The Terminal List Interview: Jeanne Tripplehorn and LaMonica Garrett

ComingSoon spoke to The Terminal List actress Jeanne Tripplehorn and actor LaMonica Garrett about the Amazon series, which stars Chris Pratt and premieres on Friday, July 1.

“It follows James Reece after his entire platoon of Navy SEALs is ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission,” reads the synopsis. “Reece returns home to his family with conflicting memories of the event and questions about his culpability. However, as new evidence comes to light, Reece discovers dark forces working against him, endangering not only his life but the lives of those he loves.”

Tyler Treese: Jeanne, I thought your character gives such a great glimpse at the inner workings of politics throughout. What about the script of this series really drew you to The Terminal List?

Jeanne Tripplehorn: Well, I always love research when I’m starting a project, and so it’s good to be interested in the subject matter. And so I was really looking forward to delving into [the] military, to know more about the military. It was a world that I didn’t know a lot about, even though I have family members in the military, but there’s just a whole language, a whole world, and the political world as well. I was really into doing that kind of deep dive.

LaMonica, you’re awesome as Commander Bill Cox, what kind of prep went into playing this role? It’s such a serious side of you.

LaMonica Garrett: Just reading a lot of books. I read The Terminal List just to get the tone of what we’d be getting into — kind of what Jack’s headspace is. And I read a book from David Goggins to tap into his energy and his headspace — that helped a lot. And just watching documentaries and reading little excerpts there, and just like Jeanne said, the research is fun because a lot of the stuff I wouldn’t normally maybe read, but when you’re researching it for a role, it’s like, the more things I see, the more questions I have. And it’s just that yellow brick road, it just keeps going down and asking questions. So that’s fun.

Jeanne, I was surprised by how much of a drama this is. I was expecting a more straightforward action series, but Chris Pratt has so much range throughout this. What was your takeaway from working with him?

Tripplehorn: He’s just the perfect man. I mean, he is just the perfect acting partner. He just brings his A-game. He brings his best, he puts his best foot forward and he’s just positive. And I think audiences are just going to really be blown away — like literally blown away — by the depths that he goes to. I don’t think this is a side of Chris that people have seen. I’ve only seen the first two episodes, but I was shocked at how dark and twisted it really gets, and he goes there. So I was really impressed and pleased, and I’m excited to be a part of this new phase of his life and career.

Garrett: To piggyback off what Jeanne said, I love, as a fan, just watching something. I think I’m showing up for this, like, “Oh yeah, it’s going to be great action.” And then as the course of the series goes along, when you get blindsided by the emotional effect it has on you besides the action because it is billed as an action show, but there’s so much other stuff going on. I think audiences are going to leave having discussions about subject matter that has nothing to do with the action. And that’s what it’s about.