No Objections Here: Meet Burden of Truth’s Peter Mooney

There are few environments more inherently dramatic than the courtroom. A hub of dueling moralities, grand posturing, remarkably high stakes, and literal monologuing  à la attorney statements, there is very little question as to what makes a courtroom drama so appealing to so many.

Now take those elements, add a terrifying medical mystery, and set it all against the backdrop of a small town with its own independent set of scandals and you have Burden of Truth, a must-see Canadian legal drama coming to The CW this summer, July 25th. Starring Kristin Kreuk (Smallville, Beauty and the Beast)  and Peter Mooney (Rookie Blue), Burden of Truth drops viewers off in Millwood, a small working class town that is suddenly afflicted by a sweeping sickness – one that appears to be targeting young girls. Corporate attorney Joanna Hanley (Kreuk) is sent to her little hometown to defend the pharmaceutical company originally blamed for the epidemic. She finds herself opposite of lawyer Billy Crawford (Mooney), a fellow Millwood native determined to protect its people. In time, both come to realize that the sickness is a symptom of a larger conspiracy, and the only way to cure the town of this evil is to work together.

While chatting with Burden of Truth‘s Peter Mooney I am struck by one thing rather quickly: the kind, humble charm that characterizes Billy Crawford is a direct gift from that actor who has the privilege of playing him. Mooney is polite, engaging, and complimentary of the show’s writers in a way that doesn’t read like lip service, but rather a sincere gratefulness for the opportunity to work with quality material. Even more delightful: the Canadian actor is very proud to play catch-up with millennial culture.  “I just learned how to floss,” he brags good-naturedly, referring to the viral dance. “Well, I’ve learned. I don’t think I’ve figured it out yet. Something about [the way I do] it seems wrong.”

In between laughs, I learn just a little more about the leading man and the show that had me at the edge of my seat.

Shannon Miller: Upon first glance, Burden of Truth may look like a courtroom drama, but it’s so much more than that. It’s actually an environmental mystery combined with a small town drama. How would describe Burden of Truth to the American audience who hasn’t seen it yet?

Peter Mooney: I’d say the engine of it is a courtroom drama, but then we take that engine and explode it apart over ten episodes. We spend the time seeing the ramifications of these things, seeing what goes on behind the scenes, seeing how all the things audiences might know and be familiar with in a courtroom drama, seeing how that affects people’s personal lives. I’d say it’s a Behind the Scenes Courtroom Drama.

SM: I would agree! To kind of give a brief, non-spoilery summary: in Burden of Truth, there is an epidemic that is taking place among the young women of a small town and it is up to your character and Kristin Kreuk’s character, Joanna Hanley, to figure out what is spreading this sickness among these young girls.

PM: That’s right!

SM: You play Billy Crawford, who is a bit of a small town hero in his adult years. He’s a passionate lawyer, a well-respected citizen, and a bit of a local charmer. What do you want audiences to take away about your character once they meet him?

PM: The takeaway that I hope audiences have is that nobody is really who they first seem. We’re all so much more complex and complicated than how we first come across. Billy, like everyone, has a sort of thing he fits into, his own little niche and narrative that he fits into amongst the town. But in fact, he’s a little more complicated and rough around the edges than he first comes across.

SM: So, congrats on getting renewed for season 2!

PM: Thank you very much!

SM: Of course! Since Canada will be a bit ahead of the US, I kind of regard this similarly to watching an awesome show, telling your friends, “please watch it,” and then they kind of take a while to get around to it.

PM: Yes.

SM: So then you’re like, “I cannot wait for you to get to such-and-such episode and when you do, please text me!”

PM: That’s right! [Laughs]

SM: What is your version of that for season one, for us Americans? Is there an episode that you can’t wait for us to see? And is there a version of that for the Canadians heading into season 2 [which you’re currently filming]? 

PM: For me in season one, episode five is really exciting and I think it’s such a great point to get to because it’s the last calm before the storm. Everything builds up to a certain point in episode five and then we get this little breather where we get to spend a little time with the characters on a personal level before everything intensifies, before we go past the point of no return.

[For the Canadians,] in terms of season 2 – these writers, they’re very good. There’s so many little teeny, tiny things dropped throughout season one that turn out to be pretty big things in season 2. It’s really, really well thought out long-form storytelling. For the audiences that come along for the ride, there’s a lot of payoffs as you go along, the more you get to know the people and this town.

SM: So, I am a proud shipper. Billy and Joanna really make for an interesting team. Billy exudes this small town morality that’s really accessible while Joanna – though she may be a little more abrasive – is grounded in a reality that comes from her experience as a big city attorney. My question is: Is it wise to ship Billy and Joanna?

PM: Oh, you phrased that really well!

SM: Oh good! [Laughs]

PM: I can’t take any of my usual escape routes with the way you presented that question. [Laughs] Yes, I’d say it’s wise. Opposites attract. The problem is that when opposites attract, there’s a lot of distance in between. Billy and Joanna don’t see eye-to-eye on much out the gate and it continues to be a stumbling block [for them]. So it may be a tricky route, but I don’t think it would be unwise to ship them. I just learned what that means, and I’m feeling –

SM: Did you?!

PM: Yeah, it’s great!

SM: My final question is a two-parter: What do you feel is Billy Crawford’s superpower and what do you feel is your greatest superpower?

PM: Oh, that’s great! I think Billy’s greatest superpower is a pretty strong and confident moral compass. But like all great superpowers it has its own weakness built in. The flip side of it is that sometimes it can make him rigid or impractical and too optimistic about a world view that just doesn’t exist.

And my superpower would be the ability to see the best few things in people, and I think Billy shares that, as well.

Burden of Truth premieres this Wednesday, July 25, at 8 PM EST on The CW.