PITTSBURGH (AP) - If you thought the first season of “Outsiders” brought lots of clashes and confrontations, wait until you see season two, says Tina Alexis Allen.
“I’d say there’s double the conflict — it’s coming at us from all sides,” said Allen, who plays the fiery Shurn on WGN America’s highest-rated original series.
Set in Appalachian Kentucky, “Outsiders” shoots in western Pennsylvania, including Monroeville, Millvale, West Newton and the 31st Street Studios in Pittsburgh’s Strip District.
The story centers on a power struggle between the Farrell clan, an insular group of mountain folk living off the grid, and the townspeople in the valley below who believe in the promises of a big coal company that wants to evict the Farrells to reap financial gains.
As Shurn, Allen plays a member of the Farrells who grieves the death of her son and wrestles with the temptation to seek revenge against the clan’s leader, the fierce Big Foster (David Morse), whom she holds responsible. Shurn’s conflict is that she feels a loyalty to her extended Farrell family, and doesn’t believe violence solves problems.
Introduced in the seventh episode, Shurn faces the kind of inner turmoil Allen craved from a character.
“I was excited by the challenge and the places that would take me emotionally,” Allen said. “We’ve all been betrayed, but to have been betrayed that deeply and then have to co-exist with that person would be very challenging. I guess I also was fascinated in what it would be like to live off the grid, without technology and barely any electricity.”
Allen grew up in suburbia, specifically Chevy Chase, Maryland, and never visited Pittsburgh until joining the “Outsiders” cast.
“I love Pittsburgh. It’s got a super-cool, small city vibe,” she said. “I’d been staying in the Strip District and downtown, though Lawrenceville is where I hang out mostly. I’ve hit most of the restaurants there, which has been really fun.”
She keeps tabs on local happenings, making sure during a phone interview last week to congratulate the Quigley girls basketball team for extending its section winning streak to 62 straight games.
Allen was a star guard on her high school basketball team, earning a full-ride scholarship to play at the University of Maryland, having weighed similar offers from Stanford and Notre Dame.
There are no basketball courts up in the holler where the Farrells dwell, though it would have been interesting seeing Allen play one-on-one against “Outsiders” star Morse, who stands 6-foot-4.
“I haven’t had the pleasure of taking him on in basketball,” Allen said. “I’d guess I’m a little quicker since I’m not 6’4” and there’s not as much of me to move. I’d have to hope I was quick enough that he couldn’t block my shot.”
“Outsiders” co-star Ryan Hurst, also known for his work in FX’s “Sons of Anarchy,” is pretty tall, too, Allen said, “though I don’t know if he’s a basketball player.”
Allen took a nontraditional path to acting.
While at college, she caught the fashion bug, earning her masters degree in business administration and moving to New York where she began a successful career in fashion marketing. While in New York, she spent her weekends checking out Broadway shows, deepening her appreciation for the arts.
As her 30th birthday approached, she reassessed her career.
“The key was giving myself permission after seven or eight years to slow down and ask myself, ’Is this really what I want to do?’”
Though the pay was good, she decided to leave fashion marketing and try her luck as an actress, signing up for lessons from Susan Batson, an acting coach whose clients have included Nicole Kidman, Tyler Perry and Chris Rock.
“I fell in love with acting,” Allen said. “It’s really cool how you get to express yourself in this profound way.”
In Los Angeles, she performed a 12-character one-woman show that earned rave reviews. She also became a series regular as Dr. Mills on IFC’s satirical “The Onion News Network.”
Then came “Outsiders,” a surprise hit for WGN America.
“We’re done filming season two, but we’re excited for fans to see it,” Allen said.
She was careful not to reveal any spoilers, like whether Morse’s character, Big Foster, is truly dead as he appeared to be in the season one finale. A press release from WGN America lists Morse among the returning cast for season two, which could leave the possibility of flashback scenes, or perhaps something more supernatural.
As season two begins, there’s a new leader of the Farrell clan. Though trouble is brewing on the other side of the mountain.
The Farrells and townsfolk remain highly suspicious of each other, though circumstances bring them in closer contact, “which is really interesting,” Allen said. “You get to see what we’re bumping up against.”
Allen uses the words “we” and “we’re” a lot when discussing the Farrell clan, acknowledging her character has become a part of her.
She tries to stay in character when filming in western Pennsylvania, even when cameras aren’t rolling.
“I try not to dress up too much,” she said. “I try not to bring New York or L.A. to Pittsburgh with me.”
As one of the rough-hewn, live-off-the-land Farrells, she doesn’t get much time in the show’s hairstyle or makeup trailers.
Allen heard through the grapevine some network and studio executives requested the Farrells have more dirt on their clothes and faces for added authenticity.
“I don’t know how we can look any more dirty. I get no blowouts, no false eyelashes, no foundation which we ladies like,” Allen said. “I’m like, ’Show me a little love in the makeup trailer.’”
Though that’s all in a day’s work for Allen, who is quick to praise WGN America for being “incredibly supportive” of the show, providing the show’s creators with ample artistic freedom.
“From the get-go, WGN was fascinated with the world they created and said ’Do your thing,’” she said.
A big reason “Outsiders” chose to film in western Pennsylvania is the ample supply of experienced crew members and hometown actors and extras ready to play small but necessary parts. The cast includes Kathy Costa of Baden in a regular non-speaking role as a Farrell elder.
The “Outsiders” set feels like an extended family, friendly and displaying a strong work ethic, Allen said.
“Everyone’s so professional and committed,” she said. “I want to say thank you to Pittsburgh for embracing us.”
The show has brought benefits to the Pittsburgh region.
“’Outsiders’ has proven that southwest Pennsylvania can host episodic television series,” Pittsburgh Film Office director Dawn Keezer said. “We are already looking forward to welcoming this production for Season 3 soon.”
Along with Netflix’s upcoming “Mindhunter” series shot partially in Ambridge, and ABC’s summer series “Downward Dog” filmed in Pittsburgh, such shows “provide long-term employment and internal workforce training, allowing our talented workforce to be promoted to the next level in their careers,” Keezer said.
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Information from: Beaver County Times, https://www.timesonline.com/
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