Henry Ian Cusick joins the cast of MacGyver in its fourth season, changing up the dynamic once again.

MacGyver has changed – again.

In its fourth season, the new version of MacGyver made some major cast changes. With George Eads’s Jack Dalton character’s exit, the show was ripe to be rethought, and that’s exactly what the creators of the show did.

One of those changes was the addition of Henry Ian Cusick as new character Russ Taylor. Cusick explains, “We’ve made quite a bit of changes and a new character, called Russ Taylor. And the remit of him, he’s Oxford educated, ex MI-6, a scoundrel, and trying to atone for his past. He joins the Phoenix and Mac’s team, trying to do good now in the world.

“We find out what he used to do, and how he came about to be the person he is. And trying to better himself, I suppose.”

Cusick’s previous work tended to be somewhat heavier fare, so he is thoroughly enjoying the lighter tone of MacGyver. He says, “I have to tell you, I’m actually having a blast. I’ve not had this much fun in a role for a long time. I usually play, not usually, but I have recently played a lot of characters who have this angst, trying to save mankind, save the world.

“On The 100 and The Passage, even on Lost, to a certain degree, it is all, life or death, and we are in MacGyver, but the thing about MacGyver is it’s a family show, so you have a lot of fun. There’s a lot of comedy in it. Some of it’s big and broad. And yet it has some great moments.

“We have a new writer. A bit of a partner to Peter Lenkov [who] runs the show and the writing team. Terry Matalas joined us middle of season four. So the writing, I believe, is very different. The look of the show is very different.

“But it’s just really refreshing, to me as an actor, it’s so refreshing to come to work every day, to have fun, to tell jokes. And to have a sort of dramedy. But it’s still just very refreshing for me. I’m having a great time.”

Moving from heavy drama to a more lighthearted show can be a tough transition, not only in the performance of it, but also to get the chance to move within the industry. Cusick notes, “Once you go down a certain path, you think people see you as something. From going from Lost to, perhaps the Scandal not so much, but certainly The 100, which I was on for five seasons. And then I jumped on to The Passage.

“So they were all very villainous, high stakes, angst ridden scientists. It’s just such a new, and breath of fresh air for me. Getting all those cobwebs of all that old stuff that I’ve done before. Russ Taylor, he’s larger than life. For me, it’s certainly a bigger character than I’ve ever played, in terms of performance. And he’s got a vitality, and energy, and optimism.

“And, yes, we have those moments of saving the world, and saving people’s lives, and being Phoenix, and Mac, MacGyver, doing his Mac moments. But I have to say, it’s just so much fun. So do I prefer it? I don’t know whether I prefer it, but it’s certainly a welcome change for me.

I don’t think I’ve done comedy since I did a movie back in Scotland called Not Another Happy Ending, with Karen Gillan, and that was probably the last comedic thing I’d done. Which was quite awhile ago. So it was a welcome change.”

Actors choose the roles they will play for a variety of reasons, and sometimes, it’s less a matter of choosing and more a matter of being chosen. Cusick explains, “The opportunity arose. It was The Passage, which was on Fox, wasn’t renewed. Which when we found, we got the news, we were pretty stunned, because we felt it was a really good show. We’d only done 10 episodes.

“We’d just grazed the beginning of this epic book. And I thought this is going to be a job that goes for at least five seasons. So when that didn’t go, and I found myself with no work. And then out of the blue, they said, “Would you be interested in MacGyver?” And I looked at the show, and I thought, ‘That looks like fun.’

And I’m so glad that I said yes to it. It was an offer, and I jumped on it. And I’m so delighted. I find that role kind of chose me in a way. It just was happenstance. I was in the right place at the right time, and it turned up.”

As an actor who has performed in theater, film, and television, Cusick is comfortable in all three, but he has developed a preference.

He says, “Yes, of course, there’s a difference between theater and television. I started off in theater, most actors in Britain do. That’s your bread and butter. So you learn your craft on the stage. You go on stage, you do the whole play. You get that high off the audience. And then it’s hard work. You do eight shows, even 10 shows a week.

“So what do you perform in TV? I’m a lot more relaxed, having done a lot of TV now. I’m a lot more relaxed on a TV set. Even having done theater for a long time, I remember at the half hour call I would still feel those butterflies. And it was always, you’d wake up in the morning, and your day revolved around doing the play.

“With film and TV, I’m here in Atlanta shooting. And of course the reason I’m here shooting in Atlanta is because I’m working on MacGyver. So you’re always thinking about the show. I’m pretty much working every day. But it’s a gentler pace. You can do pick ups. You forget your lines, it’s okay, you get another shot at it.

“Voice levels, you don’t need to scream to the back of the audience, as you would in theater. So there are obviously techniques that you use in both, differently. But ultimately it’s still acting. Of course, you’re aware, they’ll say to you it’s a wide shot, as opposed to a close up, you might alter your performance a little bit.

“But these are things that most actors, they pick up as they go along. I think I’ve been doing it long enough now, so I understand the difference in things. I haven’t done theater for a long, long time. And every time I see it, I think, ‘I’d love to do that again.’ But really for one night only. I wouldn’t really want to do a very long run.

“I think if you start off in theater, the excitement, even just as you’re taking your seat, I’m thinking, ‘What are we in for?’ It could be a great play, or it’s just invigorating. And, ‘Ah, man. I remember that. I remember the feeling. I remember the buzz those actors would be having off stage. And we did a great show. And the camaraderie, and the togetherness, in the trenches together.’ And you yearn for that.

“But then you’re reminded. You go, ‘Hang on. I remember that being a lot of work. Not very much money. And doing it night and night again.’ And there were some nights there was no audience. It’s such a hit and miss.

“I much prefer film and TV, certainly television. That’s where I spend most of my time now. It’s a medium that I’m very comfortable in. It’s different from film in the sense that we work very fast. Usually, for example, on MacGyver we’ll do two takes, and we move on.

“Our cast is great, because they’re all so good. They all know their lines. It’s not an easy script. It’s very wordy, with a lot of MacGyver babble. And they deliver it fast, two takes and we’re moving on, because we’ve got a lot to shoot.

“So you’ve really got to come and hit a home run every time you’re out there. But I like that energy. I like that pressure.”

An added pressure for Cusick is coming into a cast after they’ve already had three seasons together. And, although it was nerve-racking, Cusick found it to be a much easier transition that he had anticipated. He says, “I hadn’t experienced this for awhile, because I did The 100 for five seasons, I joined The Passage right at the beginning, so we were all new cast together.

“But coming into a show for season four, you’re coming into somebody else’s house. You don’t know the rules. And really is like going back to the first day at school.

“And I will tell you, I was very nervous. Of course, you’re trying to be as cool as you can. Plus it was a very wordy, very big script, I came into. And I remember going, ‘Wow. I don’t how it’s going to be. I’m going to be nervous. I don’t remember being this nervous before.’

“But I have to say that the cast Lucas, Phil, Tris, Meredith, Justin, they were all the most welcoming. And our show runner, executive directing show runner, David [Stratton], they were all very welcoming. Peter Lenkov. They were all super friendly, and just after one scene I was like, ‘Okay, great. We’re good. I know what I’m doing.’

“I settled in very quickly, I felt. And also because there weren’t many, not a huge cast. There’s only five other actors besides myself, fixed cast. So it’s very easy to [fit in], when it’s a smaller cast, and I’m used to a bigger cast. It’s been great.”

Cusick is hoping that long time fans of the show will embrace the changes and his character, “I can honestly say I’m having a great time, and I’m just hoping people enjoy season four as much as they enjoyed season three. I know there’s going to be time with the old character, and the show change.

“I haven’t really seen any of it, season four, but they say the lighting, the way it looks, it’s a little bit darker. The storylines have maybe gone a little bit darker.

“But I hope the fans stick with it, and enjoy this new reboot.”

Inteview by Melissa Byers, Emmy.com.news

Be sure to tune in to MacGyver, Friday nights on CBS 8/7c

Henry Ian Cusick on MacGyver Debut: “I’ve Never Had More Fun With a Role”

By Matt Webb Mitovich / February 5 2020

MacGyver Season 4 Spoilers

Mac is back this Friday, and he’s acquired a new frenemy, played by Lost alum Henry Ian Cusick.

This Friday at 8/7c, the Peruvian-born Scot joins CBS’ MacGyver for Season 4 as Russ Taylor, an MI6 agent-turned-private military contractor who recruits former members of the shuttered Phoenix Foundation to hunt down a bioweapon that a mysterious organization plans to deploy in a devastating attack on a major U.S. city.

If it sounds a bit harrowing, rest assured that Cusick is here (and quite thrilled) to lighten things up, as he details in this TVLine Q&A.

TVLINE | Off the top of your head, give me three adjectives to describe Russ Taylor.
Millionaire… MI6… scoundrel. I think because we [prior to the interview] were discussing Scandal, that’s why I said scoundrel. But there is some truth to that!

TVLINE | Under what sort of circumstances do we first meet him?
Russ Taylor has been following MacGyver, and MacGyver catches onto this and says, “Why are you following me?” Russ Taylor has a reputation — he used to be an arms dealer and do lots of terrible things – so Mac says, “Why would I want to work with you?” Russ says that he has had an epiphany and “changed his ways,” that he wants to be one of the good guys now. Mac’s suspicious, but then they go on a little adventure together. But what’s really cool is that because he recruits Mac, Mac then has to recruit his team.

TVLINE | He’s got to “get the band back together.”
Exactly, and it’s always fun to see where “the band” has gone and what sort of jobs they’re now doing using their talents. But then you learn about Russ and what his true motives are, and why he really asked Mac to help him.

TVLINE | As Mac introduces him to the other team members, does Russ share any specific dynamics with any of them?
Well, Matilda [“Matty”] is crucial to the running of Phoenix, and yet here is Russ Taylor, who bought Phoenix. Only one of them is needed, but one owns the whole thing, so they’re sort of loggerheads pretty much through the whole season, which is quite fun. The thing about Russ is even though he’s a skillful manipulator and he can read people very well, and he’s also ex-military, so he’s quite lethal. I have had more fun playing this character than I have had with anything in television.

MacGyver Cusick

TVLINE | From the scenes I’ve seen, it looks like you’re having a blast.
He is quite ridiculous, in a way, and it’s a very free environment to work in. When I first turned up for my first scene, Justin Hires (who plays Bozer) just started improvising, and I just looked at him and joined in. I mean, not hugely, but we’d do a few takes and then sort of mess around with a few lines.

TVLINE | You were like, “Ohhhhh, so that’s what we’re doing.”
Yeah, there’s a little banter, a playfulness about the performances. And Justin is very funny, he’s a comedian actor. I took his lead and I’m having a lot of fun bouncing off him. We play the complete opposite of characters, but we have a lot of fun with him teasing me about my accent.

TVLINE | It’s great you get to use your real accent, because we once spoke about how I missed it in the original Scandal pilot.
Right. Right. Yeah, this time, I’m playing myself, my accent, but it’s a bit more cleaned up. It’s pretty much what you hear now, but it may be a little more cleaned up.

TVLINE | Tease best you can Russ’ true motive, because it sounds like we’re getting into some sort of National Treasure/Indiana Jones/Da Vinci Code type of adventure.
This season is more serialized if not less procedural, so we have one archenemy running all the way through it, and the archenemy is Codex. Russ Taylor has a long history with Codex, and that’s one of the reasons he signed Mac up to his team, to get to Codex. We also have a lot of great guest stars coming in — I was very impressed with the people that they bring into the show — and there’s a different tone to it. Even though it’s still fun family drama, it’s a bit darker from previous seasons. I’ve seen clips while doing ADR, and some of it looks really glossy and shiny…. It’s looking really good, I think.

TVLINE | What is something that you, as an actor, have gotten to do for the first time in this role?
What have I not done before…? I was hoisted up through a glass ceiling, which we just did that the other day. [Laughs] I didn’t actually go through it, but it looks like I do. I’m also getting to do a little more fighting, a little more punching, a little bit more gun stuff…. But overall what I’m getting to do is comedy, which I’ve not done on TV before. I feel very light in the show, and I mean that in a sense of having fun. Everything I’ve done before has always been really earnest and….

TVLINE | Russ is more of a dashing rogue.
Yeah, I have to say it’s very freeing as an actor to play this character, very freeing, because basically I can really do anything, and they’ll just say, “Take it down, Ian, you’re going to big,” which is very rare for me because I always play small.

From the MacGyver Twitter page comes two new videos released by CBS for their upcoming 4th season of MacGyver!

The first one shows more of Russ and TeamMac joining forces…….

…..and just today, fans saw the new opening credits for the show, with Ian’s name in it. Exciting!

Don’t miss the season 4 premiere of MacGyver in TWO days, on Friday, Feb.7 at 8/7C on CBS!

MacGyver/CBS

Yes, that’s right! Happy Premiere Week!

The 4th season premiere of MacGyver which includes the introduction of Ian’s character, Russ Taylor happens this Friday, Feb. 7, 2020!

Tune in at 8/7C on CBS to see the premiere of what promises to be, an exciting season!

A second preview clip was released by CBS giving us another look at Russ, along with Angus MacGyver (Lucas Till) and Desi Nguyen (Levy Tran) dressed in evening wear and attending a dinner party as part of a mission plan. Enjoy the new preview below….

CBS also released group promo photos, along with single cast member photos too……below you’ll find them and Ian’s singles. Photographed by Mark Hill

Justin Hires, Tristin Mays, Meredith Eaton, Lucas Till, Henry Ian Cusick, Levy Tran
Henry Ian Cusick of MacGyver, scheduled to air on the CBS Television Network. Photo: –ЁMark Hill/CBS В©2020 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. –ЁAll Rights Reserved.
Henry Ian Cusick of MacGyver, scheduled to air on the CBS Television Network. Photo: –ЁMark Hill/CBS В©2020 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. –ЁAll Rights Reserved.

A preview video with Ian’s new character Russ Taylor and Angus Macgyver (Lucas Till) is out and by the looks of it, their first meeting doesn’t go too well! It does however give us a bit more info on Russ’s background and it’s an interesting one! Tune in on Feb 7, 8/7C for the MacGyver season 4 premiere, to see more!

Russ Taylor and Angus MacGyver First Meeting

Thank you to CBS and TV Line for this first look video (click on link):

TV Line: “MacGyver First Look: Why Is Henry Ian Cusick Stalking Macgyver? (VIDEO)”

Thank you to Matt Carter for this article highlighting Ian’s new character, Russ Taylor in the upcoming season 4 of Macyver!

“MacGyver Season 4 Premiere Spoilers; Meet Russ Taylor!”

January 17, 2020

“You’ve waited a rather-long time for it, but we are very much pleased to share now first details from the MacGyver season 4 premiere! New episodes are arriving starting on Friday, February 7 and the series is wasting no time bringing on board an exciting new face.

It’s incredible to have Henry Ian Cusick on board. We say this, first and foremost, as someone who loved him down in that hatch on Lost. Also, think about The 100 and the wide array of other great roles that he’s had. Here, he will be a series regular as Russ Taylor, a powerful, resourceful man who is going to be looking to bring the Phoenix Foundation back together. Why? He thinks that they are the only people who can help him stop a major attack that could lead to a lot of significant deaths.

MacGyver

For a few more details on what lies ahead in this episode, check out the full MacGyver season 4 premiere synopsis below:

“Fire + Ashes + Legacy = Phoenix” – Ex-MI6 agent Russ Taylor (Henry Ian Cusick) recruits former Phoenix Foundation members Mac, Riley, Bozer, Matty and Desi to hunt down a bioweapon that’s planned to be used by a mysterious organization for a devastating attack on a major U.S. city, on the fourth season premiere of MACGYVER, Friday, Feb. 7 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Even though there’s going to be a new feel to the show this season with Russ a major character, this could be an example of good change! The show was fun and action-packed before, but this is a character that should offer some other dimensions and a great counterpoint to Mac and the rest of the team. Because of his history in MI6, we know that he’s very skilled. Yet, personality-wise he may be quite different from the rest of the team. That means new sources of conflict, and also probably more fun for us as a viewer.

One last reminder now — watch the show live! It’s been a long time since the show last aired, and hopefully a lot of diehard fans didn’t forget about it along the way.”

From TV Line: Macgyver Season 4 Promo

Excerpt:
“As noted above, Cusick has joined the Season 4 cast in the series regular role of Russ, a handsome and quick-witted ex-military man and master manipulator who is skilled in propaganda and lie detection, and boasts an extremely high emotional intelligence. He is also very wealthy, and thus is used to both getting his way and enjoying the spoils of war — including expensive suits, fast cars, private jets and a house in Monte Carlo. “

From CarterMatt.com: “Macgyver Season 4 Spoilers: Will Team Phoenix Reunite?”

Excerpt:
“So what could get the gang back together? It seems as though much of it will have to do with newcomer Russ (played by Henry Ian Cusick), an extremely-wealthy man who is looking for their help to solve a problem. While his long-term role in the story remains unclear, we can say one thing with certainty — this is not meant to be a recreation of Jack. This is a very different man with a unique personality and intention.”

*Be sure and tune in Friday, Feb 7 on CBS for the season 4 premiere of Macgyver 8/7C*

CBS has announced the premiere date for MacGyver’s fourth season! The show will return on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020 at 8/7c pm! MacGyver fans are very happy it will remain on Friday nights where it has aired previously.

As this season’s premiere will mark Ian’s debut on the show as Russ Taylor, HIC fans are eagerly anticipating this newest character he is bringing to them. Lucas Till stars as Angus MacGyver and main cast in addition to Henry Ian Cusick, includes Meredith Eaton (Matilda Webber), Tristin Mays (Riley Davis), Levy Tran (Desi Nguyen) and Justin Hires (Wilt Bozer) .

Be sure to tune in on February 7 when Team Mac returns!

Ian first broke the good news on his Twitter account with this announcement, which was followed by the article by Matt Carter. Needless to say, MacGyver fans are very happy about the longer season. Still no premiere date announced yet but expected to be sometime after the new year in 2020.

From Ian on Twitter:
@hicusick “Just heard @MacGyverCBS has been picked up for 9 more episodes! Woohoo! #MacGyverS4

From CarterMatt.com:

“MacGyver Season 4 Gets Additional Episodes, Star Confirms “

MacGyver

“For those who were interested in some more MacGyver season 4 news, here’s something that will be right up your alley! In a new post on Twitter, series star/newcomer Henry Ian Cusick confirms that there are nine more episodes coming beyond the original 13 that were ordered. That means that, despite the later premiere date, there will still be an impressive 22-episode order for the show.

We’ve been saying for a while now that MacGyver airing in the new year is hardly a death sentence for the show. Just think of things like this — The Blacklist season 6 premiered in January, and it aired 22 episodes without much of a problem. We think this episode extension means that either MacGyver season 4 will premiere in January, or that we are going to be seeing the show starting later in the spring and running into the summer. We’ve seen that happen with Elementary, so we can’t quite rule that out, either.

No matter when MacGyver is coming back, we would say that this confirms that CBS is very much still interested in the show and telling some of these stories. We like to think that this is important on SO many levels. For one, MacGyver is just solid entertainment start to finish, but it also has an inspirational quality to it. Think in terms of how it can get younger viewers interested in innovation and science. The show tries to ground most of its “Mac hacks” in realism and there have been some fun ones.

We won’t know for a long time, of course, if there will be a season 5. We do imagine that at some point over the next month, we’ll learn more news in regards to the show’s relative premiere date. Stay tuned for that, and if it premieres in January, we may get some more promos and other scoop at some point next month. CBS is likely being diplomatic when it comes to when they want to hand down some more insight on the show and what’s coming up next.”

Ian will be appearing at two fan conventions in the upcoming months!

His first appearance will be in Atlanta at Walker Stalker Con on October 18, 19 and 20. He will be joined by LOST cast members Nestor Carbonell, Jeremy Davies, Maggie Grace and Andrew Divov. For more info, including ticket and photo ops purchases, visit the conventions website here: WalkerStalkerAtlanta

Photo Album from Walker Stalker Atlanta is now up in the gallery on Ian’s official fan website here: Atlanta Photo Album

Don’t miss Ian at Walker Stalker Con in Atlanta!


*Update* Ian had to cancel his Rhode Island appearance due to his MacGyver shooting. He hopes to see you at another con soon!

From Ian on Twitter :

” So sorry, but due to work commitments I will not be able to make @ricomiccon this year. Hope to see you all at another con soon though! Ix “

Ian’s second convention appearance will be in Providence, Rhode Island at the Rhode Island Comic Con, on Nov. 1, 2 and 3rd.

His ‘The Passage’ co-star, Mark-Paul Gosselaar will be appearing too. Visit RICC’s website for all information and ticket, photo op purchases: RhodeIslandComicCon

Dont miss Ian at Rhode Island Comic Con!