When Ethan Hawke‘s Lee Raybon, Tulsa’s self-proclaimed “truthstorian,” returns for Season 2 of Sterlin Harjo‘s unique noir The Lowdown, he’s getting a bit too much praise for the murder mystery he solved with his investigative journalism in Season 1.
Lee is having “an existential crisis about the meaninglessness of ‘success,’” says Hawke. “He has a desire to blow it up.” The actor reveals that he and Harjo agreed that Lee wouldn’t handle success “well at all,” adding, “There’s no way he’s gonna just put a feather in his cap and walk around.”
That insecurity doesn’t seem to keep Lee from attracting the attention of public defender Ginger (Betty Gilpin), who he works to help locate a missing client. “Lee is an unreliable friend, but he’s the only friend she has,” Hawke teases.
Tommy Lee Jones steps in as Hawke’s onscreen father, Lee Raybon Sr. “I felt privileged to be sitting shotgun in a lot of scenes with him,” says Hawke of the complex father-son relationship viewers will see develop as Season 2 unfolds.
FX
When it came to casting Jones, Hawke reveals that he and Harjo imagined “who would be a great, formidable figure in Lee Raybon’s life, and Tommy Lee popped up in our mind, and then we couldn’t get him out.” Luckily, Hawke says, “He was a fan of The Lowdownand was a fan of Reservation Dogs, and so it just happened in a blink; it was just the right move.”
As fans will recall, Season 1’s mystery revolved around Lee investigating the death of a local man who was ultimately linked to a land dispute, and in Season 2, the focus is shifting to the prison system. “If you want to look at the way class works in this country, the prison-industrial complex is a very interesting place to place your eye to expose a lot of hypocrisy and injustice,” Hawke says.
No matter what lays ahead, we’re eager to dig into this season like it’s a piece of pie from Sweet Emily’s diner! Watch Hawke’s full interview above, and don’t missThe Lowdown when it arrives on FX this fall.
The Lowdown, Season 2 Premiere, Wednesday, October 14, 9/8c, FX and Hulu