[Editor’s note: The following contains some spoilers for The Irrational.]

The Big Picture

Jesse L. Martin is grateful for his long-running career and the opportunity to play interesting roles like Alec Mercer in ‘The Irrational.’ Martin enjoys exploring cases from an intellectual perspective and hopes to delve even more into the psyche of his character. ‘The Irrational’ showcases the messy relationships in Alec’s personal life, including his dynamic with his sister, which Martin adores playing.

With a handful of episodes left in its first season, the NBC series The Irrational is forcing world-renowned professor of behavioral science Alec Mercer (Jesse L. Martin) to confront his own trauma by helping a young woman who’s become a burn victim as a result of arson. At the same time, his ex-wife Marisa (Maahra Hill), who also happens to be an FBI agent, seems to be getting closer to uncovering answers about the church bombing that left Alec scarred.

Already picked up for a second season, Martin promises that fans of the series will get answers. During this interview with Collider, he talked about what makes Alec Mercer his most interesting role so far, how much he loves getting to explore things from such an intellectual side, the fun of messy character dynamics, how his professional gift bleeds into his personal life, the realistic look of Alec’s scars, what he’d like to dig deeper into in Season 2, and why he doesn’t want to know too many details about what’s to come.

The Irrational Alec Mercer is a world-renowned behavioral scientist who lends his expertise to an array of high-stakes cases involving governments, law enforcement and corporations with his unique and unexpected approach to understanding human behavior. Release Date January 29, 2024 Creator Arika Lisanne Mittman Cast Jesse L. Martin , Maahra Hill , Travina Springer , Molly Kunz Main Genre Drama Seasons 2

Jesse L. Martin Thinks His ‘The Irrational’ Character is His Most Interesting So Far
Image via NBC

Collider: First of all, congratulations on the Season 2 pickup. When you’ve been in the business as long as you have now and you’ve spent time on various TV series for varying lengths of time, does it feel even more special and reassuring to get an early pickup for another season at a time when it is so difficult to break through everything out there?

JESSE L. MARTIN: Absolutely. I am entirely grateful for my career trajectory. I have been really fortunate that I’ve been on some long-running gigs. Most actors always feel like this might be the last [job], so I just feel entirely grateful that it keeps going, and I keep getting these really, really interesting roles, this one being the most interesting so far.

Related Jesse L. Martin Teaches a Sneaky Party Trick in ‘The Irrational’ Sneak Peek [Exclusive] The NBC procedural series premieres September 25.

I’ve been a big fan of yours since you were on stage in Rent, so I always check out any project that you’re doing. With this series, you really have an interesting group of characters, both in his personal life and his professional life, and you get to explore interesting cases. What have you most enjoyed about Alec Mercer from day one? Are there aspects of this character that you haven’t really gotten to explore before, that you’re particularly enjoying?

MARTIN: For the better part of my career, I have played a detective, which has been pretty straightforward when it comes to the facts. You just stick to the facts and you’re a straightforward detective. And in this case, I get to explore cases in the same way, but from an entirely intellectual space, which I’ve never been able to do and that makes me really excited. The source material comes from someone who does this in real life, Dan Ariely, and it’s entirely satisfying to get into things from such an intellectual side. I absolutely love it. I’m hoping that we get even more into the psyche of things. So far, we have. We’ve done a lot of it. I’m living for doing even more introspective, brainiac things where not only am I learning things, but the audience gets to learn things.

Even if it’s not to the same level as your character, are you someone who feels like you’re good with reading human nature and human behavior? Is that something that you just sort of feel comes naturally?

MARTIN: I think part of the job of an actor is to observe behavior so that you can do that behavior, whether it be on stage or on film. But this is a lot more intense when it comes to how you take in people’s behavior. In the stories we tell, it’s life or death. For an actor, it’s just learning about life through behavior. In this case, it’s watching behavior because it could be life-threatening. It’s so fantastic to get to do. I feel very grateful that I get to do this right now.

Jesse L. Martin Says His ‘The Irrational’ Character Can’t Help But Take His Work Home
Image via NBC

Obviously, it works to his advantage with cases, but at the same time, it seems like one of those things that would be hard to turn off and would be annoying to everybody in his life. Will we continue to see how what’s great for his professional life might not always be so helpful in his personal life?

MARTIN: A big part of our story is the fact that his marriage dissolved because of this gift he has and this work he does. It’s one of those funny things where in the story where it has been discussed that the thing that his wife, Marisa, loved about him was the work that he does, and the thing that ended their marriage was the work that he does. The thing that’s so effective is the thing that literally ended things. In Alec’s personal life, he can’t stop doing it. That’s what he lives for, and personally, it causes a lot of problems for him.

I love how much we get to see of that. This series really lets us have that insight into that relationship because they’re still working together, so we see them trying to figure that out. What do you enjoy about exploring that dynamic and really getting to see them still very much care about each other? Is he happy to just keep working with her?

MARTIN: Yes, absolutely. Alec didn’t end the relationship, she did. Alec always feels like something is left unexplored there. I love the idea that they don’t get back together, but they consistently work together. It has everything to do with the work. He cannot stop doing what he does. He has to put that out there in the world. Even though he’s not with his wife anymore, the idea of her being excellent at her job working with the FBI, he still needs her. In the same light, he needs his students, brilliantly played by Molly Kunz and Arash DeMaxi. He needs his sister, who’s [good with] computers and all those technical things. He needs all these people to do the job that he does and he has to work things out personally. That’s a part of the story that I love to tell. I think that’s what will keep the story going, the messy relationships.

My favorite relationship on the show is the one between Alec and his sister. What do you most enjoy about that dynamic? What stands out to you with that relationship?

MARTIN: It’s fantastic because you have Travina [Springer], who is a fantastic actor and a fantastic person. We have a whole lot of fun together. It’s rare when you get to work with somebody where it’s not just on the page, but it’s so alive in the room. We get together, and we can’t stop laughing with each other. We can’t stop riffing off of each other and it shows in the stories. I’m hoping that our writers see that relationship as so much gold that they can mine forever, because we just keep coming up with stuff, all day long, every day. I absolutely adore working with her.

Because some of these cases can be difficult, the warmth in their relationship is a really important aspect of the show.

MARTIN: He’s moved out of his house with his ex-wife and in with his sister. I told the writers a long time ago, “I know that he’s a grown man and he should have his own place to live. But story wise, I would love to say, all day long, that I’m gonna move, but never actually move.” He just wants to stay in that apartment with his sister.

Jesse L. Martin Loves Going Into the Emotional Spaces of ‘The Irrational’
Image via NBC

The first episode of 2024, “Scorched Earth” (episode 8), really makes Alec reflect on his own life and how far he’s come. What was it like to really get to dig into that with this episode and to explore that with someone who is at a very different stage, but going through something similar?

MARTIN: This is a brand-new world for me. I have certainly been in acting spaces where it’s all about the mystery and what we’re solving today. But in this case, I get to go into emotional spaces that are personal to me and to the character, every day. It’s an adventure. Before now, it has been just the facts, so my emotional moments were capped, if you will. In this case, not at all. I have to figure out, every day, how far I go emotionally. With this episode, I get a little bit more emotional, every moment, and I like it. I really do like it a lot.

I’m particularly impressed with how realistic the scars look. Along with the scars on his face, we see the scars on his back in this episode. Because the face scar is so integral, how long did it take to get that right? Did it take time to figure out what it should look like?

MARTIN: We have a fantastic makeup team, headed by Candice Stafford. When we first started, it was very, very permanent on the side of my face. Eventually it calmed itself down, and it’s one of those things where I literally don’t think about it anymore. Once it’s on, I don’t think about it at all. I forget that it’s there. There have been times when I’ve left work and come home in my personal life where I still had it on, and then went to the grocery store. The people who are used to see me at the grocery store were like, “What’s going on with your face there?” Dan Ariely, who this is based on, has a similar scar situation, and in his case, he rocks half a beard because one side doesn’t grow with the scar there and the other side does. I would love to be able to do that, at some point in the show. I love that you brought up the scar because it’s such a big part of what we’re doing, every single day. I sit in the chair for almost two hours to get it put on, but after those two hours, I don’t feel it. I don’t think about it at all.

Would you say that he’s more affected by his trauma than even he realizes, or do you think he has a very good sense of how this affects him?

MARTIN: I think he has a very good sense about it. What happened was so long ago that, yes, he wants to solve that situation, and that’s a big part of the story, but I don’t think he’s that traumatized. The people around him, like his ex-wife, wonder, “Hey, are you okay? Are you traumatized? Are you triggered by investigating this all over again?” His sister says the same thing. “Are you triggered by investigating this all over again?” He’s not. Maybe Alec is hiding a little bit in all of that. I’m not really sure. We’ve got some time to figure it out. Maybe he is traumatized. I don’t know yet. I do know that the work he needs to do to solve these big issues takes over. However he feels about it, it doesn’t matter to him. It may matter to everyone around him, but it doesn’t matter to him. He just needs to work. He needs to do the things he needs to do. What happened to him 20 years ago led him to the work that he does today, so it’s almost a gift.

Jesse L. Martin Says the Mystery of What Happened to Alec Will Be Solved This Season
Image via NBC

There are still three more episodes this season, after this one. Will we have answers about all of this by the end of the season? Do you know how that will affect things going into Season 2?

MARTIN: Yes, you will have a lot of answers. I’m not sure how it’s gonna play out in Season 2. The nature of television is such that I don’t know what’s coming next. What I do know is that getting these answers that he’s been longing for, the story of Alec will come to an end when it comes to what happened to him, but it’s led him to the work that he’s doing now. Moving forward, it won’t be so much about him. It’ll be more about how he can use this gift and these talents to help others. The big mystery of him happens in this season, and I’m hoping that the rest of how we live in the show deals with other people’s issues.

How does it work? Do they just give you a script for Season 2, and that’s how you find out what’s going to happen? How much do they tell you?

MARTIN: I told them a long time ago, there are not too many things I wanna know. I’ll learn when the page is handed to me. I’m sure we’ll have a sit down and have a postmortem about what happened this last season and what could happen this coming season. I’m hoping that the big conversation I get to have with our writers, particularly Arika Mittman, who’s our head writer, is about how his personal relationships play out, with his ex-wife, his sister, and his new girlfriend, played wonderfully by Karen David. How will his personal life blossom, doing the work that he does? I don’t wanna know too much.

The Irrational airs on Monday nights on NBC and is available to stream at Peacock. Check out the trailer:

Watch on Peacock