New Zealand actor Josh McKenzie chatted about starring in “The Hunting Party” on NBC, where he plays Shane Florence.
The cast features Melissa Roxburgh, Patrick Sabongui, Josh McKenzie, Nick Weschler, and Sara Garcia.
The synopsis is: The hunt is back on as Bex (Melissa Roxburgh) and her team return to the field for a thrilling new season of tracking down and locking up the deadliest serial killers to ever escape prison, while diving deeper into the shadowy conspiracy surrounding them.
‘The Hunting Party’
On starring in “The Hunting Party,” McKenzie said, “It has been good! It has been a dream job, and I got to work with some of my best friends and ‘serial killers.’ It’s a lot of fun.”
Working with the cast
On working with the cast, McKenzie exclaimed, “It has been great. Melissa, Sara, and Patrick and I have become such close friends now. We’ve spent almost every day together for the past two years, and it has been awesome! They are like family.”
“Also, getting to work with people such as Eric McCormack, Kelsey Grammer, Kevin Corrigan, and Jefferson White has been incredible too. I’ve watched these guys on TV, so it has been a lot of fun working with them,” he elaborated.
“I still pinch myself every day… it has been a real joy,” he added.
Playing Shane Florence
Shane Florence is a former soldier in Iraq and a prison guard at a highly classified facility.
On playing Shane, he remarked, “I love that golden retriever energy that he has.”
“Shane is very playful but he is also the most loyal person you can ever meet. That loyalty juxtaposed against that silliness is a lot of fun to play,” he admitted.
“Also, the fact that Shane can just sleep anywhere… that’s another enjoyable thing. I am always enjoying these little quirks about him and these childlike behaviors. It is a lot of fun to explore that,” he added.
Lessons leaned from ‘The Hunting Party’ screenplay
On the lessons learned from the screenplay, he reflected, “It explores the whole nature vs. nurture debate, and Shane’s journey is all about finding out who he is.”
“While I wouldn’t say that it taught me anything about myself, it just gave me a lot of time to reflect on what has made me who I am,” he noted.
“It allowed me to pick apart influences and the nature vs. nurture,” he added.
The digital age
On being an actor in the digital age, he responded, “I wasn’t an actor in the ‘90s, I was a child back then, and I wasn’t in America acting. So, I don’t know what the difference was when cable was a thing.”
“All I know is that the way they collect data is different. There is a lot of pressure to have a social media presence, which I am not good at,” he admitted.
“I like to hide behind characters… I think if you have too much of a social media presence, you can’t do your job as effectively because you are putting so much of yourself out there,” he said.
“I don’t want people to be jarred when they hear that I’m doing this accent, I want them to just hear Shane or Lucas or whatever they are watching,” he said.
“Then, they can watch something I do in Australia and be like, ‘Oh, that’s just a character,’ so I think overexposure isn’t necessarily a good thing, which is why I like to kind of pull myself back publicly,” he explained.
“Overall, the digital age is very confusing and confronting, but I’m so lucky and happy to have this job and I’m very grateful every day,” he added.
Stage of his life
On the title of the current chapter of his life, McKenzie revealed, “Forging.”
“I was writing about that because it’s the year of the fire horse. I’m not big into astrology or anything like that, but I’m a metal horse,” he said.
“There are a lot of big decisions forging, and I think they are going to mean a lot in the future,” he added.
Success
Regarding his definition of success, McKenzie said, “Success doesn’t really look like anything.”
“It’s just a feeling, I think. The moments I felt successful have been quiet moments where I’ve sat with myself and reflected,” he noted.
“Success, to me, is just being able to sit in the space and be content with where I’m at, where I’m going, where I’ve been, and there are very rare moments of that, so it’s not a place. Success is just a feeling,” he elaborated.
Closing thoughts on ‘The Hunting Party’
For fans and viewers, he expressed about “The Hunting Party,” “I want them to get entertainment out of this show… it’s all about entertainment with heart.”
“I want people to be scared and laugh, and at the same time, be entertained in that way, because horror is so big at the moment,” he said.
“I want them to have that kind of excitement, that color, that playfulness, but also, you know feel good about this little found family,” McKenzie concluded.
To learn more about Josh McKenzie, follow him on Instagram.
