Billy Hepfinger can't think of another show quite like “Outsiders.”
The McCandless native — now a full-time actor living in New York City — plays Deputy Sheriff Judd Fults in the original series shot throughout the Pittsburgh area last year. It premieres at 9 p.m. Jan. 26 on WGN America.
Described as a struggle of power and control set in the rugged hills of Appalachia, “Outsiders” focuses on the Farrell clan, a tight-knit family of renegades who have lived atop Shay Mountain in Kentucky for more than 200 years, and their fight to defend their way of life from anyone who dares to challenge them.
“I'm hopeful that ‘Outsiders' will find a pretty wide audience,” says Hepfinger, a 2006 North Allegheny High School graduate. “Even with seemingly a million shows airing on TV these days, I can't think of one that's quite like our show.”
He had a small part in the recent “The Last Witch Hunter” and performed in a number of productions with Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, as well as Pittsburgh Public Theater and City Theatre.
“ ‘Outsiders' has this rustic, backwoods atmosphere to it, the midpoint between something like ‘Sons of Anarchy' and something like ‘Justified.' With both those shows off the air now, I would love to see ‘Outsiders' capture some of that audience,” he says. “And, of course, I hope a lot of Pittsburghers tune in to see some less well-known parts of their town prominently displayed.”
The ensemble cast includes Ryan Hurst (Opie Winston on “Sons of Anarchy”), as Lil Foster, a massive mountain man and son of Big Foster, portrayed by David Morse (“Treme,” “Hurt Locker,” “Concussion”), the gruff and powerful heir to tribe leadership.
Many of the supporting cast members live in Pittsburgh or the region and work here regularly in film and theater. Many are in recurring roles, which usually are cast out of New York or Los Angeles.
“I think it will resonate with audiences because there is nothing like it on television, and viewers will relate to the struggle between the two cultures and sympathize with both,” says Donna Belajac, Pittsburgh casting director. “The world that was created on ‘Shay Mountain' is unique and fascinating. The sets and costumes are extraordinary.”
In the show, Hepfinger's Judd Fults is fairly new to town.
“He begins the season pretty skeptical about the Farrells and about how wide a berth the townspeople give them, but he comes to realize pretty quickly that they're a force to be reckoned with,” he says. “I really enjoyed playing that transition, and letting the subtext of his attitude about the Farrells and everything going on in town play out in little moments.”
Hepfinger believes the series could well have a second season. He says the film-production tax credits recently approved by Gov. Tom Wolf mean, “there's a pretty good chance that if we do get renewed, we'll be coming back to Pittsburgh,” he says.
Director Rosemary Rodriguez (“Jessica Jones,” “The Good Wife,” “Manhattan”), who directed two “Outsiders” episodes, sees the potential audience of the show as vast and all ages, from those who relate to the men occupying a wildlife refuge in Oregon, to fans of Ryan Hurst from “Sons of Anarchy,” to urban art-house enthusiasts who love darker, gritty cable shows with great stories and great actors.
“It's about the working class, and the people who live on the mountain and how corporate America pushes them aside for money. We can all relate to that,” she says.
“It brings us deep inside a world that I've never seen done this way before,” Rodriguez says. “It's about people who live their own way, shunning the ways of the outside world. It made me question how we are living. It shines a light on the lost innocence that technology has brought while at the same time showing the violence that comes from people fiercely protecting what's theirs. People everywhere are afraid of people different than they are.”
Drew Volcheck, 37, of Monroeville still can't believe his good fortune in being invited to be part of the extended members of the Farrell clan.
He has worked in the restaurant business his entire working life.
“When the ‘Outsiders' started shooting, I met some of the crew and I told them I always wanted to try acting,” he says. “They said I had a great look for the show, and I sent an email with a quick cellphone selfie, and I was brought on for a day. They liked me and kept me on all season. I just started my acting career because of it.”
Volcheck lauds the concept of “Outsiders.”
“Everyone has thought at one time about what it would be like living off the grid by your own rules, I think? I think Ryan Hurst put it best when he said it's ‘like Mad Max meets Little House on the Prairie,' ” he says.
Veteran regional actor Rick “Rik” Billock of Vandergrift, who portrays a cousin of the Farrells, is confident that “Outsiders” will find an audience.
“Anyone can relate to a bunch of rebel squatters who have lived on this mountain as a family for 200 years not wanting to be sold out to some greedy corporate power,” Billock says. “There are people from ‘Breaking Bad' and ‘Sons of Anarchy' and big sort of under-the-wire stars in the leads, and I am proud just to have worked on it. Everyone in the cast is friendly and basically just nice people and was easy to relate to in a family sense.”
Other members of the cast include Thomas M. Wright (“The Bridge,” “Top of the Lake”) as Sheriff Wade Houghton, a cop who has a rough and mysterious history with the Farrells and grapples with personal troubles of his own. Gillian Alexy (“The Americans,” “Damages”) is G'Winveer, a healer and a survivor. Kyle Gallner (“American Sniper,” “Veronica Mars”) plays Hasil, a young, intuitive soul who feels rejected by the group.
Phyllis Somerville (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Big C”) is Lady Ray, the regal yet tough leader of the Farrell clan. Francie Swift (“Hostages,” “House of Cards”) plays Haylie, a clever and cunning community-relations manager representing the encroaching coal company. Emmy Award-winner Paul Giamatti (“Billions,” “John Adams,” “Sideways”) is one of the executive producers.
Rex Rutkoski is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
Location, location, location
Location director John Adkins of Regent Square enjoyed working on “Outsiders” because of “the compelling story with great cast, talented directors, skilled local crew and the wonderful Southwestern Pennsylvanian communities we collaborated with.”
While Millvale and Monroeville were the primary filming locations, Adkins says filming also was done in Ross, Shaler, Reserve, Harmar, Pitcairn, North Versailles, North Braddock, Turtle Creek, Dunbar and West Newton.
Almost all of McCandless native Billy Hepfinger's acting on “Outsiders” was in Millvale, which he says doubled for a town in Kentucky.
“Having grown up fairly close by in the North Hills, it was really amazing to me how one day you could be in the middle of a pretty established little town, and then drive less than five minutes and be in a location that made it seem like you were in the middle of the wilderness,” he says.
A fair amount of shooting was done at the 31st Street Studios in the Strip District, which became a home base for the series. “The mountain sets were primarily in the Monroeville area, but as my character is a ‘townie,' I didn't do much shooting there,” he says.
Director Rosemary Rodriguez loved working in Pittsburgh.
“It has so many environments that were perfect for this story, from the mountain to the working-class town,” she says. “Pittsburgh has a very Americana feel to it. You really feel the weight of our history and it fit well with ‘Outsiders' history of generations of people with traditions they are trying to protect.”
For Drew Volcheck of Monroeville, who played one of the extended Farrell clan, a special thrill was finding they were shooting almost in his my backyard.
“I can hit the main set (a section of Monroeville doubling as Shay Mountain) with a rock from my door,” he says. “The set is built in the woods I played in as a kid growing up. It was really cool for me to see the transformation of this beautiful wooded area.”
