The Dead Zone's Sheriff Walt Bannerman (Chris Bruno). Photo copyright of the USA Network.
In today's Sci-Fi Blast From the Past, handsome and talented actor Chris Bruno talks about playing Sheriff Walt Bannerman and working on season four of USA Network's The Dead Zone.
It’s just another day in Cleaves Mills, Maine, That is, for everyone except Johnny Smith. Unfortunately, the former-schoolteacher-turned-reluctant-psychic is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Luckily for Johnny, he has the local long arm of the law, Sheriff Walt Bannerman, watching out for him. “The episode we’re working on at the moment [late July] is called Lotto Fever,” says Chris Bruno, who plays The Dead Zone’s Sheriff Bannerman.
“In it, Walt is called to the scene of a convenience store robbery. When he first watches the video surveillance tapes he recognizes Johnny [Anthony Michael Hall]. Of course, my character immediately thinks, ‘No way, there has to be something wrong.’ When Walt reexamines the tape he spots this other guy holding a gun on Johnny and forcing him to help rob the store.
“Despite the dramatic overtones, the episode is, in fact, rather comedic. Our robber is someone who’s just gone one step too far. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone but is desperate to get money to take care of his family. I do my typical Walt thing where my character shows up here and there throughout the story and then in-between gathers information that eventually leads our heroes to solve the crime. At the climax of the story, Walt and his deputies have a big stand-off with this guy and poor Johnny is still caught in the middle. As far as what happens, I don’t want to spoil it, but I think the audience will like how things turn out.”
Bruno has been upholding law and order in Cleaves Mills and all of Penobscot County as Sheriff Bannerman since The Dead Zone’s debut in 2002. Prior to that, he had regular roles on two daytime dramas, All My Children and Another World, as well as guest-starred on such TV programmes as Suddenly Susan, JAG, The Nanny and Jesse. After four seasons of walking in Walt’s shoes, the actor feels very comfortable in the role, but has found that to be a bit of a double-edged sword.
“The most enjoyable thing about playing my character on The Dead Zone is the people I work with,” enthuses Bruno. “I mean, I love my job and the work is challenging in its own way because of the hours and such. It’s funny, though, I talked to my dad [Scott] recently, he’s also an actor, and I said to him, ‘You know, sometimes I’m not sure if I’m doing a good job playing this role because it doesn’t always feel challenging.’ My dad said to me, ‘That’s when you’ve actually realized you’re getting good at what you do. Just because it doesn’t feel difficult doesn’t mean it isn’t, it’s just that you’ve adapted to the challenge.’ I thought that was a really insightful way of putting it; there’s a certain comfort level you reach once you get good at playing a character.
“My one concern with Walt is that I don’t find him exciting,” continues the actor. “I’m constantly trying to bring more excitement to my performance, but it’s not always appropriate with my character. The show’s producers prefer to keep him in a specific box if you will. I can explore anywhere I want within that box, but if I step outside it then it’s not Walt. They want me to maintain an even keel and reliability with the character and would rather not see, for example, any volatility or anger with him. Of course, I occasionally try to test those boundaries,” he chuckles. “I just think the real challenge with Walt is to keep him interesting and at the same time consistent with his personality. Overall, he’s someone you can count on to behave a certain way with his wife Sarah [Nicole de Boer] and their son JJ [Spencer Achtymichuk] as well as Johnny.”
Longtime viewers of The Dead Zoneknow that Walt first met Sarah ten years ago at Cleaves Mills Hospital where her then boyfriend/fiancé Johnny was in a coma. At the time, she was also pregnant with hers and Johnny’s son. Walt offered Sarah emotional support, and over time they fell in love. When it looked as if Johnny would never recover, Sarah made the difficult decision to get on with her life. Six years later, Johnny regained consciousness to discover that she had married Walt and they were raising JJ as their own child. Johnny’s presence made for an awkward emotional triangle between him, Walt and Sarah during the show’s first two seasons. However, as Bruno points out, things are much different these days.
“Johnny and Walt not only have a working relationship but also a solid friendship and are part of a ‘functioning’ family,” explains the actor. “A lot of times people will call families dysfunctional as a result of divorce or other factors. Our characters, on the other hand, have overcome that problem.
“I like that our show has these two highly evolved men who have found a way to come to terms with any feelings of animosity they may have once had for one another and can now get along with and look out for each other. Johnny has become an extension of Walt’s and Sarah’s family, and you see that today in real life. Couples that are divorced, separated, etc., still keep in contact with the other person because of their children. My real life family got along great that way. My parents were divorced for 28 years, but we were still like a family. It’s a matter of adjusting to a new situation, and I think The Dead Zone writers do a terrific job of showing that.”
Besides playing Walt this season on The Dead Zone, Bruno had the chance to step behind the camera back in June and direct his first episode of the series, Independence Day. “That was a fun story to shoot,” he says. “It’s so well-written and not a typical Dead Zone episode. It starts out at an easy pace with Johnny and Bruce [John L. Adams] hanging out as two buddies and looking forward to enjoying the weekend. All of a sudden, things go haywire and the action really picks up. I feel very strongly about this episode and am extremely proud of the work everyone did in it.”
Prior to starting work on year four of The Dead Zone, Bruno finished producing as well as playing a lead role in the independent feature film Last of the Romantics, which is making the film festival rounds. He also spent much of last November in Utah working alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins on the upcoming feature film The World’s Fastest Indian. Production of The Dead Zone’s fourth season wraps later this month, and given the show’s ongoing popularity, there’s a good chance that Bruno will be back in uniform as Sheriff Bannerman for a fifth year.
“We have uncertainty every season as to whether or not we’re being picked up, but our numbers don’t lie,” says Bruno. “They’ve not only remained solid, but have increased over the years. Our fans continue to be very loyal, and that’s a rare comfort for us considering the current atmosphere out there with all the reality programming and similar fare. So The Dead Zone just seems to keep on rolling, and we’re all very grateful for that.”
Steve Eramo
As noted above, photo copyright of the USA Network, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
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