then go on investigating these cases with Cordell. What have been your favorite scenes or storylines of Liam’s so far?
Keegan: Yeah, I really love that that man’s never afraid to run into a gunfight. Those scenes were so fun to shoot. But that and a lot, a lot of scenes coming up … I really enjoyed the intoxication scenes. I enjoy being able to have like, just a full spectrum of Liam, you know, this side of him, the wounded, you know, sort of pariah that runs into the forest and then also just the way that he handles … his issues, how he handles it moving forward and coming back into it. And then you know, seeing there’s a visit from Bret, how he deals with that, you know, the ghosts of his past so to speak, and then also how he is able to speak to his brother about a very real thing that’s happened where, you know, we all have our issues and how we deal with them but you know, our family is forever, blood is forever. The show really does a wonderful job of always coming back full circle to family and what it means to have and be in a family. No matter what, to be able to come back to and how we deal with those second chances and those mistakes.
Nerds and Beyond: So is there a specific scene that’s coming up that you’re really excited about (one you can tell us about), or one that you just really loved filming?
Keegan: Yeah, I really love doing the scene that’s coming up of Liam having a little bit too much to drink. And recognizing that oh my gosh, he’s like I need to go. I need to go right now and make a statement. Because it’s like, he puts it all together after having like, way too many drinks. And he goes in, you know, as intoxicated and there’s like a fun little like Easter Egg in this episode that is just, it’s just like kind of just fun. It’s just fun to kind of let loose [with] that character and see where a character that normally is very put together and very, very self aware loses all awareness and falls completely apart. It’s just a wonderfully fun scene to shoot and having Alex Landi there and Jeff Pierre and Coby Bell during this, of course and Jared. It’s wonderful to work with just having all those guys there, to kind of support this. These choices as an actor have been very fun, [it] was a very fun scene.
Nerds and Beyond: Lastly, you recently attended a Supernatural convention with Jared and it was kind of your first interaction in like a big way with Walker fans. How was that experience for you?
Keegan: It was incredible. First of all, it was life changing because I’ve done conventions before. You know, obviously for the last show I was on there were conventions all over the world where fans would show up, but seeing the Supernatural family and how accepting they were of Jared and Jensen’s … just their trajectory in their careers, the support there first and foremost, for you know, the end of a huge piece of Jared and Jensen’s life. And being there to support them on their next journeys … Jensen with The Boys and Jared with Walker. And being so accepting and inviting and inclusive to me. I went there honestly, just to see it and photograph it. And I couldn’t believe just how that family is just this wonderful … it’s almost like a fully formed body of like this almost amazing family that’s been created from Supernatural and so I loved how inclusive they were of Walker and how excited they were and how much they knew. I couldn’t believe it. [There’s] just so much information that they’ve taken in from Walker and … it’s just wonderful and Jensen’s just a doll. I mean, he’s just so charming and wonderful.
I get it like, after that weekend I turned to Jared when we were coming back home and I was like, ‘I get it.’ I totally get it. I understand it. And man, it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing, a wonderful partnership. And I’m just lucky to be able to play [Jared’s] brother [in] something else. I mean, he’s just, it’s unreal. What a wonderful… just a wonderful thing.
Walker returns this Thursday on The CW at 8/7c.
