‘The Irrational’: Ron Canada on Playing Alec’s Father, ‘Law & Order’ Gift From Jesse L. Martin

Meredith Jacobs January 24, 2025, 5:23 pm

The Irrational reunites Jesse L. Martin and Ron Canada in the January 28 episode, “Ghost Ship,” with the latter coming in to play the former’s father. But they first worked together back in a 2008 episode of Law & Order.

“First of all, everyone should know that Jesse is a wonderful actor and has achieved so much as you know, in Law & Order and The Flash. But before then, as a member of the original cast of Rent. He’s a gifted artist and a professional,” Canada tells TV Insider. “Jesse and I have an episode of Law & Order in common, ‘Bottomless,’ and it’s found some favor among Law & Order fans. Jesse and I worked together quite a bit.” (Martin played Detective Ed Green on that NBC drama for nine seasons, while Canada guest starred as a head of security at a store involved in a cover-up in the aforementioned episode.)

“One of my possessions given to me, a gift at the end of the episode that I still have and still wear, a treasure, is a long-sleeved Law & Order T-shirt that he personally gave to me at my scene wrap, which was a beautiful gesture and was, I think, emblematic of the recognition and trust that we found as actors that week,” Canada shares. “And the kids have a saying: ‘Game recognizes game. When you’re working with people at a certain level, then it becomes easy. You just listen and respond to each other. The great Stephen McKinley Henderson, an actor, a contemporary mind whom I deeply respect, says, ‘Acting is about, pinch, ouch, pinch, ouch, pinch, ouch.’ And Jesse and I are pretty good at pinching and ouching with each other, so to speak.”

Now, they’ve worked together again on The Irrational in the episode “Ghost Ship.” In it, Alec and Marisa (Maahra Hill) investigate a mysterious ghost ship that has washed up on the shores of his hometown. That forces him to revisit his past and spend time with his father with whom he has a fraught and complicated relationship. (Watch a clip above.)

'The Irrational': Maahra Hill Talks Marisa's 'Intense' Backstory and Opening up to Rose

This was a different kind of role as a parent for Canada. “I’ve been the disapproving parent who the child has to win over, win respect or approval or understanding. This kind of turns that on its head,” he shares. “Eli has tremendous admiration and is extremely proud of his son, who is, on the other hand, very skeptical and doubtful and I think has a kind of limited view for various emotional things that have happened in the past of his father. So you have the parent looking up and the son of Alec looking down to a certain degree on dad, which reverses the usual trope in storytelling, not just in television, but storytelling as long as we’ve had theater.”

What are you hoping to see from Alec and his father in this episode? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Irrational, Tuesdays, 10/9c, NBC