ABC's Will Trent was the surprise hit of the 2022/2023 TV season, ending as the network's third most-watched show with its unique insight into procedurals. Following the titular Will, dyslexic Georgia Bureau Of Investigation officer (played by Ramon Rodriguez) who grew up in the foster system, refuses to ever process his trauma, and has a loaded but beautiful friendship with Atlanta police officer Angie Polaski (Erika Christensen) -- who also grew up in the system with Will -- it has a good sense of humor that balances out the dark emergencies the team faced each week.
That is something Ramon and Erika both hope continues into season two, which premieres on ABC on February 20, 2024 at 10/9c.
"That's the thing the show does really well, honestly," Ramon tells HELLO! for our Spotlight cover. "There's really heavy emotional stuff and then at other times it's silly, ridiculous fun. When the whole band gets together, it's a lot of wrangling – and we have a lot of that coming up in the first few episodes of season two, which is really nice."
Season one ended with a major cliffhanger, as Will discovered the truth about his late mother and it was revealed that he had a substitute mother looking over him all along in boss Amanda Wagner (Sonja Sohn) who had always wanted to adopt him.
Angie, meanwhile, had decided to end her on-and-off-again romance with Will for good, but in a cruel twist of events, she was beaten by serial killer James Ulster (Greg Germann) and Will was being told she may be paralyzed.
Here, Ramon and Erika dive into identity, found family and just how they keep things light on set. Hint: it involves a dog.
Season one ended with Will discovering the truth about his mom, how will that continue to play out in season two?
Ramon: Will finally received some understanding of his identity, and some pretty big significant puzzle pieces of his life were filled in. But when we wrapped season one, I asked: 'What does that do for season two?'
I'm fascinated by identity, and for someone like Will, there's so much of himself that he doesn't know. Yet that process of self discovery and choosing to look into his history life might be nice or it might be awful, so how does that impact somebody psychologically? At the top of season two, he's begun to scrape a little bit at his heritage as he learns Spanish to be tied to his mom – and I love it when we see him vulnerable and awkward. But it might also trigger some other things, and I think we're trying to continue down that path this season and see where that takes us.
For Angie there was a huge injury that left her future up in the air, where will we meet her when season two opens?
Erika: We're going to see the results of that attack and those injuries. But Angie is a fighter, someone that really needs to work in order to keep her sanity and to feel a sense of self-worth and purpose, so while at the outset of season two she is not working and is physically recovering, she's definitely got her sights set on getting back on the team.
Angie and Will have a long history that's bonded them but is also complicated, as actors how did you approach building this connection early on?
Erika: We had 15 or 16 years of being friends so there was a layer of trust that we automatically started with. There was a romantic scene in the pilot where they're making out – and we have intimacy coordinators, which is so wonderful – but I remember thinking, 'We're going to be fine,' because we know each other, we trust each other.
Ramon: There's no doubt it helps when you've known someone for a long time. We all knew what this relationship and this history was, so it was a question of, 'How do you make that feel honest?'
One of Angie's first lines is, 'I've seen your scars.' How beautiful and wonderful. And all of that with the complexity of having a dog next to us…
Belle (the Chihuahua who plays Will's pet dog Betty) must help to keep things light on set….
Erika: The way that we fawn over Belle!
Ramon: That's the thing the show does really well, honestly. There's really heavy emotional stuff and then at other times it's silly, ridiculous fun. When the whole band gets together, it's a lot of wrangling – but we have a lot of that coming up in the first few episodes of season two, which is really nice.
Will season two lead us towards bigger opportunities for the cast to all be together?
Ramon: Yes and no, it's a balance of delving deeper into individual storylines and also bringing the gang together. Episode five is really the first big 'get the band together' episode. But we're going to really get into some of these backstories.
What was it about Will and Angie you both loved that drew you to the roles?
Erika: I believed them, and I heard their voices. They had this whole shared experience throughout their lives, and they had channelled their experiences – which were clearly very traumatic at young ages – into a very empathetic and caring life.
They were both dealing with it in their own ways, but I respected them and thought their relationship was something that we're not familiar with seeing on TV; the way that they really truly love each other and then they also truly trigger each other.
Ramon: There was definitely something to the idea Erika mentioned of two people that have experienced some of the darkest things, and witnessed it with each other, but still are there for each other. They've been to hell and back and to see them as adults trying to navigate all of that – and being romantic and what comes with that – was so loaded and interesting and compelling.
Will was someone who I understood pretty quickly as a person that does not share with many people because of what he's been through. He wears all kinds of armor but here's this one person [Angie] that knows everything about him, and that is beautiful and lovely, to have someone that you can count on, the way these two count on each other.
But it also has a flip side to it, which sets up for me an interesting story, because they trigger each other yet you can also root for them.
What would you like to see from these characters as the season plays out?
Erika: Closure, or a clearer path for the; if they had some kind of clarity... But I don't want that for the sake of television, particularly because the limbo that they're in is what keeps us hooked.
Ramon: We talk about this a lot when we're talking about the story; unhealthy relationships make for interesting, compelling TV and this is an unhealthy situation between them. For Will though, at some point, he's got to face some of this stuff and how that happens… it won't be buttoned up perfectly. But it would be interesting for him to start to gain a sense of self and discover who he is and find other ways to handle and navigate problems.
And it's not just Angie and Will – even Will and Faith's friendship has been a slow burn but they're finally getting closer which feels nice because it feels earned, it didn't happen in two episodes, so that's been fun to watch that evolution.
Erika: And it's interesting that for Angie, they gave her the pregnancy scare and she was ultimately relieved that they weren't about to become parents, but in season one there were the teenage girls she was helping who were being trafficked, so there is some version of a maternal instinct in her even though she has her guard up, emotionally, and that is in my mind going into season two.
Ramon: But what you want that is good for your character might not be great for television, so I have my own personal ideas…maybe I should talk to the writer's room and pitch what ideas I have!