‘Gotham’ Season 5 – Donal Logue Interview on Saying Goodbye to Playing Harvey Bullock

Donal Logue admitted he’s in a little bit of denial about having to say goodbye to his Gotham co-stars. During our interview at the 2018 New York Comic Con, Logue spoke about wrapping up his role as Harvey Bullock on season five – the final season – of Gotham.

Donal Logue revealed Gotham’s the most cinematic show he’s worked on, complimenting the series on its incredible amount of emphasis on the cinematography, sets, hair, and makeup. “In a way all you have to do is just inhabit it. It does so much of the work for you, as opposed to other acting jobs I’ve had where it’s more verité and you have to create a lot of the mood and emotion as an actor. I think Gotham is these beautiful set pieces that you just step into,” explained Logue.

Fox has set a January 3, 2019 premiere date for the comic book-inspired series’ fifth season.

Did you speak to the executive producers about anything you still wanted to see out of your character’s arc?

Donal Logue: “No. I would say that Ben probably has more authorship in that world. I’m kind of a soldier in that regard that, that I just, ‘What you’ve got for me I’ll take.’ Whatever comes down the pike.


They’re working on so many complicated arcs and storylines that I think it’s hard to interfere too much with that process. I also kind of like to see what they come up with and be kind of surprised myself.”

You got to have the big heroic moment last season which had fans on the edge of their seats. That was thrilling, even though we knew you survive in the comic books.

Donal Logue: “You know, obviously that’s a bit of a trick in these worlds is that you have the sense that there are consequences. But in Gotham there are consequences. People go…but I mean a lot of people come back from the dead. I honestly think that Harvey has very little life outside of his job in the GCPD and his relationship with Jim Gordon. I think he’s almost like an empty vessel if he doesn’t have it and so he’s more driven psychologically by that need to just have some purpose in life because I don’t think he has much of a life outside of work.”

That said, did you ever create a life for him?

Donal Logue: “Totally. It’s a lot darker than I think the showrunners think. I think if you got to see his life, you’d be shocked at how spartan and severe it is outside of work. I think when Gotham started, Harvey was just trying to claw out the last few years to get to pension. Jim Gordon reignited something inside of him and gave him some purpose to live and to continue and to care.”

Gotham star Donal Logue
Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock in ‘Gotham’ (Photo by Justin Stephens © 2018 Fox Broadcasting Co)

After all these years, how’s it been working with Ben McKenzie? Do you feel like brothers?

Donal Logue: “We felt that way right off the bat. My sister worked with Ben on Southland and really enjoyed working with Ben. Somehow, we fell into step with each other. He’s an amazing human being. He’s incredibly kind and yet he has a very strong spine. He’s a great leader.

He’s a great #1 on the call sheet and it means a lot. I’ve seen shows and we all probably know of certain shows where that kind of stuff gets in and it really wrecks the dynamic of just showing up every day and doing your job. There was never an incident of that on Gotham, ever. I’m so appreciative. These are really beautiful human beings that we get to work with. There was no ego involved. It was such a pleasure to be a part of.

You know, when you’re away from your family working and you’re working 15 or 16 hours a day, usually in a city that you don’t live in, it’s so important that you have the connection with the cast and the crew that we have. I know people talk about that kind of stuff all the time. I’m a father and I just really come at this thing like you come at it. You’re just a human being showing up. Doing your job is what you do; who you are is who you are. But we’ve made this kind of family within Gotham. I’ll miss them dearly.”

What’s on your Bullock bucket list?

Donal Logue: “I didn’t really have one. Bullock’s role is really there to serve when stuff goes awry. He might twinge about it a little bit, he might bitch and moan, but when the stuff goes down, Bullock’s always there over Jim’s shoulder. I think that whatever the trajectory that they wanted for the last season, I just was there. I didn’t have any kind of personal thing that I would really like to see Harvey necessarily do. I just wanted him to be part of the team and do what he always does.”

What can you tease about the finale?

Donal Logue: “What I can tell you is that it’s pushed 10 years in the future. […] It’s going to jump in the future. You’re going to catch Gotham in the stage right before it needs intervention from what will be Batman.”