Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for The Bondsman season 1, episode 8, “Lilith”!
Jennifer Nettles is keeping her horror streak alive as she dives into the world of acting withThe Bondsman. The three-time Grammy-winning country music star made the leap into acting with 2015’s Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors, going on to star in its sequel as well as HBO’sThe Righteous GemstonesandCynthia Erivo’sHarriet. More recently, she made her horror genre debut with Blumhouse’sThe Exorcist: Believer, starring as one of the parents of the two possessed children at the heart of its story.
InThe Bondsmancast, Nettles stars as Maryanne Dice, the ex-wife of Kevin Bacon’s Hub Halloran and mother to their son, Cade. Much of the season sees Maryanne and Hub at odds over her working to bring Cade into the music industry, along with her dating local criminal Lucky, only to later learn of Hub’s undead nature and deal with the Devil. The show’s finale sees Maryanne possessed by Lilith, where she kills Lucky and holds all the men in the bar hostage, making a new deal with Hub to protect her from Hell in order to keep Maryanne’s soul safe.
In honor of the show’s premiere,ScreenRantinterviewed Jennifer Nettles to discussThe Bondsman. The star discussed continuing her tenure in the horror genre after starring inThe Exorcist: Believer, as well as how her experience in the music industry informed her performance as the musically-inclined Maryanne, and her transformation into the demonic Lilith for the show’s season finale.
Nettles Went All-Out To Capture Maryanne’s Transformation Into Lilith
“…That’s A Very Huge Evolution In Terms Of Maryanne’s Character…”
While offering plenty of bristly pushback against Hub, Maryanne was still a largely caring figure inThe Bondsman’s storylineleading up to her being possessed by Lilith in the shocking season finale. This includes a change in not just her personality, but also her singing, as she becomes “this music-obsessed demon”.
Nettles shared some insight for how she differentiated Maryanne and Lilith through their singing as much as their personality, with the former being"light" with “a lot of brightness in her voice”. As she transformed into Lilith, this required Nettles to toy with the “tone and tambour” of the centuries-old demon, which was also something she found in various conversations with showrunner Erik Oleson. This included pitching a song that Nettles wrote for the show, which she felt was “perfect” and not “too on the nose”:
The song, “Woe Death”, wasn’t too on the nose, but it definitely was haunting, and deals with death itself, which obviously, like this show, immensely deals with death. So it is, in and of itself, as a singer, in a bit of a different placement. I wanted to bring more of that otherworldly quality vocally, and also more of the gravitas of it. Lilith has been around for hundreds of 1000s of years. She’s not singing something bright and light and airy. So, I hope that that translates.
Nettles' Own Experience With The Music Industry Provided A Unique Insight Into Her Character
“…I Love Being A Musician.”
When she’s not helping Bacon’s Hub fight demons,The Bondsmansees Nettles' Maryanneshowcasing her musical talents, performing at the local country bar, as well as aiming to get into the music industry. This includes trying to help their son Cade get into the industry,seeing in him a talent that the world could enjoy and wanting to avoid him following in the same footsteps as Hub, who largely rejected it all.
Given Nettles herself has an acclaimed history in the world of music, there’s certainly a lot she could not only bring to the production side of things, but also to her own performance. In reflecting on this concept, the Grammy winner began by denotingthe difference between Maryanne and Hub being the former “still loves the music industry”, and therefore wants Cade to be a part of it. “Hub, on the other hand, is not interested in that,” Nettles explained, “because he has let his own ego and his own challenges come to inform decisions that I think, ultimately, he regrets.”
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In taking a look at herself, Nettles expresses that she’s the same as Maryanne in how she still loves both music and the music industry. Whileshe does acknowledge “there are parts of it that I do not like”, she ultimately loves it and feels that people have to in general, “or else you wouldn’t do it, because it is a hard life”.
Nettles Is Embracing Her New Status As A Horror Genre Vet
“I’m A Scream Queen, Man!”
Though having experience in the horror genre,The Bondsmanstill marked something of a tonal shift for Nettles, offering a more humorous side of thingscompared toThe Exorcist: Believer. The Grammy winner beamingly delighted ingetting to call herself “a Scream Queen” after her work on both projects, saying she feels “like I can claim this as my title now” and being “super pumped” about the genre.
In looking more directly at the tonal differences, Nettles acknowledged thatThe Exorcist: Believerwas “a very serious exploration of the concept of demons”, a far cry fromThe Bondsman. “Bondsmanis not a very serious exploration of the concept of demons,” Nettles explained. “It is fun, it is rollicking, it is,‘Yeehaw!’ It is like muscle-cars-down-a-dirt-road crazy. Tumultuous relationships and double-crossing and high stakes, and throw some demons in and some music, and voila, here we are.”
Nettles went on to express her belief thatthe show has struck a unique tonal chord that future projects are going to want to try and recreate. “I feel like there’s nothing out there right now that’s like it,” Nettles opined. “I feel like, tonally, it’s going to be one of those things that people are going to emulate, people are going to try to copy, like, ‘We want to do a show in the tone of Bondsman, because it’s really specific and really saturated.'”
More About The Bondsman
Kevin Bacon stars as Hub Halloran, a murdered bounty hunter who’s back from the dead after being resurrected by the Devil to trap and send back demons that have escaped from the prison of Hell. By chasing down those demons with the help and hindrance of his estranged family, Hub learns how his own sins got his soul condemned – which pushes him to seek a second chance at life, love, and country music.
The Bondsman
Cast
The Bondsman follows backwoods bounty hunter Hub Halloran, who returns from the afterlife for a second chance at life and love, while navigating his past as a musician. As he resumes his work, he discovers his former occupation now involves a supernatural element.
