‘Good Cop/Bad Cop’: Leighton Meester Previews ‘Gilmore Girls Meets Twin Peaks’ Mystery Series

Leighton Meester, whose varied projects have included the iconic teen drama Gossip Girl and the sweet sitcom Single Parents, is now happily promoting her new cop clan dramedy Good Cop/Bad Cop, premiering on The CW on February 19 at 9/8c).

Meester plays skilled veteran Det. Louise “Lou” Hickman, who works for her father, small town police chief Big Hank (Clancy Brown, The Shawshank Redemption, Dexter: New Blood), along with her polar opposite brother Henry (Australian actor Luke Cook, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), newly returned home from seven years in the Seattle P.D. and promoted to detective by their dad.

TV Insider talked to the actress a short time before she and her husband Adam Brody lost their home in the disastrous Pacific Palisades fire.

So you have not one, but two new roles in the near future, the other being joining the second season of the Apple TV+ Gilded Age costume drama, The Buccaneers, about wealthy young American women trying to snag British aristocrats for husbands.  Can you say a few words about that role?

Leighton Meester: The truth is, being a fan of the first season, I was so happy to come on to play any role! That being said, this is the best possible role that I could have ever asked for, and it’s going to be a secret until it comes out. Trust me, it’s worth the wait.

With two promising shows upcoming, and of course, your husband’s huge Netflix romcom hit Nobody Wants This, where he plays a hot rabbi who falls for Kristen Bell‘s non-Jewish sex-centric podcaster, you are both really busy. Congratulations.

Yeah. [Laughs] Thank you.

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Let’s get to Good Cop/Bad Cop. How would you describe it?

I would say it’s Gilmore Girls meets Twin Peaks, a quippy, talky, heartwarming mashup of two genres. Centered on the family, it’s got that small town, Northwest murder mystery feel, set in a sheriff’s department. It’s a world that I want to live in with quirky, offbeat characters and story.

Is it true that that idea for this show has been in the head of showrunner John Quaintance (Will & Grace) since 2009, when it originally was planned as one of the USA Network’s cozy — “blue sky” — dramedies? That germination has taken a very long time.

From what I know, this was something that he had in the back of his mind the whole time, and he had different iterations of it through the years. I couldn’t be more excited or grateful to be part of this.

The Hickman family is a somewhat dysfunctional clan of cops in the Pacific Northwest town of Eden Vale. So who is the good cop and who is the bad cop of the title?

Without digging too deep, on its face, Lou is probably the good cop and Henry is probably the bad cop — but that will shift, and what good and bad means is open for interpretation. What’s so enjoyable about Lou is that yes, she’s tough and very invested in her job, but she is woven into her small town and leads with humor and kindness. She’s a little bit too nice for her own good sometimes, so I really relate to that.

In comparison, talk about Lou’s brother Henry, whom Big Hank likes to call Junior, which Henry hates.

Henry is quirky, even peculiar. He’s good at his job, but sometimes too by-the-book for Lou’s taste.   She leans toward the greater good and for better or worse is very interwoven with her father and that dynamic. Lou is, in many ways, the son that Big Hank never had in Henry. Our relationship is definitely a very close, tight knit one. Henry yearns for that approval from his father, but he pushes Hank away more than Lou does.

Back in Seattle, his boss said basically, “You have the worst people skills I’ve ever seen in anyone, other than a serial killer.” Is he more than quirky, perhaps on the autism spectrum?

Luke and John Quaintance could speak better to that. But it’s coded and I think that’s a fair interpretation.

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Watching the first several episodes seem to indicate that Big Hank is a good guy, unless it comes to fudging crime stats in his county. He wants ‘em low. Why is that important?

He wants to allow the fantasy that his people live in a perfect little town and he’s like the father there who takes care of everyone and people don’t have to be scared. On the one hand, Lou agrees that that’s a really nice way to live, but when there is crime then you’re faced with, do you tell the truth or do you keep it hidden? For the most part, Hank has been absolutely up for keeping it hidden, but sometimes things just can’t stay under wraps.

Especially I assume when there are murders, which there most definitely are.

It is a crime drama, of course, along with the romantic and relationship drama. Each week, there’s a new crime along with one season-long crime mystery involving old newly discovered bones in town.

You mentioned romantic drama. Any loving for Lou this season?

Well, she can’t quite get romance right. [Laughs] Living in a small town and being “married” to your job is definitely a big part of that. Also, she doesn’t let herself go there because she’s been hurt in the past, and she hasn’t healed from her mom leaving the family when she was a kid. But I do feel that along with the comedy, mystery, fun family dynamics, and playing a detective, it was challenging and exciting to take on her finding her heart.

Lou is trying to avoid love. Can Henry cope with a romantic relationship? That certainly means interacting with someone.

 Yeah, I think with the right person. He is direct and doesn’t play games, but I think he can find someone even though he obviously suffers from roadblocks to romance.

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Though Eden Vale, as we’ve mentioned, is supposedly in Washington State, you’re filming in Australia! How does that pass nature-wise?

We’re staying on the [sunny] Gold Coast [close to the Pacific], but when you drive into the mountains where the set is, it becomes surprisingly foggy, wet, and like the U.S.’s Northwest. It’s so beautiful there. It’s crazy to be on an Australian beach and it’s hot and then you go basically 45 minutes to an hour up into the mountains, and you are in a completely different ecosystem.

You and Clancy Brown are the only Americans on the show, though Luke has done American TV before. Are you ever tempted to correct the accents of your Aussie castmates?

They are all so good! Everyone grew up watching American TV, so they’ve all got an amazing American accent. Luke is flawless! I found it tempting to do an Australian accent but shied away because I know it wasn’t spot on.

What’s the vibe on the Aussie set?

Just fun and relaxed, which is, actually, one of the best aspects of shooting a comedy. And being here doing this show was one of the best, if not the best, set I’ve ever worked on.

Good Cop/Bad Cop, Series Premiere, Wednesday, February 19, 9/8c, The CW