Shemar Moore has talked S.W.A.T. back from cancellation more than once. When the franchise finally returned for the new spinoff, S.W.A.T. Exiles on Starz, he wanted it to look different.
In S.W.A.T. Exiles, Moore reprises his role as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, who leaves the LAPD after a raid goes wrong and a young operator is killed, only to be pulled back in to build a new unit out of the department’s castoffs. The new team includes Lucy Barrett, Freddy Miyares, Zyra Gorecki, Ronen Rubinstein and Adain Bradley, with Jason Ning serving as showrunner. Moore, who also executive produces, spoke with exclusively with BLKCinema.com about the show’s new direction, a darker Hondo and an episode that takes on white supremacy.
How ‘S.W.A.T. Exiles’ changes Hondo
Moore said the spinoff wouldn’t exist without the original series, which survived multiple cancellations before Sony and Starz gave it new life.
“We got canceled three times. We got canceled Season 6. I said a little something on social media. They listened. We came back. We got canceled Season 7. I ran my mouth again. They listened. We came back,” Moore said. “We got canceled Season 8. I said a little something, and they were like, ‘No. Not this time.’ But Sony believed in it, and now Starz is our home.”
That history is why he wanted Exiles to stand on its own.
“I said, OK, if we’re just gonna make the same show, then why’d you cancel us? Let us just keep riding,” Moore said. “But it has become exciting to do it different. It looks different. It feels different. The writing is different. Hondo is different. The new team is different. Hondo is different because he’s a little darker.”
He said playing the hero never got old, but it needed more depth.
“I’ve had such a good time playing a superhero, flying around in helicopters, hand-to-hand combat, beating up bad guys, chasing them down alleys, carrying victims out of burning, exploding buildings. I’m a little kid in a candy store,” Moore said. “But to be a superhero is fun and to save the day is fun, but after a while, that becomes one-dimensional and kind of redundant.”
“There’s more layers to Hondo. There’s more layers to the show. There’s the new group of Bad News Bears that you’re about to meet that Hondo has to turn into superheroes,” he continued. “We’re always gonna save the day, but this time around, it’s a little more complicated, and we stumble, and we fail at times. But we get back up, and we’re gonna win.”
Shemar Moore teases upcoming episode tackling white supremacy
Moore pointed to one episode in particular, in which the team learns one of its own has a violent past.
“We have an [upcoming] episode about white supremacy. Me being a Black man and a Black leader, a cop, SWAT officer, legendary Hondo, one of our own, white, was beating up on African Americans in another life, and we have to make sense of that,” Moore said. “We’re not a political show. We’re not gonna preach the Bible to you, but we do come up with content that is somewhat controversial and true to real-life anecdotes.”
He said the serialized format is what keeps audiences coming back.
“When you watch S.W.A.T., you know you’re gonna have a good time. You know you’re gonna see some cool stuff, but now we’re gonna layer it to where it really intrigues you, and you care about the characters, you care about the stories,” Moore said. “The story doesn’t end at the end of the episode. There’s a large portion of the story that continues. And so you can’t wait to see the next episode.”
Moore also joked that he’d love to hear a slowed-down version of the series’ famous theme song, while admitting he couldn’t be the one to sing it.
Where can I watch ‘S.W.A.T. Exiles’?
S.W.A.T. Exiles premiered Sept. 25 on Starz, with new episodes Fridays.
Featured image photo credit: Photo: Starz
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