'Sheriff Country' star Matt Lauria: Boone knows Alec is a bad dude
NEW YORK, May 22 (UPI) --Friday Night Lights, Parenthood and Dickinson alum Matt Lauria says there are many reasons his Sheriff Country character, Deputy Nathan Boone, doesn't like DEA Agent (Wes Chatham) and, he warns viewers, their relationship will deteriorate further before Season 1 of the CBS drama wraps up Friday.
"Boone knows this is a bad dude. It's multifaceted and none of it's good and what Boone really thinks of Alec, I wouldn't say in an interview, because of the expletives and, by the way, Wes Chatham, who plays Alec, is a sweetheart of a gentleman," Lauria told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
"That's probably what made Alec such a fantastic villain -- the humanity that seeps through," he said. "He's not a two-dimensional bad guy. It makes it so much more complicated."
The show follows Boone and his boss Sheriff Mickey Fox (Morena Baccarin) as they investigate crimes, many of them drug-related, in their sleepy Northern California town of Edgewater.
The past few episodes have seen Mickey sleeping with Alec, who is working a large-scale case involving illegally grown and transported cannabis in Mickey's jurisdiction.
The romance disturbs Boone professionally and personally. He resents the federal agent coming in and telling the local authorities what to do, but also sees Alec as a romantic rival for the affections of Mickey, who recently told Boone she couldn't get involved with him because she is his boss.
The season's penultimate episode showed Alec trying to cover up the fact he isn't what he seems to be by executing Rick (Matthew Finlan), who tried to kill Mickey's daughter Skye (Amanda Arcuri).
Boone doesn't know this yet, but when he tries to express his misgivings about Alec, Mickey dismisses him as being jealous of Alec.
"I've been trying to tell her. I'm over here banging this drum," Lauria said.
"Boone regards Mickey as imperfect, of course. He knows her blind spots. He calls her out on it. She calls him out on his, but, despite all that, Boone holds Mickey in inestimable esteem and, so, then it would be extremely hard for anybody to meet the standard of which Boone believes Mickey is worthy," he added.
"So, that's the first layer. The second layer is, I just don't think he's a good dude. You can just tell and, then, the hard part of it is, too, when Boone sees Mickey falling all over herself, falling in love, or falling for this dude, right, it's hard for Boone who's developed all these feelings to sit there going, 'Well, what am I not bringing to the table?'"
Boone also takes law-enforcement seriously, while Alec flouts the rules.
"It is the most important thing in the world to Boone and he does not like the way this guy does it. The unforgivable crime is to abuse power or not do the job the right way. That's the unforgivable sin," Lauria said.
"The last two or three episodes, Boone is constantly having to swallow mouthfuls of crow in front of this other guy, so he'll be like, 'I've got an idea,' and Mickey's like, 'No, you're wrong, bad idea.' Right in front of the other guy. 'I like his idea.' It adds to the burn."
Lauria said he is grateful to play a role that depicts how police often sacrifice their own safety and happiness to protect and serve the public.
"That's the thing about Boone I find incredibly heroic and inspiring and, basically, all of the law-enforcement on the show," he added.
"I would never assume to be able to speak on behalf of law enforcement., but what I would guess they might agree with is your individual health and your individual safety is not the priority. It's the priority of the people who are depending on you. It's just like military or anyone else in that sort of role."
He pointed to several episodes that showed the sheriff's department being attacked by a militia group earlier in the season as examples of how law-enforcement officers went to work in the morning with no idea of what awaited them and if they would be returning home when they're shift ends.
"There was a really pervasive feeling of 'last time-ness,'" Lauria said.
"You just never know when it's going to be the moment that you're going to look someone in the eye for the last time, or say 'goodbye' to your loved ones for the last time. That whole episode was about one another just looking at each other and saying, 'Hey, we just have to do the job that has to be done.'"
2026 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 12:24 PM.