Veteran actor Terry Kinney (
Oz,
The Unusuals) joins CBS's
The Mentalist for at least seven episodes this fall as Patrick Jane’s new adversary. Kinney plays Sam Bosco, the head of the California Bureau of Investigation’s Serial Crimes Unit, who comes in to help the team catch the killer Red John, but soon becomes determined to oust Jane from the CBI. We caught up with Kinney to discuss his newest mission.
Are you excited to be joining the show? I think it's an excellent piece of work, very smart writing, very full characters, really good plot. I just find it to be fascinating, and Simon [Baker]’s work has been, for as long as I've been watching him, superb. I'm just glad to see if I can keep up.
Tell us about Bosco. He's someone who had a former relationship, and was a mentor to, Robin Tunney's character. He doesn't really buy what Patrick Jane does. He doesn't really buy all the hocus pocus. So he's very much by the book, and he's a very well-trained and disciplined guy.
Are you looking forward to sparring with Baker? Oh, I mean who wouldn't? He's so completely charming to me, and to have to pretend like he's not would be a lot of fun.
Your character’s big focus is on catching Red John. Can you win this battle??
No, I would deem not. I mean who knows? It's also a very dangerous gig that they're handing me, taking over the Red John investigation. That could end badly on many levels.