Finn Bennett on Peter Prior's shocking scene in 'True Detective: Night Country'

This article contains spoilers for episode 5 of HBO's “True Detective: Night Country.”

“True Detective: Night Country” Episode 5 ended not with a whimper, but with a bang.

After Ennis, Alaska, Police Chief Liz Danvers discovers that Hank Prior, one of her fellow officers, is interfering with her investigation into the deaths of the Tsalal Research Station scientists, the duo clash over a potential witness. Hank kills the witness at the Danvers house before her son, Peter Prior, runs in. In the final minutes, after a tense confrontation, Peter shoots and kills his father to protect Danvers.

It's a shocking scene that Finn Bennett, who plays Peter, knew was coming from the beginning, although he wasn't sure exactly how it would play out until the cast was on set.

“All the scripts went through many different iterations,” Bennett says. “But that particular one, that moment, was changing all the time. The rhythms were there, what was going to happen was always there, but how it happened and the lines that developed and [Peter] being pulled in two different directions, that was all changing.”

The scene is pivotal for Peter, who has spent the season kowtowing to Danvers (Jodie Foster) as she investigates a gruesome murder. He has found himself caught between his devotion to work, his wife, Kayla (Anna Lambe), and his young son, Darwin, and Hank (John Hawkes). As Danvers and Hank clash over the investigation, Peter is forced to make a decision that Bennett believes represents what the character stands for.

“The big conversation was how Danvers appeals to Prior's rationality and how Hank, his father, appeals to something more sentimental and emotional,” Bennett says. “I think in the end it comes down to: Is Prior sentimental and emotional? Is the relationship with her father enough? Or is it moral and rational? “I don’t think there was ever a moment in his life where he didn’t doubt that decision.”

During production, which took place in Iceland, creator and showrunner Issa López held rehearsals with the cast every weekend. To nail down this particular moment, she gathered Bennett, Foster, Hawkes and Kali Reis, who plays Evangeline Navarro, the state trooper who is working with Danvers on the case at her apartment (although Reis is not in the scene). .

Bennett remembers that, although “it was a brilliant scene,” the lines didn't work. “I made it with Jodie and John, who are complete masters of their craft,” she says. “I was like a kid in a candy store watching the two of them come and go.”

Being from England, which has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, Bennett didn't have much experience with firearms. The cast received training before production and practiced target shooting, but the actor was not completely comfortable with firearms. Screen shooting is a combination of practical and visual effects.

“We did a couple of takes where I did a very dramatic explosion,” he says. “And they said, 'Um, relax.' But there is a slight backlash.”

Due to the challenges of filming in Iceland in winter, including extreme weather conditions, it was not possible to film “True Detective: Night Country” sequentially. But Lopez purposely timed Prior's big scene toward the end of the production. Bennett says he “needed that breakthrough” to be in the right headspace and feel comfortable in the room with Foster and Hawkes.

John Hawkes plays Hank Prior, Peter's father with whom he has a strained relationship.

(Michele K. Corto/HBO)

“I don't think there's any situation where you're going to walk into a room with those titans of the craft and feel comfortable per se,” he says. “But it certainly helped that we had been working for five months before that. …I think it's more than just a dramatic and exciting scene. It is a deeply sad and moving scene. It is sad to kill your father.”

And he adds: “It was an intense day. But it was also one of the best days because I learned a lot and was very involved.”

Bennett was cast as Peter in the summer of 2022. Lopez had seen her audition tape for a series she directed in the United Kingdom and was also a fan of her work on the Channel 4 limited series “Kiri.” did not appear on Lopez's previous show, the couple stayed in touch.

“She called me and said, 'I'm writing something and I think you'd be great at it,'” Bennett says. “And I said, 'Fantastic.' Is it filming in the UK? And she told me it was HBO's 'True Detective.' I never thought she would actually get it. But having her by my side fighting for me has been a true honor.”

The cast worked with a police officer, who Bennett said had “really seen some things,” to better understand what it's like to investigate criminal cases. Lopez also connected the actor with a pastor named Peej Jones, whom he met in Alaska during a research trip. Like Peter, Jones is a white man married to an indigenous woman and lives in a remote community. During weekly hour-long phone conversations with Jones, Bennett says he became essential to understanding Peter's complicated life.

“My questions started out pretty deep, like, what does it feel like to be from outside that community and then move to that community?” says Bennet. “I wanted to know what life is like for him there because it's a world away from where I live. “I’ve never had to look for my dinner.”

Bennett spent six months in Iceland. Many of the days he was there only had one or two hours of sunlight, and because much of the story takes place during the polar night, he usually arrived on set at 6 p.m. to convey the harsh life of the Arctic, “ True Detective: Night Country” also heavily used practical exteriors rather than sound stages.

“You're out in the cold and the dark and your nose is running, your eyes are watering and you're shaking,” Bennett says. “That kind of thing makes it believable. And the only thing you really want from something is for it to be believable.”

Finn Bennett describes his character as “people-pleasing to a fault.”

(Lilja Jons/HBO)

Because production on the series was so intense and lengthy, Bennett spent a lot of time thinking about Peter and what motivates him. He sees the character as a “people pleaser to a fault,” which explains the lengths he will go to for Danvers. But Bennett also points out that a small community in Alaska, like the one featured in the show, would rarely see a case as horrific and complex as this one.

“You would conduct yourself as a young cop looking to prove yourself and have a purpose in life besides clearing caribou off the road,” he says. “I think that's why he's prepared to go the extra mile for Danvers. But it is a very good question why he doesn't go the extra mile for his wife or his father.”

Bennett is aware of the scrutiny “True Detective: Night Country” has received (most recently, Lopez has responded to comments made by series creator Nic Pizzollato about this season). But as a long-time fan of the series, he's grateful to be a part of its legacy. Because the first season was so successful, he says, people hold subsequent seasons to the same level.

“And for my money, I'd say we've met that standard,” he says. “I'm really proud of the work we did, not because I was involved and know the people involved, but because I think it's really fucking good. But it's fair to say that going into it there were high expectations.”

While he can't say anything about the ending, Bennett teases that the conclusion is “a very cooperative ending to a show.” “I think you can decide how you want it to end,” she says, adding that his own reaction to watching the sixth episode was one of astonishment.

“Incredible,” he says. “I started crying because I was so proud.”