Jock McKissic Talks ‘Your Honor’ and How the Series Adapted to the Pandemic [Interview]

As soon as Jock McKissic heard a new show was coming out starring Bryan Cranston, he reached out to his management to express interest in being part of it. 

The Showtime limited series Your Honor stars Bryan Cranston as Michael Desiato, a judge who is faced with an impossible moral dilemma when his son is involved in a hit and run. 

McKissic plays Alan Underwood, a bailiff working for Judge Desiato. I recently spoke with McKissic about his role on the series, what he learned from working with Bryan Cranston, and how Your Honor adapted its script because of the pandemic. 

After expressing interest in being a part of the show, McKissic got the opportunity to audition for a few different roles. He flew to New Orleans, where the show was being filmed, for a callback, and eventually landed the role of Alan Underwood.

“It was kind of just a situation where things played out pretty smoothly. And I just felt like it was meant to be, so I’m definitely honored and blessed to be able to be a part of that project,” McKissic said.

Much of the season was filmed before the pandemic shut things down in New Orleans. They returned later to finish filming with new protocols in place.

McKissic recalled “going back and being welcomed with open arms by New Orleans, because they were affected heavily by COVID.”

“I have family in New Orleans, so I try to have familiarity with the city. But when working there, it was a different story because you get to see it from a different point of view. It was so fun. I loved it. Everybody on the crew and the cast were lovely people to work with,” McKissic said.

Returning after the shutdown also meant some changes to the scripts for the end of the season.

“The only episode, as far as script-wise, that didn’t come out prior to us being shut down was 10. So we had already read all the episodes. And basically after COVID shut everything down and they kind of figured out a process of testing and how to zone everybody and cut down the crew size, etc., they had to go back and restructure a lot of the scripts, because a lot of the scenes had a lot of extras,” he explained.

“So, for instance, a lot of the courtroom scenes would have been packed,” McKissic said. The court case involving Carlo Baxter would have had plenty of spectators under normal circumstances, though it wound up working well for the story to keep those spectators to a minimum. 

“I mean, it’s the court case of the century. Everybody knows this guy, everybody knows the family. So the media presence would have been a lot more, but it just made sense to add that in, and kind of bring a little bit of reality into it.”

McKissic noted that the timeline of the show would have been about March of 2020.

“So it’s still the beginning stages, where people didn’t know too much about it. And that’s kind of how the world was in the beginning. Not everybody was wearing masks, we didn’t know we were supposed to wear them, but some people thought that they should take the precaution to do it. The judge kind of took it into his hands to say, ‘Hey, limit the court case to just family and people that are directly working on this case.’ It actually worked out better for the storyline of the show that the judge would make that decision. I think they did a very good job of kind of monitoring it, and then editing that script to kind of fit the situation that we were in.”

Most of McKissic’s work on the series was alongside Bryan Cranston. He shared a bit about what it was like working with Cranston and a piece of advice he learned from him while filming the series.

“Nothing could have prepared me for the level of acceptance and just love and appreciation that he showed towards me,” McKissic said. “Being beside him every day, because the majority of my scenes were, of course, in the courtroom or either in his office, etc. — It was just a masterclass every single day.”

McKissic recalled a day when Cranston asked him what type of acting he preferred, and McKissic responded with “drama.” Cranston advised him that he should have a different answer.

“He said, ‘I want you to tell me that you’re a moving target,'” McKissic remembered. Knowing that McKissic had experience with comedy as well, Cranston told him not to limit himself.

“He said, ‘Basically, when you do that you’re volunteering to producers, casting — you’re volunteering yourself in a box. And they’ll only see you as one type of actor, but if you’re a moving target and you’re open and you put it out there, that you’re an actor that can do many things, then it will be hard for them to put you in a box. You will be in every box,'” McKissic shared. “It was the sound advice that I’ll carry with me forever and I’ll share and give to other actors as well.”

In addition to Your Honor, McKissic can also be seen in the film Breaking News in Yuba County, which stars Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, Regina Hall, and Awkwafina.

In the film, McKissic plays Lenny, a news producer. “Initially, the character had about two scenes,” McKissic said. “So I broke down this character and I’m like, okay, I’m a big guy. Right? So if I’m a big guy and I’m a news producer, and this guy’s kind of being told what to do by this lady,” he continued. “I’m going to make him nerdy, I’m going to make him a pushover.”

“I had a lot of fun with the audition,” McKissic said. “I ended up being there for more than I actually thought I would. Tate Taylor, the director, just ended up adding scenes for my character, because he just loved what I was doing.”

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Your Honor is available on Showtime on demand.

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