Justin Hartley he took his first acting steps in the soap opera “Passions” broadcast in the early 2000s on NBC. For his role in this production, he was nominated twice for the Soap Opera Digest Award. However, after his adventure with the series ended in 2006 he did not find a place in this genre and switched to superhero television productions.
He first tried his hand at the pilot of the CW series about the adventures of Aquaman – However, he played this character only in the pilot episode, because the station decided not to order further episodes. Fortunately, shortly after that, he joined the regular cast of the TV series “Smallville”, where he played Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow, for five years. For a long time he was associated mainly with this role; he was also the first actor to play Olivier – later, as we know, Stephen Amell played Queen in the CW series devoted to this character.
During his career, Hartley also appeared in such productions as “Chuck”, “Castle” and “Hart of Dixie”, “Revenge” (12 episodes). In 2012, he joined the cast of the one-season series “Emily Owens, M.D.” Olivier's role was therefore one of those with which he was most associated. Until “This is who we are.”
Series “This is who we are” proved to be an international hit. Although the first three seasons were undoubtedly among the best of the entire series, the series, especially in the United States, enjoyed audience interest until the last episode. The popularity of the production and the multi-million audience also meant that every actor from the main cast before the start of filming for the final, sixth series received a bonus of $2 million.
Justin Hartley played the role of Kevin Pearson in the series “This Is Us” – an actor whose life seems perfect. However, as events unfold and we get to know the whole family, we discover that Kevin has quite complicated relationships with his mother and brother; he cannot commit to any woman permanently, and all he wants is the acceptance of his family.
After the end of “This Is Us” and the guest appearances, Hartley found another series that turned out to be a success. “Tracker”, based on the novel “The Never Game” by Jeffrey Deaver, presents the story of a survival master who helps the justice system and ordinary citizens find missing loved ones in exchange for a reward.
Colter Shaw, our main character, is a man with unresolved secrets from the past. The mysterious death of his father, his mother's strange behavior, secrets and a difficult relationship with his brother and sister are just some of the things he will have to face in the first season. And if this background seems interesting, then, as is the case with procedural/crime series, the episode scripts are different. Sometimes we come to an interesting episode, which somehow illustrates Colter's experiences and family situation, sometimes there is a remake of old episodes of “NCIS” or “CSI: Crime Scene”, only in a new setting.
However, it can be said that the series has potential. According to the rule “a good procedural is not bad” the writers would have to focus more on weekly crime cases and deepen the supporting characters – those supporting Colter, Teddi (Robin Weigert) and Velma (Abby McEnany), and involve people from the hero's past in more episodes.
In particular, his sister Dory (Melissa Roxburgh), brother Russell (Jensen Ackles) and Lizzie, an old friend, played by Jennifer Morrison. With a bit of change it can only get better, and without hiding anything, I simply miss a pleasant series like “Castle” or “Bones”.
The series has already been renewed for a second season, which gives the writers a little more time to prepare an interesting story. Why more? Due to the prolonged writers' strike, the work was extended and the premiere of the first episode was already planned – It was supposed to be broadcast right after the Superbowl.
The creators managed to make it on time, and the first episode was watched in total within a week (including replays and streaming). almost 30 million viewers. Subsequent episodes attracted slightly fewer viewers, but viewership (including the TV premiere and other sources) remained at the level of 6 (or more) million. Therefore, “Tracker” was the most watched TV series of the 2023/2024 season. Let's hope the second season will be better. What can I say, I'm a big fan of Justin.
See also: She joined the global Netflix hit. Fans loved her from the first scene