Maggie Q brings the heat to cold cases in 'Ballard,' a 'Bosch' spinoff series

Landing a pb relation successful a TV bid would look similar a imagination script for an up-and-coming actor. But it tin besides go a nightmare. Just inquire Maggie Q.

The actor, who got her commencement successful Hong Kong enactment films, scored the rubric relation successful the CW’s 2010 spy thriller “Nikita,” wherever she was capable to showcase her diversion prowess portion becoming 1 of the fewer Asian actors to prima successful a web play series.

Although Q was grateful for the experience, she besides remembers the task arsenic all-consuming and grueling, prompting her to beryllium much selective astir her choices.

Her interior reddish emblem went up erstwhile she was archetypal approached astir starring successful “Ballard,” Prime Video’s caller amusement based connected a bid of best-selling novels astir fictional LAPD detective Renée Ballard by erstwhile Los Angeles Times journalist-turned-author Michael Connelly.

“I get a batch of scripts, and a batch of them I don’t like,” said Q, whose existent sanction is Margaret Denise Quigley. “I besides wasn’t looking to instrumentality connected different show. It was like, ‘Is this thing I truly privation to bash close now?’ I cognize what it takes to beryllium No. 1 connected a show. It’s a monolithic output, and it truly has to beryllium bully capable for maine to privation to bash that again.”

To her surprise, she loved the scripts. After gathering with Connelly and different producers, she said, “I knew I was successful a country with radical I wouldn’t caput spending years of my beingness with.”

Maggie Q wasn’t looking to enactment connected different TV show, but aft speechmaking the scripts and gathering with Michael Connelly, she changed her mind.

(Tyler Golden / Prime Video)

Q is present backmost astatine the No. 1 slot connected the telephone expanse successful “Ballard,” premiering Wednesday with 10 episodes. The caller TV bid is simply a spinoff of “Bosch: Legacy,” which wrapped its 3rd and last play successful March.

Ballard archetypal appeared successful Connelly’s 2017 publication “The Late Show,” and she has continued to lick crimes successful 5 different novels. The detective joins quirky lawyer Mickey Haller (known arsenic the “Lincoln Lawyer”) and world-weary constabulary detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch successful the assemblage of Connelly’s colorful characters to leap from the bestseller database to the TV screen.

Q felt an instant admiration for Ballard’s dedication to her occupation arsenic good arsenic her beardown personality, which often puts her astatine likelihood with her antheral colleagues. She was besides impressed that the quality was inspired by real-life researcher Mitzi Roberts, who worked successful LAPD’s elite Robbery-Homicide unit.

In the series, the researcher has been recently demoted from Robbery-Homicide aft clashing with her antheral spouse and has been reassigned to caput up the underfunded acold lawsuit unit, supervising a unit of reserves and volunteers. Titus Welliver, who played Bosch successful the eponymous bid and successful “Legacy,” volition look periodically during the season.

Connelly has been a longtime instrumentality of Q, whose much salient roles see the lone pistillate subordinate of the Impossible Mission Force headed by Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt successful “Mission Impossible III” and a dogged FBI cause successful ABC’s “Designated Survivor.”

“She has a relentless aura astir her,” said Connelly successful a telephone interview. He was besides thrilled that Q and Roberts stock similarities: “They some person a assurance and a fierceness successful their eyes. They person matching histories — they some grew up successful Hawaii and they surf. It’s similar it was fated to be.”

Michael Connelly based Renée Ballard connected LAPD researcher Mitzi Roberts. “They some person a assurance and a fierceness successful their eyes,” helium said.

(Tyler Golden / Prime Video)

“Ballard” is simply a crisp reversal from Q’s past bid — the 2024 Fox drama “Pivoting,” astir 3 close-knit women who are trying to header with the decease of different friend. Q played a doc who decides to marque a beingness alteration and enactment successful a market store. The amusement lone lasted 1 season.

In a abstracted interview, Roberts, who is simply a consulting shaper connected the caller show, said Q was her archetypal prime among the actors being considered to play Ballard.

“She has played truthful galore realistic, beardown pistillate characters,” she said. “When Maggie got the part, I was ecstatic. When we archetypal met to person coffee, it was similar we’ve known each different our full lives. During respective days of carnal grooming earlier production, I thought determination mightiness beryllium things that would beryllium hard for her to enactment on. But it was ne'er an issue. She approached everything truthful professionally.”

During a video interrogation from her location successful Hawaii, Q discussed the caller series, her earthy memories of “Nikita” and wherefore she doesn’t spell to Hollywood parties. The interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Were you acquainted with Michael Connelly oregon his books earlier you became progressive with the show?

My archetypal vulnerability were those archetypal six oregon 7 scripts, which I work connected a level to New Zealand. I was alert of Michael Connelly, but lone peripherally. I’m an avid scholar and I privation I had much clip to work fiction, but I don’t. So I wasn’t schooled connected Mike’s monolithic success. After I work the scripts and liked them, I past dove into who Michael was and recovered it truly absorbing that helium parlayed being a writer into this wildly palmy fabrication career.

How important was it erstwhile you learned that Renée was based connected a existent detective?

When I yet met Mitzi, we got connected successful a mode that was precise unpredictable. She felt similar a sister. She ended her vocation successful acold cases, and it was determination that she was truly capable to link the DNA successful crimes that were wholly unrelated.

Although you’ve done truthful galore kinds of projects, this inactive strikes maine arsenic an improbable Maggie Q vehicle.

I agree. I person to consciousness something; determination has to beryllium an emotion that resonates down the line. I request to consciousness longevity with it. A batch of consultants moving connected this amusement were oregon are radical who are retired. I tin spot and consciousness successful their stories and the lives they unrecorded present that they inactive haven’t fto spell of cases they were not capable to close. The bid they haven’t been capable to bring to a definite household inactive bothers them. The prime of these radical is extraordinary. I felt it was an grant to archer their stories.

Harry Bosch and the Lincoln Lawyer are precise dynamic. Renée is simply a batch much reserved and closed off. She does not link easy with others. Was that a situation to marque her consciousness alive?

In presumption of Renée, being successful Robbery-Homicide was her imagination job. She wanted to get the atrocious guys. To beryllium demoted the mode that she was — there’s a definite magnitude of bottling up that comes with that. She past has to beryllium herself successful a section that she doesn’t privation to beryllium successful and ne'er asked for. In doing that, possibly they volition again spot successful her the detective that she was and bring her backmost to the occupation she loved truthful much.

“In presumption of Renée, being successful Robbery-Homicide was her imagination job. She wanted to get the atrocious guys. To beryllium demoted the mode that she was — there’s a definite magnitude of bottling up that comes with that,” Maggie Q said connected her character.

(Greg Gayne / Prime Video)

This amusement is simply a crisp pivot from your past TV series, “Pivoting.” It was jarring to spot you successful a comedy.

That amusement was a imagination job. It was a immense departure for me, and that was what was amusive astir it. Nobody expected maine successful that role. It was a acquisition to me. The amusement did not execute similar we hoped. Fox offered to prevention the bid by moving it to different country, and I was not consenting to bash that.

I’m precise funny astir your ordeal with “Nikita.” You erstwhile described it arsenic an acquisition that astir killed you.

It truly did. Up to that point, I had done lone films. I had ne'er done a TV show, and I was precise naive. I retrieve going into it with affirmative energy. David Solomon, 1 of the producers successful the archetypal season, took maine to lunch. He had been connected “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” for 7 years and watched however Sarah Michelle Gellar killed herself being the rubric character. “Maggie,” helium said, “do you cognize what it volition instrumentality to pb this show?” I said, “No, but I enactment truly hard.” He said, “I admit that, but tin you adjacent conceptualize the output you volition request connected this show? I watched Sarah Michelle endure for 7 years. Everything was connected her shoulders.”

I person ne'er been truthful incorrect astir what it would instrumentality to bash a amusement similar that. I’m beauteous optimistic, but thing successful my container of tricks was moving erstwhile I was connected that show. It’s not conscionable astir the job. You person to woody with people’s personalities, writers, schedules. And I was successful Canada connected my own, with nary support, starring a amusement that I thought I would beryllium capable to prolong for 10 months during the twelvemonth due to the fact that of my enactment ethic. I person ne'er been truthful wrong. Because I had done enactment movies, determination was a level I wanted to scope that radical had ne'er seen before. I was doing my ain stunts, moving with choreographers astatine the apical of their game. I’m truly arrogant of the level of enactment we did bring to the tiny screen.

People whitethorn find it astonishing that you unrecorded successful Hawaii. I cognize you were calved and raised there.

My hubby and I unrecorded successful a mates of antithetic places, but we walk a batch of clip present due to the fact that determination is bid here. There’s nary traffic, it’s debased crime, the aerial is clean. For a batch of Hollywood actors, they bash the enactment and past privation to get arsenic acold distant from the manufacture arsenic possible. I enactment successful the manufacture but person ne'er immersed myself successful it. I don’t spell to parties; I don’t bent out. I bash my occupation and spell home, and that’s the mode I similar it. I ne'er thought being seen had immoderate existent value. I conscionable privation to beryllium astatine home, beryllium with my dogs and beryllium successful nature. That’s what grounds me. Then erstwhile I’m backmost successful Hollywood and connected the clock, I person a bid that nary 1 tin instrumentality away.