Sam

[This story contains major spoilers from Task’s series finale.]

Even Sam Keeley is surprised that his Task character lasted as long as he did.

The Irish actor’s villainous role of Jayson Wilkes — the President of the Dark Hearts’ Delaware County motorcycle club chapter — has felt the walls closing in on him all season. Robbie Prendergast (Tom Pelphrey) and Cliff Broward (Raúl Castillo) have recently been undermining his outfit’s fentanyl trade at every turn. Consequently, Perry Durazo (Jamie McShane), the father figure who took Jayson in as a troubled teenager and championed his rise to power, is being pressured by the Dark Hearts’ governing body, the Mother Club, to eliminate Jayson. 

Perry then scrambles to protect his surrogate son, but in doing so, he discovers that Jayson killed Robbie’s brother, Billy, over his affair with Eryn (Margarita Levieva), Jayson’s romantic partner and mother of his two children. Perry subsequently confirms that Eryn has been aiding Robbie and Cliff’s revenge plot to destabilize Jayson’s reign in the Dark Hearts. Along the way, Jayson sets a trap to catch and ultimately kill Cliff, adding further fuel to Robbie’s quest for vengeance.

The concluding episodes of creator Brad Ingelsby’s follow-up to his HBO smash hit, Mare of Easttown, essentially became a duel between Jayson and Robbie over the remaining stolen fentanyl and any ill-gotten gains it yields. Robbie wants to sell the product to provide a better future for his two motherless children, while Jayson wants it for himself so he can buy back good standing with the Mother Club and hopefully stay alive to raise his own two motherless children.

The Salli Richardson Whitfield-directed sixth episode is when the blood feud came to a head, and despite everyone that Jayson had already taken from Robbie, he still emerged victorious in a fatal showdown.

“I had no idea that was coming, and I had no idea [Jayson] would be responsible for even more pain in Robbie’s life and death. So it was a surprise to me as well,” Keeley tells The Hollywood Reporter. 

Jayson may have twisted a knife into Robbie’s gut, but Robbie still managed to gain the upper hand by having Jayson and co. chase after a duffel bag of newspapers, not fentanyl. Prior to his death, Robbie sold the Dark Hearts’ fentanyl for a handsome sum that his niece, Maeve (Emilia Jones), could use to raise his kids far away from Delaware County. In the Jeremiah Zagar-helmed finale, Jayson still made a last-ditch effort to recover the funds at Maeve’s home, but Grasso (Fabien Frankel), the dirty FBI task force member who’d been Jayson’s informant all along, finally put him down. 

“At that point, you’re seeing a very desperate man. Retrieving that money was a way to provide for his family and avenge his own honor and stay good with the club,” Keeley says. “Robbie won the war, and he checkmated everybody.”

Before his own demise, Jayson also ended the life of his surrogate father, Perry. He received a phone call that Eryn’s dead body was found in Bangor Quarry with Perry’s signature chain wrapped around her hand. In episode five, Perry confronted Eryn over the chaos she’s created for the Dark Hearts, and when she took off running and screamed for help, he strangled her into silence. 

So the question that remains is whether Jayson would’ve also condemned Eryn to death for her second betrayal that effectively made him a marked man in the eyes of the Mother Club. 

“To be honest, I hadn’t gone there in my head, in terms of what would’ve happened if Jayson had to deal with Eryn himself. He’d probably do it, wouldn’t he?” Keeley asks. “[Perry] took away Jayson’s choice for either outcome, but he also took away an essential part of his family unit. So Perry fell into Jayson’s crosshairs in a way that Jayson justified to himself as, ‘You live by the sword, you die by the sword. You’ve taken this from me, and it’s a life for a life.’”

Below, during a recent spoiler conversation with THR, Keeley also discusses the resources he relied on in order to create the character of Jayson.

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The assumption throughout the season is that Robbie Prendergast (Tom Pelphrey) would avenge his brother Billy and eventually his best friend Cliff by killing Jayson. But he, too, lost his life to Jayson. Before you received the sixth script, did you also assume that Robbie would inevitably take Jayson’s life? 

I got three scripts to begin with during the whole auditioning process, and by the end of episode three, I was unsure as to what the future held in store for Jayson. But by the end of episode four, once we got into shooting it, I saw that horrific ending [with Cliff] up close in the warehouse. That’s when I thought, “There’s no way people can let this guy live. He seems to be the center of pain for everybody, certainly for Robbie, but also for Maeve.” 

He’s in this really weird spot. He is a family man who loves the people around him, but because he goes to great and very violent lengths to protect that circle, a lot of people suffer as a result. In terms of the big showdown in episode six, I had no idea that was coming, and I had no idea he would be responsible for even more pain in Robbie’s life and death. So it was a surprise to me as well.

It’s one of those scenarios where Jayson won the battle against Robbie, but Robbie won the war against Jayson. 

Absolutely. Robbie knew what he was doing when he went into the woods with the bag of what we thought was fentanyl. It turned out to be newspaper clippings of his dream scenario in Canada. I’d be curious to speak to Tom about it now, as well as Brian Davids Brad [Ingelsby] and directors Salli [Richardson-Whitfield] and Jeremiah [Zagar]. But I wonder if Robbie was resigned to losing life. I don’t think he necessarily anticipated that the FBI were going to be there, but he certainly anticipated that the Dark Hearts were going to be there. And it’s quite poetic and beautiful that he would give up his life for the greater good. So, in that sense, I totally agree with you. Robbie won the war, and he checkmated everybody.

In the finale, Jayson kills his Dark Hearts mentor and father figure, Perry (Jamie McShane). It was in response to Perry killing his girlfriend Eryn over her latest betrayal. Does this imply that Jayson would not have killed Eryn himself for her helping Robbie and Cliff? Or did he kill Perry for taking either choice away from him?

That’s a really good question. With regards to Eryn’s fate in Jayson’s hands, oof. He’s a dark character. He’s got this incredible ability to cause destruction through his rage. But to be honest, I hadn’t gone there in my head, in terms of what would’ve happened if Jayson had to deal with Eryn himself. He’d probably do it, wouldn’t he?

I didn’t want him to be a cookie-cutter evil guy. I wanted him to have a code of honor. And when that honor is besmirched or betrayed by even the people who are closest to him — like Eryn’s lover, Billy — it’s met with destruction and revenge of the most brutal kind. So, yeah, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that she could have lost her life either way. As to how that would’ve gone down, only Brad can enlighten us there. 

But in terms of killing Perry, that blade cut in a very specific way. As you so eloquently put it, he took away Jayson’s choice for either outcome, but he also took away an essential part of his family unit. She’s [basically] his bride. And in this tiered code of honor that he has, that goes beyond everything for him. So Perry fell into Jayson’s crosshairs in a way that Jayson justified to himself as, “You live by the sword, you die by the sword. You’ve taken this from me, and it’s a life for a life.” 

And as we saw at the end of episode four with Cliff, he doesn’t always think through his actions. A lot of the times his rage can take over, and we’ve seen that happen to him time and time again in the show.

Jayson still stayed with her after he killed her lover, Billy. So I did wonder if he gets some sort of twisted satisfaction by punishing everyone except her. But Eryn being the mother of his two kids is certainly justification for why he might continually spare her.

Yeah, absolutely. There’s a sense of denial coming from him as well. He’s willing to swallow a lot and let a lot of things slide in order to keep his family unit intact and protect the things that he loves. But to essentially hold this woman who you claim to love hostage — in her own home and against her will, and kill her lover — it doesn’t get much darker than that.

Even up till the end when Grasso (Fabien Frankel) shoots him, Jayson was still dead set on recovering the drug money. Did he figure it was his best and only chance to re-ingratiate himself to the Mother Club and potentially stay alive for his kids?

Yeah, at that point, you’re seeing a very desperate man. You’re seeing him at the end of his tether. There’s the financial benefit, but I think you’re right in the sense that this would be a way for him to stay within the Dark Hearts and keep his identity and to continue on with his vision and his goal. In my mind, his secret goal was always to move up the ranks and be part of the Mother Club eventually.

It’s also the principle. He’s a man of principles. He’s somebody who doesn’t like to be betrayed. And as we’ve seen and heard, when someone makes a public show of him in a very negative way, he doesn’t respond very well. His reputation and his identity are everything, and that is through the club. Without the club, he’s just a guy. He’d have to go get a regular job and partake in the world just like the rest of us. And I don’t know if he fits into that mold. 

A character like Jayson belongs in a different time. He doesn’t really fit in with the rules of modern society, and the club allows him a way to act on his basic needs and instincts. So retrieving that money was a way to stay in that and provide for his family and avenge his own honor and stay good with the club.

This industry is smaller than people think, and there’s often a belief that actors from the same small country all know each other. So did you and Alison Oliver ever cross paths before this in Ireland?

No, I met her on Task, but we have a lot of mutual friends in common. As you’ve just mentioned, the industries are small, but the Irish industry is particularly small. There’s not that many of us, and certainly, for those of us who are doing international work like most of us are now, we’ve met at some stage or another.

But myself and Alison had never actually crossed paths until we both got to Philadelphia, which was lovely. I was delighted when I saw her cast because she’s so unbelievably talented, and she’s so great in the show. So it was just nice having another Irish person around to vibe off of and enjoy the moment of being on this incredible job together.

Did you vent to each other about the transition from Irish to the Delco accent?

She loved it! She was amazing at it as well. She took to it like a duck to water. But I found it tricky; I’m not going to lie. It was a hard accent for me to nail, because I didn’t have any context for the accent. I had been working on it for three months prior with Susanne Sulby, our dialect coach, and she had helped Kate Winslet out on Mare of Easttown, Brad’s previous show. So I knew I was in good hands, and those three months were great. I also had incredible references and recordings of people from Philly.

But it didn’t fully click for me until I got my boots on the ground. I went out and talked to people. I hung out in bars and restaurants, and I would chat to people to get the cadence of the action and the rhythm of the city. So that’s when it finally made sense for me, and it worked out great. But leading up to that, I was like, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to do this.” (Laughs.)

Jayson is responsible for Lizzie’s (Oliver) death as well, but even if he slammed the brakes or swerved, there wasn’t enough reaction time to change her fate, was there?

No, absolutely not, especially in a vehicle of that size and at that speed. The timing of that is so brutal and so awful to watch. It’s just as she steps out, and she is in a total blind spot [on top of being temporarily deafened]. So even if Jayson had the best intentions in the world to not add more bodies to his count, I don’t think there was a whole lot he could have done in that situation.

I read a piece about director Jeremiah Zagar’s childhood friend, Carim Mow, who spent time in a biker gang and consulted on the show. Did you lean on that guy quite a bit?

Absolutely. In the buildup before we got to Philly, I had several conversations with Carim about the life. It was a combination of Carim and several books that I ended up reading. I read two books by Sonny Barger, who was a notorious president of The Hell’s Angels. I also read two books by Junior Ereckson, who was a notorious president of the Mongols. I then read Hunter S. Thompson’s book, Hell’s Angels. Then I read a book by George Christie as well, who was another notorious president of The Hell’s Angels. 

So being able to have that context through literature and also corroborate with Carim was just unbelievably helpful. He was able to zero in on what was real and also what was current, because a lot of those books I read were from a bygone era of this culture. So Carim was able to help me close the distance and zero in on something that felt authentic and genuine to the time. So he was invaluable, and he’s a great guy.

A lot of the Sons of Anarchy actors caught the motorcycle bug from being in a fictional club. Did it grab you as well? Or does the fact that you’re doing this interview from inside a car suggest otherwise? [Note: Keeley made time for this interview while on the set of another production overseas.]

(Laughs.) I’ve certainly been bitten by the bug. You sit on one of those Harleys, and there’s no feeling quite like it. So I have restrained myself over the past 12 months by not buying a bike, and I think my partner and everybody else in my life is probably very thankful for that. (Laughs.) But I don’t think that bug is going to go away in my future. I love bikes, and I can ride. So it is something that I definitely see in my future as a leisurely kind of thing to do, and this show has definitely nudged me in that direction.

Decades from now, when you’re reminiscing about the making of Task, what day will you likely recall first?

There are too many to count because this is the single greatest professional experience I’ve had. Everybody from the ground up who worked on this job strived to make the best show possible. And I think you can see that on the screen.

My very first day with Jamie McShane certainly sticks out. We shot a very small scene from episode five where Jayson picks Perry up outside Donna’s house after he’s just killed Eryn. He gets in the car, and Jayson is like, “The fuck happened to you?” And he tries to hide his wounds and all that. So I remember being like, “Okay, here we go. We’re motoring. This is real.” And it just clicked the second they called to action. We all knew who we were. [Writer’s Note: Keeley’s pleasant demeanor is polar opposite of his character, and it was honestly a bit chilling to see him slip into Jayson for a moment during this answer.]

But another day that really jumps out at me is actually a night at Lefty’s Bar, which is where the Dark Hearts hang out. Everybody was playing pool, and it felt quite jovial and fun. The set decoration was incredible, and we were all smoking fake cigarettes and drinking fake beer while music was playing. And when they called action on that, I felt like I was one of the characters in the books that I had read to study for the role. It felt real, and I remember getting goosebumps on every part of my body, thinking, “Oh my God, this is my job. I’m getting paid to be here.” I believed it, and I bought everything about it. So Task was just filled with jaw-dropping moments like that day after day.

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Task is now streaming in its entirety on HBO Max.