Fire Country has gone through some changes and onscreen shakeups — but what does that mean for a certain character’s potential return?
During an exclusive interview with Us, Michael Trucco, who has played Luke since season 1, confirmed that his character would be returning, saying, “He has in some capacity has been — for better and for worse — a bit of a s*** disturber at times. But I think by and large he’s always been a rock in the family and we see him come back in season 5.”
Trucco, 56, promised that Luke “definitely comes back and makes an impact on the family dynamic of the show.”
“That’s the beauty of a show like Fire Country is that the action is at the forefront and there’s always this great crisis of the week. But there’s this B-plot, this elemental story about the family,” he noted. “I think a lot of people tune in for that and there’s real heart in there. I’m really lucky to be a part of that Leone family and to be able to come in and make an impact is really exciting.”
He continued: “Stay tuned. Luke’s return is not trivial.”
In past seasons, Luke has found ways to stir up some drama when he made a move on his brother Vince’s (Billy Burke) wife, Sharon (Diane Farr). Vince has since died on the show but Trucco isn’t sure what that means for Luke and Sharon.
“That’s really tricky water to tread. It’s not without the realm of possibility. It’s not within improbability that this could happen,” he said. “From my perspective, I can say that Luke has always held a torch for Sharon for pretty much his entire adult life. In the story of Edgewater and Fire Country, Sharon and Vince got together very young and I was always kind of pining for my older brother’s girlfriend, whom he eventually married. But that’s really dangerous waters to tread because what are the optics of that? So I can’t say never say never.”
Trucco agreed with Us that there was plenty of material for a potential prequel. There is also the possibility that Luke could cross paths with Sharon’s sister, Mickey (Morena Baccarin).
“Since the first crossover, I was like, ‘Hey, hold on a second. Sharon was with my brother and then what if Luke ended up with Sharon’s sister?’ Edgewater is not a big,” he noted. “This is a small little one-horse town. It’s conceivable that they would cross paths. I think that’d be a really super fun story line.”
Looking ahead, Trucco is booked and busy with other projects such as Carrie, season 2 of Stick and an upcoming series Posers on Netflix. He still has a lot that he would like to explore on Fire Country though — especially after the show evolved behind the scenes.
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“Anytime you have a regime change like that, there’s a new energy and I think that was part of it. There was an assignment to figure out and define what the show is and at first maybe Luke didn’t really factor into it,” the actor recalled. “I’ll be honest, at one point I wasn’t sure if that was the end. Have we seen the end of Luke?”
He continued: “So when they had this change, I think they had to focus on their central core cast and figure out how to define what the show is moving forward. There is a palpable change in the energy but my experience has been a good one. There’s positivity on the set and I think that it’s going in the right direction.”
Trucco promised he was also willing to come back.
“Anytime they call or they want to include me, I’m on board. If I have the opening and my schedule allows, I’m always on board for Fire Country,” he added. “It’s a great place to be, great place to work, great place to have fun.”
Fire Country airs on CBS Fridays at 9 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Paramount+.
