‘Line of Fire’s Charlie Barnett Unpacks Jack’s Relationships With His Family

Line of Fire began by introducing us to the Hollingsworth family — father Mike (Peter Krause), mother Jane (Hope Davis), and their kids Clare (Kat Cunning), Micah (Tommy O’Brien), and Russ (Taylor Bloom), all in law enforcement. In the premiere, they stated that Mike’s son from his first marriage, Jack, was dead. The end of the episode revealed he’s very much alive: Charlie Barnett‘s character, who was living under a different name and befriending (then killing) Clare’s boyfriend.

But who exactly is Jack? Well, no one really knows at this point. He’s living under different names, spying on his family and those trying to find him (like Antoinette Crowe-Legacy‘s Nia), and continuously making moves (and origami cranes). Below, Charlie Barnett begins to unpack the family dynamics at play for Jack.

Congratulations on the full-season order.

Charlie Barnett: Thank you. I keep knocking on wood today, but I’m like, I can’t believe it. It’s literally… In this industry, in this day and age, I’m like, this is amazing. Blessings, blessings, blessings.

We know Jack took this undercover op that was presented as one he’d never come back from. So what does it say about him that he wanted to do it?

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Look, we’re going to know a little more about that. I’m just starting to get to know a little bit more about that. It is one of the questions that I have for Josh [Safran]. Now, as an actor, you’ve got to make your choices. You got to make some decisions around it. I have my own beliefs and partially connected to, like so many of us, when your family is deeply involved into one industry, when your family is connected to it this much, when you see them succeeding so much in this, either you revert and you try to stay so damn far away from it or you invest and go full force. And I think that’s partially what happened with Jack. I think he saw it as an opportunity for him to rise to the occasion that he saw his parents living, but I do believe there was a point when he had to make his own choices. He had to make his own decisions. And I think that connects around back to why he chose to go in this direction and really develop it on his own, which means killing your soul.

It’s dark. He’s gone dark.

A dark world. It’s a dark field, truly.

It really is. We’ve heard a lot about what Jack meant to the family, especially to Jane in particular. We know about that dynamic. How would you describe what the family means to Jack and how that’s changed for him?

So much of that is still open-ended. I think a lot of it is going to be revealed when all the secrets come out. Especially for the kids, the siblings. We see that Russ, the youngest brother, and Jack, we hear tricklings of it, have this deeper connection or this relationship that the other two didn’t.

I have an older sibling, but I know those moments and I’ve seen those dynamics in other families of my siblings who are closer to me are always trying to steal my clothes or break into my room. But my littlest brother or my littlest sister is so innocent that I feel a different kind of kin or a connection to them and a different kind of protection that’s invested there. I think that’s what Jack is experiencing or has experienced with Russ for so long. Now the others, though, we’re going to have to wait to see how — some of the responsibility of this lie could also fall onto his shoulders. If we do get the chance to see them all come back together, then we’re going to see how all of that kind of settles. I do feel for the parents, though; there’s a different kind of understanding attached with all of this. They had more information as much as they have been lied to as well about certain things, and there are certain actions that are being taken in order to protect or not protect certain people. Geez, it’s so ambiguous. I’m so sorry. But I do think a lot more of that is going to come out, I hope.

Spencer Pazer/NBC

So is Russ the one that maybe it’s hardest for Jack to not reach out to?

Ooh, that’s a good question. Oof. Immediately in my mind, I think actually Mike would be. I think my dad would be. And maybe because as much as Jane and I’ve developed this deep, deep, deep connection, that our relationship is bonded off of something more than just even mother and son. We are friends because — I’ll say it openly, I was adopted. I come from a family in which we’re not blood-related. Both my parents are white. Me and my sister are both mixed race. We’ve lived in a very different family structure than most people. And it has taught me so much about how blood is not necessarily thicker than water and that time, effort, energy, trust, compassion…so many other things play into developing and really instilling these kinds of relationships with children and their parents, even.

So my understanding between me and Jane makes so much sense to me as Charlie. I can get why they are connected or why even being different from each other maybe bonded them in the long run; coming at it from different mindsets made them refreshing to each other.

But I do believe that Mike and my character have the father-son dynamic that so many young boys do, butting heads at times. I was thankful to see him support me in this decision way long ago when I told him that I was leaving in order to join this. But there’s a part of me in the background that feels like I am holding myself back from trying to engage with them out of protection, one, but also with Mike because I know who he is, and I know his love will supersede his responsibilities and his protecting of his own self, his job and the people that he loves. So I don’t want to say it as like, I miss him the most because I am mad at him or I have him at arm’s length. I miss him the most because I feel like he’s more vulnerable than any other family member.

Line of Fire, Mondays, 10/9c, NBC