'Hap and Leonard': A Behind-the-Scenes Preview of SundanceTV's Quirky New Drama
Hap Collins (James Purefoy) and Leonard Pine (Michael K. Williams) aren’t just friends… they’re in a full blown, decades-long bromance. And what that means in Hap and Leonard, the new drama (or dark comedy, if you prefer) premiering March 2 on Sundance TV, is that both pals will find themselves in the middle of a get-rich-quick scheme that’s going to be more dangerous than they knew.
Well, more dangerous than Hap knew. The more practical Leonard suspected his BFF’s reunion with his ex-wife, Trudy (Christina Hendricks), would lead to trouble. Luckily for Hap, Leonard goes along with the misadventure anyway.
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In the exclusive clip above, Purefoy, Williams, Hendricks, and writer/director Jim Mickle talk about how excited they are to portray their characters, who are drawn from a series of novels and short stories by author Joe R. Lansdale. Set in Texas in the 1980s, the story revolves around Hap, a day laborer and former inmate who was jailed for refusing to be drafted for the Vietnam War, and Leonard, a gay Vietnam War vet with a short temper and a love of animals, vanilla cookies, and Dr. Pepper.
“The main thing that drew me to this character was the writing, and the relationship between he and Hap, the friendship, the brotherly love that they share,” Williams says. “What do they call it today, a bromance?”
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Purefoy also talks about the six-episode first season’s many great characters, which also includes a crazy criminal named Soldier, played by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Jimmi Simpson; Howard (Bill Sage), Trudy’s most recent ex-husband and the architect of the money-making plan, who’s going to tangle with Hap and Leonard; and Angel (Pollyanna McIntosh), Soldier’s girlfriend, who Purefoy describes as a “crazed valkyrie.”
Hap and Leonard premieres March 2 at 10 p.m. on SundanceTV.