NEW YORK, June 21 (UPI) — Animal Kingdom and Walking Dead: Dead City actor Jake Weary says he wanted to star in The Waterfront because the new Netflix drama gives him the chance to play a type of character he doesn’t usually get offered.
“It was a character that I’ve never really explored before, someone who is really outwardly charismatic and charming and trying to use his charms to get certain things and manipulate people,” Weary, 35, told UPI in a phone interview Thursday.
“I’d always played more introverted characters and characters that are harboring secrets and there’s just a lot of darkness,” he said. “There are elements there with Cane, but I think, for the most part, he’s someone that actually smiles. I usually play characters that just scowl all the time, so I thought it was kind of a nice game changer for me.”
Now streaming on Netflix, the show was written-produced by Dawson’s Creek and Scream creator Kevin Williamson. It follows the Buckleys, a wealthy North Carolina family as they try to save their fishing empire by smuggling drugs.
Weary plays Cane Buckley, while Holt McCallany plays his father Harlan, Maria Bello plays his mother Belle and Melissa Benoist plays his older sister Bree.
“I always thought Cane is kind of the glue that kept the family together,” the actor said.
“I feel like he’s the one that creates the big Buckley family group chat, just to check in with everybody,” he added. “When he notices that the family is in dire straits, he really jumps at the opportunity to take the bull by the horns and fix things.”
Weary and his co-stars quickly bonded when they arrived on the show’s set in North Carolina.
The actor described himself and Bello as “besties” and said they frequently text since she has been working out of the country and haven’t been able to see each other for awhile.
“And me and Holt have this really, really strong relationship, too, because I think there are a lot of parallels in our lives,” he added.
“We both had mothers who were big-time divas. His mother was a ballroom singer and my mom was a soap opera actress,” Weary said, referring to McCallany’s mother, entertainer Julie Wilson, and his own, Guiding Light icon Kim Zimmer.
“We both grew up on the East Coast and have similar interests and can, literally, talk for hours. Having the two of them together [Bello and McCallany] together was just a dream come true.”
Further connecting the cast and crew was the fact that Hurricane Helene ravaged North Carolina while they were there.
“There’s a lot of people on the crew whose homes were affected by the hurricane,” Weary recalled.
“You could see how it brought the crew together. Everybody was super-supportive of each other,” he said. “It was just really beautiful to see.”
One perfect Holt McCallany scene to welcome you to The Waterfront.
The new series from Scream and Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson is now playing. pic.twitter.com/lhKd8haUQt— Netflix (@netflix) June 19, 2025
