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An interview with Robert Gossett of TNT’s “The Closer”

Ben LaMothe,
Grand Central Magazine, Editor-in-Chief

Robert Gossett portrays Cmdr. Russell Taylor in TNT's "The Closer." Season 3 premiers on TNT on July 14. Photograph by Courtesy photo
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Grand Central: The relationship between Commander Taylor and Deputy Chief Johnson has always been frosty. But there appear to be signs that the frostiness is fading. In the coming season, will the relationship become less frosty?

Robert Gossett: Well that depends. There’s always going to be a frosty part of their relationship. But what I think they are discovering is there are times when they need each other. So when it serves each of them, they will reach out. I mean, they are on the same team. And when they have to, they will play together. But I don’t think they’ll be going out for lattes (laughs).

GC: Do you connect at all with Cmdr. Taylor?

RG: You know, my father was a cop. He was a cop in the New York City police force. I connect that to him. I connect more my father to him than I connect to him. My father was a quiet man. And to some people, a difficult man (laughs). And I think that Cmdr. Taylor could be perceived by some people. And if you got on his wrong side, you were on his wrong side. And it was hard to get back on the other side. I guess in that way, that’s the connection.

GC: The theme of the new season is “Power.” Last season’s theme was “Family.” What can you tell viewers about this new season?

RG: Well that’s kind of a generalization, but you know it is about power. But it could be about the lack of power. And it could be about the power struggle. All of these are going to be addressed in the season – the inability to control someone or something, i.e. the fire in Griffith Park. So all of those elements of power are going to be part of this upcoming season. And there are some pretty significant changes that are going to occur. And there are, but I’m not at liberty to say, because then we’d have to send people out to find you, and you don’t want that. It’s dangerous enough (laughs). It’s going to be a coming-together of minds. The power, it will also be, you know, the LAPD – our unit – against the higher-ups of LAPD. You know, so we will even have to come together someway, somehow. To centralize our power so we can confront the other power.

GC: Every season "The Closer" gains more viewers. The Season 3 premier garnered 8.81 million viewers, up from 8.28 million for Season 2; and the season finale garnered 9.21 million viewers, up from 7.6 million for the Season 2 finale. What makes The Closer different from other police dramas?

RG: It’s funny because, as I talk more, and I do interviews, what definitely seems to be a contributing factor is the… first the characters are well rounded. They’re grounded, compelling, multi-dimensional characters that speak to people. Kyra Sedgwick… her performance is simply startling… startlingly wonderful. But I think the big draw is the writing and the fact that we do scenes. It’s not the quick-cut-MTV scenes that have been the rage these past few years – where you are actually see three-four-five minute scenes between people. And that allows audiences to get into the scene, get into the story, into the character and really connect with what’s going on. So there’s a connection with the show that makes people come back and makes people want to tell their friends to watch it. So it keeps growing exponentially… bigger and bigger and bigger each year.