Jason Lee Speaks
I really like TNT’s southern cop show, Memphis Beat. I like the portrayal of a city that has, let’s face it – less than a stellar reputation as a great place to raise a family, in a positive light. Memphis, with its barbeque joints, honky tonks, blues clubs and proximity to the wide Mississippi, becomes a character in the series, that lends just as much credibility to the stories as the series’ star, Jason Lee.
Lee (My Name Is Earl) plays Dwight Hendricks, a Memphis detective with a penchant for singing a little rock ‘n’ roll on the side, although that part of his persona may be toned down a bit this season. Alfre Woodard (Three Rivers) stars as his no-nonsense boss, Lt. Tanya Rice. DJ Qualls (Hustle & Flow) and Sam Hennings (The Aviator) round out the regulars. I recently had the opportunity to sit in on a roundtable interview with Mr. Lee where he talked about the upcoming season of Memphis Beat.
One journalist asked why a show called Memphis Beat was filmed primarily in Louisiana. Lee replied that they had wanted to shoot in Memphis, but the tax incentives offered by Louisiana were too good to turn down. Lee noted that while he thought the first season of Memphis beat was good, the upcoming season should be even better.
“I think the show is more fun this season,” Lee said. “Dwight is a little bit more identifiable. He’s less of a character and more of just a guy; less of like a sacred kind of Elvis thing and more of just a Southern dude who loves music.”
Early on Memphis Beat gained an unfair reputation as being about a cop who was an Elvis impersonator. While Elvis is something of a hero to Dwight, that was never the intent of the writers or Lee.
“This season there’s less of (the) Elvis thing and more of just Dwight performing music,” Lee says. “Certainly Elvis is his idol, but you know what really kind of didn’t help in our favor at the beginning of the first season was that people have this ideal that the show is like ‘cop by day Elvis impersonator by night,’ and that kind of screwed us up a little bit. We just sort of shed all of that and it’s just more about Dwight loving the South and being just a guy who loves everything from Elvis to Johnny Cash to Muddy Waters to, you know, probably Simon and freakin’ Garfunkle.”
Memphis Beat certainly has its own vibe – musically and visually. Once journalist asked Lee what he did to bring the swagger to his role as Dwight Hendricks.
“Oh man, I think it was the boots,” Lee laughed. “You know, some of the wardrobe, the car, the music, the old guitars…it’s sort of like there’s a little bit of a modern day cowboy vibe to the guy, which I think is really interesting. That could get real cheesy real fast. So I just try to be aware of the importance of this guy’s job and make it as much about how much he cares as it is about how “cool” the guy might be.”
Another journalist pointed to the role the music played in the show, and Lee readily agreed. “(The music) was taken straight from the South,” Lee said. “You’re going to get those flavors of blues, R&B, Elvis. The backdrop to the show takes place in Memphis, and we all know how important music is to the Memphis; to the South. (The music is a) character in the show just as much as Dwight’s car is. There’s such a sense of camaraderie and community here because everybody shares everything. That’s very much a Southern thing I found, and with that comes a real sense of pride. Dwight carries that pride with him. There’s a pride of, ‘Hey, we do things differently around here,’ which I think is really cool.”
I had the opportunity to screen the season opener, and while I’m not throwing out any spoilers (well, maybe a small one) I noticed it didn’t pick up where last season left off. I asked Lee about it.
“Last season ended on kind of an emotional cliffhanger with Dwight finding out that his dad might have been a dirty cop. Is that storyline going to be followed up at all?” I asked.
“Yes sir, we’ve already filmed that episode.”
That made me happy, since I hate shows with loose ends. Then I got to ask Lee another question that had been on my mind.
“Flannery O’Connor once made the comment that Southern literature is God-haunted, and people of faith seem to be treated with more respect in Memphis Beat than on a number of TV series where if you’re a person of faith you’re treated as a wacko. Is that intentional?”
“I think it’s out of respect,” Lee replied. “I mean, really, honestly I think anything that is a part of the South is real. I think that’s the thinking. Why wouldn’t it be as real as the music or the food? Why wouldn’t it be as real as the manners or the characters of the people? I think it just goes with the territory and it’s celebrated as a Southern thing.”
Memphis Beat premiers Tuesday, June 14 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on TNT.
