Based on the best-selling books by Karin Slaughter, the ABC series Will Trent follows Special Agent Will Trent (Ramón Rodríguez) of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who has both the highest clearance rate with cases, as well as his own way of doing things. Surviving the harsh foster care system has given him a unique point of view, and while he often rubs people the wrong way, it’s hard to deny the outcome of his approach.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Rodríguez talked about what kind of dog father Will Trent is when it comes to Betty the Chihuahua, what most appealed to him about this role, playing all the different colors of the character, representing dyslexia authentically, the chip on Will’s shoulder, why it’s important to show up prepared with a desire to do your best work, exploring the unexpected character dynamics, and getting more involved as a producer.

Collider: I absolutely love that we were introduced to your character while he’s holding the cutest dog, ever. What kind of dog father would you say Will Trent is?

RAMÓN RODRÍGUEZ: I would say that he’s a reluctant father, at first, but then becomes an absolute mush. It’s like when you discover something that you didn’t know you were gonna absolutely love. That’s his experience. When you meet him in the pilot, he’s not necessarily thrilled to have to rescue this dog, but he’s also not going to let this dog be abandoned and leave it behind. Obviously, that’s something that Will understands very well, from his own childhood. I think it was a great way to introduce his character and the heart that he has.

Is getting to know a dog co-star anything like getting to know your human co-stars? Is there anything that’s challenging, specifically, to getting to know an animal co-star?

RODRÍGUEZ: You’ve gotta see if there’s chemistry. You’ve gotta spend some time and see if the dog actually likes you. Her real name is Belle, and she is very incredibly well-behaved. I’ve been playing with the joke that she’s also a massive diva and that she requires two trailers and no eye contact and can only be photographed from one angle. But in reality, she is honestly one of the most well-behaved dogs. For anyone who’s an animal lover and an animal owner, you wish your animal behaved the way Belle does because she’s very, very, very well-behaved and very well-trained.

You can’t be that cute and not know you’re that cute.

RODRÍGUEZ: Without a doubt. She’s walking around and she knows it. She gets all the attention and all the treats, all the time. There’s no doubt about it. It’s very clear that she’s well aware that she’s a star.

When this project came your way, what was the thing that really caught your attention? Was it the character, specifically, and all the layers and complications that come with him? Was it something about this type of show? Was it the creative team involved? What was the thing that reeled you in?

RODRÍGUEZ: The main thing, really, was this character’s resilience. The thing that I really picked up on, as I read the script and as I dove into the books, was that this is someone who has lived a very, very challenging childhood and has lived through a lot, and has the scars to prove it, but despite that, really has deep empathy, and an incredible spirit and resilience, and has found a way, despite what he’s been through, to use that experience to try to do the right thing. It’s forced him to view the world in a very specific way. His perspective on crime scenes is really unique, and I think that’s what makes him so good at his job. It matters to him to be able to solve these cases. It’s not just the case. It tends to be very personal for him. So, I just like the way the guy ticked. It was unusual. It was different. He’s someone that doesn’t necessarily care what other people think about him. He walks to his own beat. He wears a three-piece suit, which I interpreted as his armor. He puts it on and presents to the world in a certain way. He’s deeply vulnerable and incredibly loyal. He’s someone that, if he lets you in, which he doesn’t do often, he’ll do anything for you. There were just a lot of compelling characteristics about him that I was really drawn to.

Will Trent is clearly a complicated character. When it comes to storytelling and making a good drama series, is there ever such a thing as too complicated, or is that what you hope for, as an actor, especially when you could be playing this guy for a number of years?

RODRÍGUEZ: It’s really exciting when you can see the potential of where a character can go, and if you get a sense that there’s a lot going on beneath the surface. He’s not someone that’s walking around, looking for a pity party or looking to be treated special, or anything like that. In fact, he spins it on his head. He’s got a great sense of humor, at times. He can be incredibly direct. I like that he’s not just a heavy, sulking guy. He’s funny, he can be charming, he can be off-putting. All those interesting, different colors with him are the things that I got excited about, and with the series, that’s something that we definitely want to explore, so that he doesn’t just feel like a single note. We want him to feel like a full-fledged, colorful, complicated human being.

With someone like him, who is able to observe things in a way that other people can’t or don’t, do you think he feels a sense of satisfaction in being able to do that? Does it feel like a burden he’d rather not have? How does he feel about what he’s able to do? Does he have a real sense of how good he actually is?

RODRÍGUEZ: I think he definitely understands what he has to offer, without a doubt. There definitely a chip on his shoulder because of everything he’s been through, so there’s always a sense that he has something to prove. Even though he doesn’t and even though he has the highest clearance rate, there is that thing, because of what he’s been through, and because he was told that he was stupid and not good enough and was never going to amount to anything. He was receiving some pretty negative messaging growing up, so to come from that, he operates in a way of being like, “Oh, yeah, I’ll show you.” And so, he’s well aware of it and what he has to offer. If you ask that character what he’d do, if he had an option to choose another life, he might not want to have gone through what he went through because it is pretty intense.

His dyslexia really does play an interesting role in this because he’s in a profession where paperwork plays a very large role, so it’s something that he can’t avoid and constantly has to deal with. What’s it been like for you to incorporate that into the series, in an authentic way? What are you doing to keep that as real as possible?

RODRÍGUEZ: That was something that Karin Slaughter incorporated into her books, and it was something that we wanted to bring into the series. Personally, I wanted to make sure that I was doing my best to represent it authentically, so I did some research and spoke to doctors about it, knowing that this is a character that happens to have this condition. We’re not trying to represent it across the board. It’s a very broad condition, and everyone handles it differently. What I wanted to do, and something I’m very mindful of is how we are making sure that we pay attention to that detail because it’s something that he’s had to navigate his whole life, and he’s been able to figure out how to protect it and how to hide it. There are very few people that know this about him, but the fact that he’s been able to do what he does, and do it at such a high level, I admire that. I admire a resilient spirit like that, of someone that can overcome so much. And so, we try to ride that line authentically and honestly, at least for how we’re interpreting the character.

You’ve done TV shows before, and you’ve done network TV before, with Gang-Related, but that was more of an ensemble. With this, you’re the lead, you’re the title character, it’s a character from a much-loved book series, and you’re also a producer on the show. What is the difference in pressure and responsibility that you feel, doing something like this, where you’re that number one on the call sheet and everyone looks to you to set the tone?

RODRÍGUEZ: For me, it’s really about showing up prepared. Everyone’s showing up to do their best work. Creating an environment where everyone can feel safe to do their best work is something that I take very seriously. When I show up, I put in a lot of time. This character means a lot to me. I actually adore him. I’ve actually grown to really, really have a lot of affection for him. I do. So, I’m very protective of him. Even though he’s someone that Karin created, I know that I’m adapting it, and it’s interesting when that happens in the process, where you start developing the character. So, the best thing I can do is to try to create an environment where everyone feels that they can do their best work. It’s not just one person, to be honest. I know there’s a number one on the call sheet, but these things don’t get made without the whole village. There are a lot of people that are participating – writers, producers, cast, crew, post-production. On set, it’s about preparation, and speaking with the showrunners and the writers. My goal is to push everyone to try to create the best show that we can. I don’t care if it’s on a broadcast network, streaming, or cable. I just wanna try to make the best show possible. That’s my straight focus. I don’t pay too much attention to the pressure. The pressure, for me, is just that I wanna hopefully bring this character to light, in the best way that I can, with all the skills and tools and research that I can.

As a producer on this, what’s it been like for you to get more involved, behind the scenes? Can you take that hat off and just focus on the acting when you’re in a scene, or are you always thinking about the bigger picture and everything that goes into it?

RODRÍGUEZ: We’ve found a really great process where, if I’m in the middle of a scene and doing my thing, I can focus on acting, but we’re constantly having conversations, every day, with the writers and the directors. What’s cool is that we have directors come in with every episode, and they recognize that everyone has been living in this process, so they trust us. They have their input and they have their ideas, and we have a dialogue and a conversation. It’s not so separate. It does melt in. You’re producing, but you’re acting, at the same time. When I go home, and I’m looking at dailies and cuts, and we’re talking about episodes, because I’m living this guy, I can give real input. I’m lucky that I have amazing partners, in (show creators) Liz [Heldens] and Dan Thomsen], and then our whole writers’ room, who are just fantastic. We’re constantly having conversations and dialogue about what’s coming up. The processes on a first-season show are interesting because you’re also trying to figure out what’s working and what’s not working. You want to know when the show really shines. We’ve learned pretty quickly that, when the focus is on these characters and the emotional arc and what’s going on with them, that’s the stuff that people seem to be responding to, and that’s the stuff that we really love. The cases are great too, and if we can tie those into some of the character stories, that’s great, but the relationships seem to be the thing that really resonates.

I love how all the relationships seem very different and a bit unexpected. They don’t seem like relationships that we’re necessarily used to seeing. They all have their own spin to them. The dynamic between Will and Faith (Iantha Richardson) is especially interesting because you have this relationship that is starting on rocky ground because of his history with her mother. What have you enjoyed about finding that dynamic, and figuring out how to get them past and make them stronger?

RODRÍGUEZ: One of the things that I was drawn to is all the different sides of him that you get to see. You get to see the version of him when he’s at work. You get to see the version of how he is in a new partnership, which is not awesome because he’s not someone that likes change or new things in his life, and he definitely doesn’t wanna work with someone else. He’s not thrilled about that. You get to see him with Angie (Erika Christensen), who’s someone that’s tied to his past. Those angles and colors, and all the different sides of him, were fascinating. With Faith, he’s not excited about partnering with her, at all. We’ve had to really be mindful about that. What I’ve enjoyed is that it’s hopefully a relationship that’s gonna feel earned. Sometimes you watch a show, and you see a relationship be built in an episode, and we did not want that. That was something we talked a lot about. That adds to the complexity of this character. If Will just easily lets someone in his life, then that goes against some of the rules that were created for him. He’s someone who actually likes to be alone. He’s a loner who does not like change. You see that instantly with Betty (the dog) in the pilot. We wanted to pace that, to allow for Faith to start to change him while he changes her, and we see how they maybe, possibly complement each other. That, to me, is an organic, authentic journey that, hopefully, we get to explore a little bit.

In the pilot, we get to know this guy through these two relationships that we get introduced to, at the same time. He has this relationship with all this history with Angie. And then, with Faith, he doesn’t have that history with her, but there’s history with her mother. It’s really interesting to see how he deals with both of those dynamics, in contrast to each other.

RODRÍGUEZ: You see him be a little bit warmer when he hears Angie’s voice, and he smiles, for the first time. With Faith, they’re like oil and water. They’re not mixing well together, at all. I love that. I just think it’s fun to explore and play that, and I buy it for someone like him. He’s definitely got trust issues and he’s very mindful of who comes into his life, so it felt like a great way to show two sides of him, very quickly in the pilot, with Faith and Angie. And then, he has this other figure, in Amanda (Sonja Sohn), who’s a very tough love, strong boss/maternal figure in his life. She’s great, but they also have their riffs. They had an agreement that he wouldn’t have to deal with having a partner, and here she is, throwing someone into his lap, despite what they agreed upon.

What does it take for him to respect someone and to start to open up to someone? What does he need to see in somebody, to do that?

RODRÍGUEZ: You said it, he needs to respect them. He needs to look at them and see that they are genuine and bringing something to the table, somehow and some way, particularly when it comes to his work. He has a pretty strong moral compass. He’s pretty clear on a lot of things. He needs to know that someone is not just competent but that they go beyond. These cases run deep for him. They matter a lot to him. He sees where things are left behind, or where things are not uncovered fully. We learn very quickly, in the opening of the pilot, that he’s disliked by everyone because he told on a corrupt case. For him, he had to do that. It was his job. He was asked to do that, and he did it. So, I think time, and seeing who someone is and how they operate, allows him to slowly build trust. He’s not someone that lets his guard down or lets people in very easily.

Will Trent airs Tuesday nights on ABC.