Christopher Gorham has spent his career moving seamlessly between drama, comedy, and suspense.
From Covert Affairs to Harper’s Island to Ugly Betty, he has built a résumé packed with memorable characters and emotionally charged storytelling.
Now, he’s juggling three very different projects — CBS’s Sheriff Country, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, and the international thriller Tempest.
We caught up with Christopher to talk about returning as Scott on Georgie & Mandy, exploring new sides of Edgewater on Sheriff Country, and why Harper’s Island was a streaming hit before streaming existed.
Check out our full interview below.
TV Fanatic: Let’s start with Georgie and Mandy. You’re returning as Scott soon. What can you tease about where he fits into Mandy and Georgie’s story this season?
Christopher Gorham: Well, in the first episode that I’m back, Mandy has been asking for more responsibility at work.
And so Scott invites her to cover the meteor showers, but it’s an overnight trip, and he is also going to be on that trip. So Georgie is not happy about this new promotion.
And so Georgie goes down to the news station to have a man-to-man talk with Scott, and we get to see those two together for the first time, which is fun.
I imagine that must have been a lot of fun to film, too.
It was great. You know, the writers over there at Georgie and Mandy are so good, and they strike such a wonderful balance between just laugh-out-loud comedy and real human moments.
It’s easy because the writing’s so good — it makes my job so much easier than it could be. And it’s also really fun to go and have a complete change of pace from the kinds of work we do on Sheriff Country.
It’s totally a different world. What drew you to Travis on Sheriff Country, and how would you say that he compares to your recent roles?
I love that, Travis, to me, he and Mickey were married for twenty years. We haven’t really been completely explained yet, but something happened or something changed that made Travis leave that marriage.
And he’s not at all certain that that was the right thing to do. He’s a very real and complicated person.
He’s accomplished professionally, but in a small town. He’s been in a small town his entire life and with the same woman until the past five years.
He’s raised a daughter, but now his daughter’s struggling. And he feels an intense pain of regret because he feels like his leaving may have been the cause of his daughter’s problems with addiction.
Sheriff Country is also spun off from Fire Country, which in itself is one of the biggest broadcast shows. Did you feel that higher expectations were going into it because it was a spinoff, or did you look at it as its own thing?
Of course. It’s both. It was very important that we hold on to that family, small-town feel of Fire Country, but also give the audience something new — another side of Edgewater that they haven’t seen before.
There is a lot of pressure, but if you do it right, you have a built-in audience that is excited for the show.
I think Sheriff Country has a familiar small-town, family feel that audiences who love Fire Country will appreciate, but we’re showing a different side of this town and these people that you don’t get on Fire Country, which is exciting in a new way.
I’ve watched the first two episodes. I’m really enjoying how it differs from Fire Country, but I’m also liking the connective tissue between them — it’s exciting to see it all playing out.
Yeah. I love that. And we have more of that to come.
And you’re also a part of Tempest, which is a really unique international project. What was that experience like working on a global production and playing a character like Ethan?
It was wonderful. I was able to fly over to Seoul, South Korea, and work with these incredible Korean filmmakers and two of the biggest stars in Korea, Jun Ji-hyun and Gang Dong-won.
They were incredibly welcoming and very collaborative on building who this guy was, and also with the English translation of how he speaks.
The filming process itself is pretty familiar, though there were some small differences, like having an editor on set cutting scenes as we were filming, and two directors — one specifically for the action scenes. Overall, the process of filmmaking is very familiar.
You’ve had such a fantastic career from Covert Affairs to Harper’s Island and beyond. What kind of roles challenge or excite you the most these days?
The most exciting roles are always the ones that just feel like real people. Ones where audiences will see themselves on screen or something that someone in their family has been through.
And sometimes, just something that makes people laugh, because we need laughter, particularly when things are so difficult.
Just being able to laugh or cry and have that bit of escape — that storytelling becomes very important. It’s a joy to be a part of that, and I’m grateful that folks are welcomed into their homes with Sheriff Country each week.
I have to say, one of my favorite roles of yours was Harper’s Island. That show felt so ahead of its time.
Yeah, I did too. Harper’s Island was a few years ahead of its time. If it aired now on Netflix, it would be really popular — it was a streaming show before streaming was a thing.
Could it come back? I don’t know. We’ve been trying to find a way to bring it back, but we haven’t cracked that yet. I would love to find a way that Henry Dunn had survived the end of season one.
I’m sure there’s a way to explain Henry’s miraculous return from the dead — stranger things have happened on TV!
Right.
When you look back at your early career versus now, how do you feel your approach to storytelling has changed?
Oh, that’s interesting. I’ve started directing on Covert Affairs, and then afterwards I did a feature. I think that has deepened my appreciation of how we tell these stories, on a technical level, and the extraordinarily talented and creative people involved in making every film and TV show.
There are hundreds of people involved, and it’s kind of a miracle that it all comes together, but the miraculous part really is the people.
And you’re juggling comedies, thrillers, and dramas all at once right now. What’s next for you, or is there any kind of project you would love to tackle that you haven’t yet?
I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, especially right now, because I really love what I’m doing. I’m so enjoying making Sheriff Country.
I’m really proud of the work we’re all doing and the stories we’re telling, and I absolutely love popping in on Georgie & Mandy and working with those extraordinarily talented people over there.
But I would love to do something on stage sometime soon — it’s been a long time since I’ve done any theater. Having the stability of a show like Sheriff Country, which I hope will be around for a long time, gives me the flexibility to do some work on the stage. So I would love to do that.
Yeah, it definitely seems like it has the legs to stick around. It has so many great storylines so far, after only two episodes. I’m really excited to see how it plays out.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are your thoughts on all the scoop Christopher spilled about Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage and Sheriff Country?
Do you agree that Harper’s Island was ahead of its time and deserves a comeback?
Hit the comments.
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage airs Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS. Meanwhile, Sheriff Country airs Fridays at 9/8c.
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