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The Hunting Party: Eric & Finn McCormack on Unique Acting Opportunity

Eric McCormack & Finn McCormack spoke with us about playing two versions of serial killer Ron Simms on NBC's The Hunting Party and more.

Any time an actor has a chance to play against type, most will embrace the opportunity, like Eric McCormack, who's more known for his comedic and dramatic roles on TV with his memorable turns on NBC's Will & Grace, Netflix's Travelers, TNT's Perception, and Showtime's Dead Like Me. His latest role is playing serial killer Ron Simms, one of several inmates from the underground supermax prison called The Pit, who need to be recaptured on NBC's The Hunting Party, with Bex Henderson (Melissa Roxburgh) and her team on the case. Unexpectedly, the role has turned into a family affair, with McCormack recruiting his son, Finn McCormack, to play his younger counterpart before his initial capture. Eric and Finn spoke to Bleeding Cool about how they got involved, working with creator JJ Bailey and EP Jake Coburn, filming, and any acting advice Finn received from Eric.

The Hunting Party: Eric & Finn McCormack on Family Acting Opportunity

What intrigued you about The Hunting Party?

Eric McCormack: It was an offer to me of a very dark, cool role, and when I get those, I jump on them because it's the opposite of what I often get to do. But then, when they suggested Finn, as the younger me, that took on a whole other thing.

Finn McCormack: Yeah.

What is it like working with JJ and Jake as creatives?

Finn: Oh, incredible. They're so fun to work with. They've got brilliant ideas on the spot, and coming from having less to no experience in a larger filming world like this, I found them to be quite welcoming. I appreciate their presence a lot.

Eric: [Casting Finn as my character, Ron Simms' younger counterpart] was very much their idea. I simply asked who was playing the younger me, and they said, "What about your son?" I said, "Based on what? What do you even? They tell me it's just a hunch. I put Finn on tape, and they went bananas. They loved it. My other favorite thing was realizing when we got there that they're closer in age to Finn than they are to me, and I was the "old guy" with all these early '70s references of, "Do you remember All in the Family?" and then they bond with Finn over SpongeBob [Both laugh].

Finn: The universal classic, yeah.

Finn does remind me of the Rob Reiner character, Meathead, from All in the Family.

Note: The interview took place before Reiner's tragic passing.

Eric: Yeah. You look like him, Finn.

Finn: Really? I like the sound of that.

Beyond the script, was there anything that either of you added to Ron Simms as far as any ticks or quirks?

Eric: Interesting. We saw that one thing they loved was Finn's look, so much so that they didn't want him to change anything. I was thinking, but I know the director is going to do some shot where it's clear that we're the same guy 25 years later or whatever, so I said, "What if I have a mustache?" There's a great shot I think really works. It was fun. Some of those shots were [Finn], and I was standing at the trailer with our matching mustaches that were pretty good.

Finn: Yeah, we got a bit of a height difference, but that makes you know, with movie magic, you can't tell the difference. That's why we locked in for sure on trying to make the character more specific between each other, so there's a bit of a through line.

Finn, since you're doing the acting thing, did your dad give you any invaluable advice on the craft?

Finn: Oh man, that's a good question. There's definitely something I'm going to miss, but let me think of the strongest [advice]. Honestly, the biggest thing for me is that in a professional setting like this one [with The Hunting Party] in which you only have as much time as you do before you have to move on, it's about going in with full confidence in that whatever they like, they like.
As an actor, I put forth my best interpretation of the character, and directors, producers, and so forth, see what they like with that, and they take it. That gave me a lot of confidence not to worry about the little things, as to whether they were going to enjoy my performance. Relaxing a bit was the biggest thing.

Eric: But also trusting the people who hired you.

The Hunting Party, which also stars Nick Wechsler, Patrick Sabongui, Josh McKenzie, Sara Garcia, Zabryna Guevara, and Kari Matchett, airs Thursdays on NBC.

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