MATLOCK: Jason Ritter Shares His Thoughts on the Pilot’s Big Twist and the Joys of Playing Julian

MATLOCK may have kept its real plot under lock and key until the season premiere aired—but viewers weren’t the only ones thrown for a loop.

“I got the full script after I got the part,” Jason Ritter, who plays Julian, a lawyer at Jacobson Moore, told Give Me My Remote at CBS’ TCA event. (The series returns with its time slot debut on Thursday, October 17 at 9/8c on CBS.)

The premiere episode revealed that Matty (Kathy Bates) is not actually Madeline Matlock, as she told everyone. Instead, Matty’s name was Madeline Kingston and she infiltrated the law firm to try and get justice for her daughter’s death.

“I just had my sides [prior to getting the role], but I also knew [creator] Jennie Snyder Urman was so brilliant,” Ritter said. “Even my sides were so interesting and fun and funny and complicated and great. But then I read the script, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is so fun. Oh, I love this case. I love how they’re solving problems.’ And then I got to the ending and my jaw was on the floor.”

“Then I was so excited for the rest of the season,” he continued. “If I had not gotten this part, I would still be watching this show every week to see what happens. And the scripts that keep coming in are so great as she gets closer and closer [to answers]. There’s forward movement.”

Though Julian is one of the suspects on Matty’s list, Ritter wasn’t tipped off ahead of time whether he was the villain of the season—something the actor was actually okay with. “Because Julian has this ability, as a lawyer, [to be deceptive], it’s very helpful and effective,” he said. “[He has] to go, this is my client’s point of view, so that’s my point of view, and I’m not allowing any other facts in. It’s easy for him to compartmentalize and lie, essentially: ‘This is my truth. This is my client’s truth. And I’m committed to that one hundred percent.’”

“I think they’re all good enough liars you would never catch it,” he continued, speaking of fellow suspects Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) and Senior (Beau Bridges)—who happen to be Julian’s former wife/colleague and father/boss, respectively. “[If I knew it was Julian] I would be tempted to drop some acting hints, so I’m happy that option has been taken away from me so that I can just look like a guy who has some secrets—but a lot of people have secrets. It might not be the secret.”

For now, Julian is still in the dark about Matty’s true mission…and delighted, yet baffled, by his new colleague. 

“What’s so fun to me is Julian is definitely one of the characters that totally underestimates Matlock,” Ritter admitted. “He’s not alone in that underestimation. But I think he finds her silly and fun. I don’t think he’s bothered by her presence as much as others. He’s like, ‘Look at this. She snuck in! How cute.’ He has no idea about the twist. I’m really interested in the dynamic as Matlock [gets] deeper into these relationships with these people who she had feelings about, prior. How her perception of them changes or deepens or she digs her heel in because her wound is so deep, so it’s gotta be tough to put on this face.” 

“But I think for sure he definitely doesn’t see her as a threat or anything like that,” he continued. “And, also, she’s Olympia’s problem. He doesn’t have to deal with her. So he’s, like, ‘Great, this is fun. Can you stick around even more and please drive my wife crazier?’”

Speaking of the exes, Ritter was unsure where the relationship between Julian and Olympia was heading, including if there was a chance they might reconcile. “I often feel like there’s a thin line,” he acknowledged. “Sometimes with all heightened emotions…if the other person doesn’t get your dander up, then I feel like that’s a clean break. But the fact that they drive each other crazy…” 

The actor laughed at the exes’ antics, before continuing: “But they also have so much respect for each other, and they’ve always been in awe of each other’s intellect. I think that’s one of the things that brought them together: They recognize that the other is good at their job. For all of their things that don’t mesh, they really respect each other’s skill set. So I don’t know. I think it’s one of those things where we’ll have to see where it goes this season. I wouldn’t count anything out, especially when there are children involved; there’s reasons to try to mend things, or at least be friendlier. There are lots of twists and turns in this season.”

For now, Ritter is just embracing the experience of playing the role. “I was excited to play this character,” he said. “There’s a lot about him that I understand on a visceral level. I love the way that Jennie is exploring these characters and all these different dynamics. I’ve always been a sucker for father-son dynamics and I just loved how complicated this was.” 

“The feelings Julian has…it’s going back and forth between feeling like—knowing that—he’s worked hard, and then also feeling like maybe a lot of people think that he didn’t have to work as hard,” he continued. “But that also has been true in a lot of ways. Just all of it together, every single complex thing, I just love that. I love sitting with the guy. Watching him navigate, not only successfully, his feelings about all of these things. I’m in heaven. It’s such a fun, three-dimensional flawed character and I love it.”

MATLOCK, Time Slot Debut, Thursday, October 17, 9/8c, CBS

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• MATLOCK: ‘Rome, in a Day’ Photos
• MATLOCK: CBS Releases New Cheeky Promo Art Alluding to the Pilot Twist
• MATLOCK Series Premiere Post-Mortem: Jennie Snyder Urman Breaks Down the Twist and What it Means for Season 1
• MATLOCK: What You Need to Know About the Series Premiere
• MATLOCK’s Jennie Snyder Urman Reflects on Her Partnership with Kathy Bates: ‘It’s Been Beyond My Dreams’
• MATLOCK Season 1 Cast Photos
• MATLOCK: New Trailer for Kathy Bates-Led CBS Drama Teases Matty Isn’t What Viewers Are Expecting
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• CBS Orders MATLOCK, ELSBETH, and POPPA’S HOUSE

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