Melissa Benoist says her character in The Waterfront is “definitely in a vulnerable state when we meet her,” and we’ll see her try to “unentangle herself from a really complicated situation she’s put herself in.”
Over his career, Kevin Williamson has delivered audiences many great television shows. From Dawson’s Creek to The Vampire Diaries to The Following and beyond, Williamson knows how to deliver on high-octane drama.
That is what makes The Waterfront so great. Williamson doesn’t back away from putting the Buckley family into some really close scrapes, starting with the very first episode.
At the ATX TV Festival, Kevin Williamson and cast members Holt McCallany, Jake Weary, Melissa Benoist, Rafael Silva, and Danielle Campbell presented the world premiere of this new Netflix drama, which is set to premiere June 19th. After presenting the first episode, they discussed the setting, story, and characters as best they could without spoiling anything.
To start off the conversation, Kevin Williamson was candid about how The Waterfront is a “very beautiful love letter to North Carolina.” The show was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, which is a backdrop Williamson loves to use as often as he can.
“ I’m from North Carolina. I’m actually from that environment.” Williamson stated, “It’s my story, but it’s not, it’s the Buckley’s story. It was inspired by my father, who did get into some trouble… back in the ’80s and was working with some Colombian fellas. So, my dad had to go down a dark road.”
In essence, according to Williamson, The Waterfront is a show about “good people doing bad things and how they find their way back to the good.” He said the show asks the question: “Where’s that compass? How do you pull yourself out of the gray?”
He went on to say that each of the characters on this show is likable from the start, but quickly turns toward doing less savory things that make viewers question how much they can root for them. According to Williamson, this is “what makes television.”
When asked about their characters specifically, Holt McCallany and Jake Weary were very candid about how much the relationship between Harlan and Cane defines the show. These two actors were more than happy to share how they felt connected to these characters as they developed across the first season.
“ My father was a very heavy drinker and not faithful to my mother, and yet my mother loved him and tried to keep the marriage going for a very long time in spite of his many flaws.”
McCallany said about how Harlan is much like his own father, “I kind of borrowed a lot from my dad; he was kind of an old school guy. But, he still loved his family.”
When asked about Cane’s journey across the season, Weary said, “ He’s crossed the threshold into the life of crime, and it may be a little too soon. You see him trying to do this kind of juggling act between this new life and his, you know, his family and the people he really loves.”
Cane is now faced with running the business in his father’s absence, maintaining his family, and reconnecting with an old flame who has returned to town. It’s a balancing act that Weary feels Cane “struggles with” throughout Season 1.
Alongside Jake Weary and Holt McCallany are the other members of the Buckley clan: Melissa Benoist as Bree Buckley and Danielle Campbell as Cane’s wife, Payton. And rounding out the cast is the ever-mysterious, brand new bartender, Shawn, played by Rafael Silva.
To start, Silva wasn’t able to reveal much about his character beyond what we learn in the pilot episode. He stated that, “Shawn’s just here to have a good time. Who wouldn’t want to go to North Carolina?” That makes us believe there is much more than meets the eye about this bartender from Galveston.
Conversely, Danielle Campbell had quite a bit to say about her role. “ I had so much fun with Peyton. It’s such a privilege getting to work with Kevin and the trust of getting to play characters because he creates such vastly different worlds from each other. Nothing in the same lane for me,” Campbell said.
But, Peyton’s such a blast because she’s obviously married into this crazy family and she loves her husband, but she has this journey on her own that is very different from what you initially think about her,” she continued.
Finally, to round everything out, Melissa Benoist had this to say about her role as the Buckley family daughter, Bree.
“Kevin and I, in our first conversation when we were talking about the role, had a lovely conversation about addiction and, you know, being honest about it. I’ve seen it up close and personal in my life. And it was not an easy thing to explore.”
“[Bree’s] definitely in a vulnerable state when we meet her, and she’ll continue to be so. But, she’s a tough cookie. She’s very much really looking at what’s going on with her, feeling shame, pity for herself,” Benoist added. “And I think it’s gonna be — it’s a wild ride to watch her kind of, zoom out and see where her loyalty lies and what’s important to her and kind of unentangle herself from a really complicated situation she’s put herself in.”
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