Every Man, Everywhere

Tim Griffin has been in everything.

“When it rains it pours,” says the veteran actor of his upcoming on-screen summer, which includes roles in the sophomore seasons of Wayward Pines, Aquarius and the Dwayne Johnson-Kevin Hart buddy-cop comedy feature, Central Intelligence.

In the second season of the Fox hit thriller Wayward Pines, Griffin reprises his role of Secret Service agent Adam Hassler.

Wayward Pines is an atmospheric, Twilight Zone-like blend of sci-fi, dystopian western, zombie apocalypse, and psychological thriller. Residents end up in the sleepy, idyllic Idaho town mysteriously. They quickly learn to follow the strict town rules, or discover the cost of questioning what lies beyond the city limits. It is a world of moral ambiguity.

“It’s all grey area, and that’s what I love about it,” says Griffin, “There’s nobody pure, but there’s nobody truly evil.”

As Adam Hassler, Griffin had a small but critical role in Season 1. It remains unclear if his actions then were blatantly manipulative or altruistic. What we do know is that his journey into Season 2 has been a significant one.

“Hassler will be a completely transformed character. He’s been on a mission to redeem himself from his ultimate betrayal in Season 1, whatever his motives were,” says Griffin, “He’s trying to atone. It’s a great return.” 

M. Night Shyamalan returns to co-executive produce, and members of the all-star cast whose characters survived Season 1 will be joined with new cast members including Jason Patric and Djimon Hounsou. “The really nice thing is coming back with the new cast members and some of the old cast members,” Griffin says, “It’s really satisfying in that way.”

In addition to Wayward Pines, Griffin also appears in Season 2 of Aquarius, NBC’s historical fiction drama set in 1960s Los Angeles. David Duchovny stars as Sam Hodiak, an LAPD detective on the trail of a young Charles Manson, just before the infamous Tate-Labianca murders which ended an era and forever changed Los Angeles.

Griffin plays Ron Kellaher, an Internal Affairs agent who serves as a thorn in Hodiak’s side. Although different in many ways, Wayward Pines and Aquarius share similar themes. Both shows depict closed-in, upside-down worlds, with monsters at the gates, consumed with moral ambiguity.

Duchovny’s character represents “one of the last vestiges of that hard-nosed but righteous cop, where the ends justify the means,” Griffin notes, “[My character] Kellaher represents the new order, buttoned-up and by the book.” This juxtaposition makes Griffin’s character the foil to the show’s protagonist.

But again, it isn’t so clear-cut good guys and bad guys, cops and robbers. “It’s never just a guy doing his job,” says Griffin, “There’s always something personal. There’s a reason Kellaher doesn’t like Hodiak. It’s two guys verbally sparring the whole time. It was truly a delight because it was just Duchovny and I going to war. But always with a smile, even when we land a punch. It was really fun.”

The period piece nature of the show created its own challenges.

“I worship writers,” says Griffin, “I survive on great writers writing these great things. But when I’ve done projects like The Bourne Supremacy or Prime Suspect there’s a lot of freedom because they want it to be authentic, so the director wants it to sound like it’s coming from you. That makes the process very collaborative.

"With Aquarius I had the same sort of freedom, but you realize you’re living in a different era, so certain words and certain colloquialisms didn’t exist.”

Those collaborations in Griffin’s career read like a who’s who of film and television, including J.J. Abrams, George Clooney, John Singleton and Clint Eastwood.

The latter was a “bucket list director” for Griffin, who appeared in Eastwood’s acclaimed 2014 film American Sniper. “[Clint Eastwood] runs such a quiet, thoughtful, professional set, and his people have been with him forever. You feel proud you were able to do your job for somebody who is such a genius. And then he values what you’re doing and trusts you to do your thing.”

As evidenced by his upcoming roles in Wayward Pines, Aquarius, and Central Intelligence, Griffin often plays police officers or military personnel. He believes actors should not resist playing to their strengths. He has trained with every branch of the armed services and several law enforcement agencies.

“Every branch, you realize, is different,” he says. “I’m just trying to bring reality to that world. That being said, you never want to get pigeonholed. For every cop that I play I do get the opportunity to then play something completely different.”

A Chicago native, Griffin grew up watching actors like John Malkovich, Gary Sinise and Dennis Farina on stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. “That was my playground,” he says. Griffin looks to Farina as an example of an actor playing to his strengths.

“He was an actual Chicago cop. When you watched him you knew you were going to be grounded in that world. I have no problem going back to the well of what I know I can do, as long as I keep getting the opportunities to live in all these different universes,” he says, “Every role is different.”

And Griffin would know. The actor has appeared in 27 films and four dozen television shows. That’s put him on a lot of sets and in a lot of audition rooms, a process he doesn’t love, but one he takes seriously. “Some great actors will come apart in an audition room,” says Griffin, “There are no props, it’s just you. All you can do is prepare. That’s my only rule.”

As a younger, unestablished actor, Griffin saw the audition room as an opportunity. “Auditioning is a great equalizer. It was my only shot at landing a role,” he says.

And just as every role is different, there are always new experiences and new relationships to be found. Primarily known as a dramatic actor, Griffin recalls the connections he made auditioning for the comedy Central Intelligence. “After 20 years in this industry you realize something new and exciting can happen and it just happened in that room. I’ll go in and read for whoever if it’s a person I haven’t seen.”

In Central Intelligence, Griffin again plays a cop – a CIA agent – but in an action comedy far removed from the dark worlds of Wayward Pines or Aquarius.

“It’s really funny because you have Dwayne Johnson, who is one of the greatest action stars, and Kevin Hart, who is one of the greatest comedy stars, but I think both of them secretly aspire to be the other,” Griffin says, “It was like the Road pictures with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. I was on set desperately trying not to crack up.” 

Griffin’s career path was unintentional, if somewhat inevitable. Unlike some children with Hollywood dreams, Griffin never intended to act for a living. Drawn to academia, he entered the University of Vermont as a double political philosophy and English literature major.

Just as the residents of Wayward Pines emerge from car accidents to find themselves in a strange new world, Griffin’s life changed when his car broke down outside New York City on his way back to Chicago as a college sophomore. While he was stranded he decided to go on an audition and got the lead.

On the advice of his mentor at school, he moved to Los Angeles for one make-or-break year and his career was born.

Griffin’s varied resumé has put him in the full range of productions: from the biggest blockbusters to smaller indie projects, from film to television. For Griffin, each job is different, but in a way the same.

“I love to spend four months in Boston chasing Dwayne Johnson around – and having him run from me,” he says of shooting Central Intelligence, “But the nice thing about television is it’s more of a long form. So you have longer to build the relationships and character arc.”

But ultimately, says Griffin, “It all comes down to the people. You feel like you’re part of a traveling circus. And we all see each other just on different jobs. Every job presents new people and new challenges and you’re all in it together. Whether it’s television or film, you’re trying to do your job and make it great. I’m spoiled because I get to go from job to job to job. I never feel like I got stuck.”   

Griffin’s professionalism and gregariousness are one reason for his long and diverse career.

“I can be your leading man or I can just step in and fit in with the group. I’m your everyman, I’m here to help make your production better.”