‘Banshee’ Q&A: Antony Starr Talks Kai Troubles

In the town of “Banshee” everyone wants a piece of Antony Starr’s Lucas Hood.

For being fearless, brooding, impulsive, heroic and handsome, the ladies of the fictional Cinemax series’ town want a piece of Sheriff Hood’s heart. But, for the criminals – Carrie/Ana’s gangster dad Rabbit, the Kanaho Tribe giant Chayton Littlestone, and the undoubtedly incensed Kai Proctor – they would prefer to see Lucas in pieces.

And the struggle for his heart, and the struggle to stay in one piece, continues in this week’s episode, which AccessHollywood.com spoke to Antony all about.

AccessHollywood.com: You blew up Kai Proctor’s warehouse! You had to do that? Seriously?

Antony Starr: Yeah! I know! Ironically, the criminal has a problem with drug dealing. That was a really great episode. It was Loni Peristere’s first sort of, ‘Welcome to Banshee!’ episode and he did a great job. He’s got a really great handle on the action sequences and there was a lot of action in that. There was a lot of fights, and there was a lot of stunt sequences…with the drug truck heist, crashing into the warehouse and blowing up the warehouse. That whole sequence was a pretty big deal for us to do and the episode coming up actually is really not for the faint of heart. … When you see it you’ll know what I mean.

WATCH: Antony Starr On Rabbit’s Return In ‘Banshee’ Season 2

Access: Do you think it was a combination of things that prompted Lucas and his gang to really take on Kai? It had to be more than just Kai getting rid of Jason Hood. Maybe a little displacing of some anger over the Rabbit situation and escaping death two episodes ago?

Antony: For a start, this has been building. There’s been an uneasy, tense, almost Cold War-like standoff/truce situation between Lucas and Proctor and that was going to come to a head at some point. They’re always destined to be the opposite of star crossed lovers, you know… star-crossed enemies… and I think there is an element of Lucas needing to be in control of something because earlier on in the season, we saw how out of control he can be when it comes to doing real police work and really being able to provide the community with the police services that they need when they need them and he was fairly impotent in that respect. … I think that really started the ball rolling in a lot of ways for the sequence of events that lead to the Kai Proctor fiasco with the warehouse, but it developed in Episodes 5 and 6 with the questioning of who he is and what kind of man he wants to be and whether he can move forward in his life… and having to accept that he has a particular skillset that can do some good. And that’s all fueled – that drive to be a better man – in Lucas’ twisted way, is being played out by taking [on] the town’s bad guy and really trying to do something good for the town as much as avenging Jason’s Hood’s death, which is more of a catalyst in some ways. Maybe just the final straw, if you want to call it that.

Access: Right.

Antony: I think it meant a lot personally, but it was also probably just the last straw on the camel’s back, the thing that pushed him over the edge into action and really trying to find out a way to take Proctor down that wasn’t just – he could have shot him at the start of the last episode, but the tiny intervention of Siobhan gave him the faith really to think things through a bit more and actually try and do some police work, you know? Try and do something a little bit more constructive and then, you know, when you meet the brick wall, you blow it up. So he’s got his own way of doing things, but I think it’s a culmination of what’s been going on for five or six episodes now, that drive to be a better person.

Access: You mentioned Siobhan and she is now playing a role in his life. Is this going to be a love triangle? Ana, one would assume, is his one true love, but then Siobhan—

Antony: There’s always – and I’m looking at what’s going on under the surface of these characters, and… everyone always wants to be more than they are. Whatever stops growing inside is dying, you know? So, there’s only so many times you can get punched in the face emotionally before you start realizing, ‘Oh, it’s not going to happen.’ I think, ultimately, Carrie and Lucas are always going to be tied together in some way, shape, form, but romantically, I think the complications are so great that maybe that’s sort of run its course to a certain extent. But, like I said, they’ll always be connected, but I definitely think there is a definite intro for one of the great love stories with Siobhan. She’s someone that knows he’s massively imperfect, but is still willing to take him on, and then you know, someone like that, someone who’s that gray sort of area between certainties – someone like her is like an angel. So when you find someone like that, you don’t want to let them go.

“Banshee” continues Friday night at 10 PM ET/PT on Cinemax.

— Jolie Lash