Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV | Tagged: countdown, Jensen Ackles

Countdown: Derek Haas, Jensen Ackles on Getting [SPOILER] for Opener

Countdown showrunner Derek Haas and star Jensen Ackles on getting [SPOILER] for the opener and Haas's mom not being happy with what happened.

Though Prime Video and Showrunner Derek Haas's Jensen Ackles (The Boys, Supernatural)—starring Countdown gave us three episodes to blow our minds, the streaming series wasted little time setting an action-packed and intense tone with the series opener. Speaking with EW, Haas and Ackles discuss how they were able to get [SPOILERS] for the opening sequence, how it laid the groundwork for what's to come, and how their death didn't exactly make a certain member of Haas's family happy. From this point forward, we're throwing on the "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign and throwing down an image spoiler buffer, just to be on the safe side.

"We purposefully left him out of all the ads and the promo," Haas shared about locking down Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us, Heroes). "And then he was great." Ackles added, "Derek [Haas] came to me and threw out a couple of names, and Milo [Ventimiglia] was one of them, and I was like, 'Oh yeah, get Milo." Initially, another actor was set for the opening, but Haas had the idea of really throwing viewers for a loop right out of the gate – though he didn't have the highest hopes in landing Ventimiglia. "I felt like he was doing us a favor," Haas said, noting that a different actor was set for the opening sequence. "I didn't know him, but I was delighted when he said he wanted to meet about it, and I thought, 'There's no way he's going to do this.' And then he was like, 'I think this would be really cool.' I don't think he's ever done something like that before."

The opener proved to be a jolt to the system for the viewers and a very effective in-your-face way of pulling us into the action and intrigue right from the jump. "I spoke to him [Ventimiglia] after I saw it. I was like, 'Sequence looks amazing, you crushed it, you've got to be sore, that was a lot of running," Ackles shared with a laugh. "We're not as young as we used to be." For Haas, the toughest critic of his decision to hire Ventimiglia and kill off the beloved actor so quickly hit close to home. "My mom's mad at me: 'How could you kill Jack from 'This Is Us'?'" Haas added.

Countdown: A Look at Prime Video's Jensen Ackles-Starring Series

When an officer with the Department of Homeland Security is murdered in broad daylight, LAPD detective Mark Meachum (Ackles) is recruited to a secret task force, alongside undercover agents from all branches of law enforcement, to investigate. But the hunt for the killer soon uncovers a plot far more sinister than anyone could have imagined, kicking off a race against time to save a city of millions. Ackles's Mark Meachum is described as a rogue L.A. detective, wrong-side-of-the-tracks kind of guy who takes risks that most people wouldn't take. That could make things difficult when Meachum finds himself part of an elite team that also includes Nathan Blythe (Eric Dane), Amber Oliveras (Jessica Camacho), Keyonte Bell (Elliot Knight), Evan Shepherd (Violett Beane), and Lucas Finau (Uli Latukefu).

Speaking exclusively this week with EW, Haas noted that the show's drama won't just be about big action scenes, with Meachum involved in some romantic entanglements. "It's not going to be just one," Haas added about the potential romantic dynamics at play. "I love the triangle. It's my favorite shape. And we're going to have a few of those." In addition, Ackles discussed what it was like working with the ensemble cast, how Supernatural fans might find similarities between Meachum and Dean Winchester, and how the series made him feel a bit like Tom Cruise:

Ackles on Working with the "Countdown" Cast: "It's like every ingredient for a perfect dish. Everybody blends well together. Everybody's so giving and happy to do whatever it takes for the team."

Ackles on Fans Finding Similarities Between Mark Meachum & Dean Winchester: "There's probably going to be some familiarity from that fandom with this guy. It's not like I'm going so opposite spectrum with this character. He's going to be a familiar taste, which is good. I like doing that. I mean, I played Dean for 15 years. I loved playing that kind of a character. And I think this guy is in the vein of that, just with a completely different set of circumstances."

Ackles on Getting "Getting My Tom Cruise On" with "Countdown": "I actually just did some ADR the other day for an action sequence. I was watching it and I was like, 'Oh, I'm getting my Tom Cruise on here. This is some full-on action stuff.'"

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