Had he not been cast in “Mayor of Kingstown,” Taylor Handley believes he may have left show business.
“There had been so many ups and downs, I was questioning if I wanted to continue,” he says. “I was at a level with my art where I felt like I either needed to work or I would have to do something else. I kind of made up my mind, ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ was going to be my last audition.”
Handley, who started acting at age 13 (starring in “Jack Frost” with Michael Keaton), says he saw the pandemic as wake-up call. “This was the ‘make it or break it’ for me,” he says of “Mayor,” which begins Nov. 14 on Paramount+. “And I got a sign.”
Cast as Jeremy Renner’s brother, Handley calls the role one of the best of his career. The series, from “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, shows a family dealing with life in a prison town.
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Renner and Handley are in law enforcement, but, Renner says, “the environment is bleak. How each character chooses to deal with that — the limitations of our environment — is very specific.”
While Renner’s character wants to fix the town, Handley’s isn’t so sure he wants to stay.
“There was a dynamic I saw in the script between my character and myself personally,” says Handley, who thought he could bring truth and authenticity to the role.
Tradition, gangs and a strong mother — played by Dianne Wiest — swirl together to show the push and pull that exist when the “family business” breeds tragedy.
Because the actors needed to quarantine two weeks before production started, “we just got shotgun-blasted together,” Handley says. “The first scene I did with Dianne, I was ready for her to be my mom, and she was ready for me to be her son.”
All of the actors, he adds, had done their homework.
“Fortunately, I did get all 10 episodes, so I was able to beat out an entire arc,” Handley says, “which is not something I’ve ever gotten to do before all those other series.”
His work in “Vegas,” “The O.C.” and more than a dozen other series “was episode by episode,” he says. “You don’t know where you’re going.”
Like his Kyle McClusky, Handley is the youngest of three brothers.
“There are certain family tragedies that I’ve gone through that Kyle has to go through,” he says. “There was already a lot of me in Kyle, which made it an easy shoe to put on. The things I didn’t understand about him were pretty self-explanatory, through the dialogue and action that Taylor had put together. Crafting from that was just a pleasure.”
Acting was something the 37-year-old Handley wanted to do when he was just 6.
“It wasn’t until I was 13 that I got my first movie … and it was my third audition,” he says. “And then I booked my fifth audition after that. It seemed like I had a future in it and then, of course, you go through so many things.”
When most filmmaking shut down due to the pandemic, he says, he was filled with fear. “But I had faith something was going to happen. Thankfully, I didn’t have to switch (careers) because it would have been a shame.”
Handley says dropping out would have left him with unfinished business.
“It’s like a singer who spent his entire life perfecting his craft and never being able to sing,” he says. “It was a really sad time, but, at the same time, I couldn’t keep going through the rigmarole of putting it all out on the line because I’m not the type of artist to just kind of half-do things. When you’re putting it out there, putting your heart and soul in every audition and hearing no response is really disconcerting.”
Luckily, Handley gets to move forward with “Mayor of Kingstown.”
“To really dive in at the level that Taylor’s projects need was such an honor,” he says. “I finally got to use my skill set — what I’ve been prepping for all these years.
“As an artist, you show up and do your take and that’s it. You don’t have any control over what comes in the edit or anything. So to be able to bring your A-game, which I feel I did, and put it in the hands of someone like Taylor is very exciting for me.”
What “Mayor of Kingstown” • When Tuesdays, starting Nov. 14 • Where Paramount+ • More info paramountplus.com
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