Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV | Tagged: scarpetta

Scarpetta Star Jake Cannavale on Sarnoff, Father-Son Work & More

Jake Cannavale (American Sports Story) spoke with us about his turn as Young Pete Marino in the new Prime Video crime drama, Scarpetta.

It's never easy to forge your own path in Hollywood, especially when acting is literally in your blood, as Jake Cannavale is trying to do apart from his father, Bobby Cannavale. The two were put in a unique position to join the same project, playing Pete Marino, a no-nonsense, but overly blunt detective in the Prime Video series Scarpetta, which is based on the Patricia Cornwell novels of the same name. Jake plays the younger, past incarnation, while Bobby plays the character in the present as the series chronicles Kay Scarpetta's (Nicole Kidman and Rosy McEwen) life as a chief medical examiner trying to solve cases. The American Sports Story and Nurse Jackie star spoke to Bleeding Cool about working with creator/showrunner Liz Sarnoff, studying Pete and his interactions with Kay, and their circle, synchronizing Pete with capturing Bobby's essence.

Scarpetta Star Jake Cannavale on Playing Past Pete Marino, Liz Sarnoff, Bobby Cannavale, and More

Before getting cast, how familiar were you with Patricia Cornwell's work, and what intrigued you about entering her world?

To be honest, I did not know about the Scarpetta novels at all. Once I got the audition, I started familiarizing myself with her work a little bit, but I was just very much invested in this dual timeline element, and I love the concept of getting into a crime story while also really getting to know the inner workings and machinations of the personal life of the lead of Kay Scarpetta. That was an approach to a crime show I hadn't really seen before.

What's it like working with Liz as a creative and showrunner?

She's awesome. Liz just knows how good TV works. She gives you leeway and will let you know when what you're doing isn't working, or when it could be tweaked. She's just great. She's one of those writers who brings the same amount of dedication so that every element is her strong suit. The crime element, the family element, the romance element, like she's a "queen of all trades," so to speak.

Obviously, a lot is going on with the whole time jumps or anything, and I was wondering how you made it work out with Rosy and Amanda [Righetti] with the performances, and where the characters are?

When I get the scripts, because it goes back and forth, but one thing that helps me is I read it as is, and then I read again, just my material and storyline, and then read the present storyline. I do three run-throughs to help me get super acquainted with everything and make sure I know what's going on.

Was it at all awkward just because you and your dad were playing the same role, and you were playing the younger incarnation? Was there some form of synchronization that you guys went over, or was it just something left on your own?

No, yeah, the synchronization was huge. We were very collaborative on this character. It was a blessing, because we aren't on set at all together since we're playing the same guy, so all our work is done off-camera. We got to hang out and work on this character, creating him from the ground up using Liz's amazing blueprint. Yeah, the synchronicity was very real, and I don't think I could have done as good a job as I believe that I didn't work with my dad on this.

Blumhouse and Amazon MGM Studios' Scarpetta, which also stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Arana DeBose, Simon Baker, and Savannah Lumar, premieres on March 11th on Prime Video.

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