Hunters Star Logan Lerman Reveals Why He Returned to Television After 15 Years (Exclusive)
Even at just 30 years old, Logan Lerman already has a careers-worth of filmography credits. Much of that is thanks to when he got into the game, as he has been acting since 2000's The Patriot. His role in that war epic impressed enough to land a Young Artist Award nomination, and he rode that momentum to multiple more Young Artist Award nods and wins throughout his adolescence. Two of those victories came from his work in television projects A Painted House and Jack & Bobby, the latter of which was his final TV role for over 15 years, as he populated the next decade and a half of his career with blockbuster motion-pictures.
Lerman ended his television sabbatical in early 2020. The former Percy Jackson star stood alongside Al Pacino as the lead of Hunters, a Prime Video streaming series that chronicles a Nazi uprising in a post-World War II United States.
Speaking to ComicBook.com's Liam Crowley, Lerman revealed that his decision to return to television came down to the show's creative talent.
"You know what it was? Jordan Peele, David Weil, and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon came to me, asking me to do it, to be a part of a TV series and to take on this character," Lerman recalled.
Hunters is Weil's brainchild, while Peele and Gomez-Rejon hopped on the project as executive producers. This behind-the-scenes team was assembled extremely early on, as Lerman added that he was approached before the scripting process began.
"It was a bit nerve-wracking because there weren't scripts written," Lerman continued. "I wasn't able to read anything. Usually I pick my work, my characters, the job, based off of the quality of the script. In this situation with a TV show, it was a leap of faith with a creative team. I felt like these were the people to do it with, and I trusted them and wanted to give it a shot."
Season 1 impressed enough for Prime Video to greenlight a sophomore installment. While Lerman's Jonah Heidelbaum was labelled as a "Robin" by his friends in the early episodes, Lerman emphasized that the character has fully evolved into a Batman come Season 2.
"He definitely is [a Batman]. He had to be. He was forced to become that," Lerman noted. "I really love playing with this version of Jonah. Season 2, Jonah is much more interesting for me. It's much more complex. There's just so many layers to it. He's burdened almost with the responsibility of being a hunter, a Nazi hunter, a member of this group, but he knows he can't go back because it's changed him, what he's experienced. Being able to explore this version of him has been really satisfying for me creatively."
Hunters Season 2 begins streaming on Prime Video this Friday, January 13th.
