The Insider.com

It's been a decade since Scott Speedman starred on the small screen, but tonight, at 8 p.m., the former Felicity star returns to television in one of the year's best new dramas, Last Resort!

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Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield, is once again living in the grey with Last Resort, which focuses on a submarine filled with U.S. servicemen who disobey a dodgy direct order from the government to bomb a foreign nation and end up becoming the targets. Led by XO Sam Kendal (Speedman) and Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher), the crew of The Colorado ends up docking on a nearby island and declaring themselves a sovereign nation.

I caught up with Speedman to talk about his TV return, why Last Resort was his first choice and why life in a submarine is his own version of hell!

TheInsider.com: Were you actively looking to do television again?
Scott Speedman: I was looking to come out in something people would actually see [laughs]. Movies are in a weird place right now – I've been doing indies for a while, but outside of you and some writers, nobody sees that sh*t. I was looking to announce my presence again. I didn't think it would be a ginormous big show like this, but I knew it would either be a small show, which I was gravitating towards, or something with big, global implications.

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Insider.com: What appealed to you about Last Resort?
Scott: I thought it was a really intriguing concept, but had no idea how it could be turned into a TV show -- and that interested me. It wasn't like a normal show, where you know where it can go. Shawn Ryan really knows how to write male characters and I think my guy can head in some bad-ass directions.

Insider.com: Plus, it's so character-driven, it's like an indie movie in a lot of ways.
Scott: It's got to be and that's why I went with Shawn Ryan – that's what he does well. If the show is just blind action, our audience will leave. In droves. Things can blow up once in a while, but the action needs to be based in reality, that's what makes it thrilling. I hope people think our show is thrilling. I hope it rattles their nerves and they want to spend time with me every week in their living room. I want them to invest in these characters.

Insider.com: In the pilot alone, he's pulled in a hundred different directions as his loyalty to his crew, his country and his family are tested. What excites you about that struggle?
Scott: It sets up an interesting dynamic because he's loyal ... but only to a point. As you see in the pilot, he loves The Navy, but when he gets a bad order, he won't follow it blindly. He's smart and you'll come to find out that he's got some secrets of his own.

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Insider.com: For me, the claustrophobia of a submarine would get to me in an hour. Could you handle that kind of life?
Scott: I would be OK with that. What I couldn't handle is the regimented nature of military life. That would bum me out. I don't like being told what to do.

Insider.com: The show films in Hawaii -- have you been enjoying it there?
Scott: You're not allowed to say otherwise, or you're an asshole [laughs]. I was unsure at first -- it's tough to uproot your whole life, but it's growing on me a lot. I'm starting to see how it's more than just a beautiful place.

Last Resort premieres tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC.