On The Nine, Daly plays Nick Cavanaugh, a cop with many issues. Besides conflicting with his bosses over the handling of a hostage situation in which he was involved, he’s got a gambling problem and an ex who may cause problems for his future. But he’s accepted a promotion to protect his fellow hostages from potential investigation, and things only promise to get more complicated from here.
We all have questions about The Nine. What are your big questions?
"I guess my biggest question is something that I’ve been asked a lot and that I asked when I signed on to do the show which is how are you going to keep the show alive when your flashing back to only 52 hours that take place in the bank? So far it’s a question that’s been answered every week. The answer that I got back was something that was very satisfying to me which is that they’re strongly invested in having these characters be really compelling and getting an audience involved in the lives of these people so that as time goes on, what happened in the bank becomes less and less important and what happens to these characters in their present day lives becomes more and more important. So I think that over time there’s an opportunity to actually move significantly away from the bank and have it be more about people in their present lives."
Were you ever concerned the concept would be stronger than the characters?
"No because frankly I thought that - I mean, when I read the script, I thought the characters were one of the most powerful things in the script and I thought that what they did really expertly and seamlessly was to give you a window into the characters’ lives and who they were without it having that sort of ‘This is the pilot’ stench on it, without having cookie cutter characters. The characters are complex, they’re interesting, you get to know them enough to care about them and that’s just in the pilot. So no, I really wasn’t worried about that. When I see something on the page, I become relaxed. So I didn’t think the concept was overpowering."
Did you do any cop research?
"I think it’s somewhat less important than the character and also, frankly, I was hired on a Friday and shooting on Monday, so it was very fast and furious."
Do you like it that way?
"Preparation is always good but on the other hand I think there are times when just going on instinct is very helpful because it keeps you in the present moment and obviously I don’t want to do anything that would be glaringly un-cop-like, but this is an artistic pursuit. It’s not a documentary about policemen so I have to have a little artistic license and so do the writers, so I’m not too concerned with, again, I don’t want to do anything jarring but it doesn’t have to be exactly the way a policeman would do everything in real life."
Even though it’s an ensemble, is there any sense that you’re the lead or leader?
"Well, no. I think that it’s always going to be an ensemble show. Sometimes when we’re in the bank, I mean, because my character is a cop, he’s sort of by definition going to have a leadership role when we’re in the bank because he’s the only character that has training with dealing with criminals or a situation like this at all. But I don't know. I don’t really think about that. I just deal with what’s in front of me. This has all been really fantastic so far."
With all your TV experience, do you have any sense of what makes a show work and not?
"I really don’t. A lot of it is whatever - a lot of it has to do with the collective conscience and what people are ready for, what is piquing people’s curiosity and imagination at any peculiar point in history. That’s really hard to predict. Wings was really interesting because when it came on the air it got horrible reviews, everyone dismissed it and it was a hit show. So it’s clearly outlasted at least the opinion of the critics and now it seems to be beloved by critics and public alike. I can’t account for that at all. It’s just one of those interesting things. On the other hand, shows like The Fugitive or Eyes were highly critically acclaimed and they died quick and painful deaths. So I don’t know what makes a show stick. I know that ABC has shown a tremendous amount of belief in The Nine and they’re really supporting it and making sure that people know about it and that doesn’t hurt, I’ll tell you that. That’s really helpful."
