John Hawkes not only earned his first Emmy nomination this year, he earned two: a supporting actor nomination for playing corrupt cop Hank Prior in True Detective: The Land of the Night and another for his song “No Use,” which he composed and performed in character in the HBO anthology series.
After Hawkes was cast, showrunner Issa López suggested that Hank play some music. At first, the actor “wasn’t sure if it was a great idea,” but then realized he’d always been fascinated by people doing something out of character. “I started thinking about it a little bit more, and Issa asked if I could write an instrumental score.” A “good-natured discussion” ensued about whether the song should have lyrics.
The song plays in the fifth episode while Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) are searching for the ice cave; then the camera pans to a protest and cuts to Hank playing guitar in his living room.
Writing through Hank’s mind was a “blessing,” Hawkes notes. “It narrowed the focus a little bit on the full range of who I am and what I might choose to say and put a finer point and a finer focus on what the song was going to be. I guess there are his own personal grudges in the song, frustrations with how his life had gone. But I think when you’re really specific, sometimes it becomes more universal.”
As for playing Hank, Hawkes says there was a particular challenge he faced: “A lot of the characters are struggling, suffering and experiencing a lot of frustration, and you keep all that inside yourself for six months. I don't consider myself a Method actor, but I read the script every day. [even] when I wasn't working, and I was just pretending… those things in your mind get to you. You're aware that you're an actor, that you're playing this part, your mind knows it, but your body takes a different angle and feels it more than you'd like. But it's a small price to pay to be involved in such a wonderful story and piece of writing.”