Cam Gigandet Talks About Starring in the New CBS Series ‘Reckless’

CBS’ new crime drama Reckless is described as hot, sexy, and set in the South. Set to premiere on June 29, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT, Reckless stars Cam Gigandet (Twilight, Plush) as a City Attorney who meets his match in and out of the courtroom in a gorgeous Chicago attorney (played by Anna Wood) who moves to Charleston and immediately stirs up the town.

Chatting about the show during the CBS summer press day, Gigandet explained his attraction to the series and what audiences can expect from Reckless.

The Reckless Plot:

Reckless is a sultry legal drama set in Charleston, S.C., where a gorgeous Yankee litigator and a charming southern attorney must hide their intense mutual attraction as a police sex scandal threatens to tear the city apart. Jamie Sawyer is enviously cool, confident and armed with south side of Chicago street-smarts as she takes on the good ol’ boys in the South. Her handsome courtroom rival is Roy Rayder, a divorced father of two, embodies the Old South and is the newly minted City Attorney, thanks to his influential former father-in-law, Dec Fortnum. When disgraced cop Lee Anne Marcus hires Jamie to represent her in a lawsuit against the police department, Jamie and Roy discover that Lee Anne is at the epicenter of a sinister case with dire implications for the members of the Charleston PD.

Cam Gigandet Interview

Were you looking for a series? You have a lot of movies in the works.

Cam Gigandet: “No, I wasn’t looking for a series but it’s one of those things that comes up and it’s shocking at first to think of that as a path that I’m going to take. Once you sit down with it and see, ‘All right, this is what my path is going to be,’ I couldn’t find any reason not to take that opportunity.”

Was it just a coincidence that Catherine Hardwicke was directing the pilot or had you been talking about it while it was in the works?

Cam Gigandet: “No, it was a coincidence to me. We had previously shot a movie together by the name of Plush. We had shot that just a few months before, and I still didn’t know anything. When I went to the meeting and I found out it was her directing, I just kind of… You know, we have a great relationship and it was good luck.”

Will the sexual tension be going on all season long?

Cam Gigandet: “I don’t think he’s ever really satisfied.”

Is it one of those shows where if they get together, it sort of ruins the magic?

Cam Gigandet: “That’s always a concern. Yeah, you can look at it so many different ways. My personal opinion is, yeah, when that happens – especially when it happens so early on – you have to tear them apart as quickly as you brought them together. I prefer shows that draw it out a little longer. Not obsessively long, not where it gets silly, but I’m sure Devon [Greggory, the writer] has a plan.”

Will your character still be wanting to defend the police a few episodes in?

Cam Gigandet: “He still will. That’s his job; that’s his duty and I think he still believes 100% that truth is on his side.”

Does playing a lawyer give you some opportunities to have great speeches to deliver?

Cam Gigandet: “Yeah. That’s been one of the more difficult parts of this particular project for me, because it’s just something entirely new. I mean, you never really have … none of the things that I’ve done have these long legal speeches with so many technical, semantically-charged things going on. But I’ve enjoyed it when I don’t have anxiety going through the roof. You also have the entire jury, just so many people there that it’s nerve-wracking. But, I do enjoy it.”

You’ve said you’re a fan of The Good Wife. Is that what attracted you to this show?

Cam Gigandet: “Yeah, there are obviously similarities. This is a more youthful version of that. But I’ve been watching that show since the beginning and I absolutely love it so anything similar it – definitely caught my eye.”

Does the fact that TV’s so good these days weigh in your decision?

Cam Gigandet: “Of course. That’s a part of everyone’s decision. The quality of television that’s out there rivals movies. We can push that envelope even further and do the best we can with that.”

What was it like filming in South Carolina?

Cam Gigandet: “Warm. It was warm, but I loved it. The only difficult thing for me was my family wasn’t there with me the whole time. The traveling was a lot. But as far as the city goes it’s just gorgeous and unbelievable. I grew up in Seattle so I didn’t have anything even similar to that. This was a whole new experience. Just the restaurants, the people, I loved it.”