SHAWN HATOSY

I was curious. Here was a character where I just didn't know how they were going to write him into 13 episodes without it being one note. My fear was that I didn't want to join something where I was just going to be this prop and this mustache twirling character.

The one thing that I will never forget, going forward, from my experience on Southland is that, as an artist and as a professional, I prepare so different, now that I've had that experience. And I've taken the preparation that we learned on Southland to other things, and it's just made me that much stronger.

I get stopped all the time on the street. I can't believe how many people watch 'Dexter.'

I did a lot of research on villains, and guys who start behaving nefariously didn't start out as bad people. My research indicates that all of these people were scorned and hurt by love. Darth Vader didn't start off as a bad guy. He was a good guy. Only when Natalie Portman betrayed him, did he go to the dark side.

It's kind of up to the actor to deconstruct the scene and deconstruct the character and figure out how to make it real. That's what I love about this job: It's sort of a puzzle each time, and figuring that out is sort the key, whether I'm playing a cop or a killer.

Maybe I'm a little biased, but shows like 'Dexter' and 'Southland,' I'm just enthralled by that sort of storytelling, kind of clever and patient.

On 'Southland,' when a helicopter joins our scene, we don't skip a beat. The actors talk louder because that's what cops do in real life.

We don't typically use music. We don't manipulate our audience into what we think it should feel. We tell the truth. That's 'Southland' Style'... and I love it!

John Wells and Christopher Chulack were pretty honest from the get-go in our first meeting about 'Southland.' They were looking to create characters that were believable in the environment of the LAPD - multi-dimensional, layered characters with real flaws; good-hearted cops mixed with the perfect amount of heroism and irony.

Wile E. Coyote is a coyote with nothing but good intentions. But Road Runner comes along and is unattainable, he wants it and can't get it, and thus he becomes a villain that is impossible to be around. Bill O'Reilly is a villain that is so in love with himself and the sound of his voice that he's literally become the personification of evil.

John Wells and Christopher Chulack were pretty honest from the get-go in our first meeting about 'Southland.' They were looking to create characters that were believable in the environment of the LAPD - multi-dimensional, layered characters with real flaws; good-hearted cops mixed with the perfect amount of heroism and irony.

Maybe I'm a little biased, but shows like 'Dexter' and 'Southland,' I'm just enthralled by that sort of storytelling, kind of clever and patient.

It's kind of up to the actor to deconstruct the scene and deconstruct the character and figure out how to make it real. That's what I love about this job: It's sort of a puzzle each time, and figuring that out is sort the key, whether I'm playing a cop or a killer.

I get stopped all the time on the street. I can't believe how many people watch 'Dexter.'

On 'Southland,' when a helicopter joins our scene, we don't skip a beat. The actors talk louder because that's what cops do in real life.

We don't typically use music. We don't manipulate our audience into what we think it should feel. We tell the truth. That's 'Southland' Style'... and I love it!

Wile E. Coyote is a coyote with nothing but good intentions. But Road Runner comes along and is unattainable, he wants it and can't get it, and thus he becomes a villain that is impossible to be around. Bill O'Reilly is a villain that is so in love with himself and the sound of his voice that he's literally become the personification of evil.

I did a lot of research on villains, and guys who start behaving nefariously didn't start out as bad people. My research indicates that all of these people were scorned and hurt by love. Darth Vader didn't start off as a bad guy. He was a good guy. Only when Natalie Portman betrayed him, did he go to the dark side.

The one thing that I will never forget, going forward, from my experience on Southland is that, as an artist and as a professional, I prepare so different, now that I've had that experience. And I've taken the preparation that we learned on Southland to other things, and it's just made me that much stronger.

I was curious. Here was a character where I just didn't know how they were going to write him into 13 episodes without it being one note. My fear was that I didn't want to join something where I was just going to be this prop and this mustache twirling character.