The Hunting Party's Melissa Roxburgh Teases Bex's Connection to Odell & More
The actress unpacks some big moments for FBI Special Agent Rebecca “Bex” Henderson in the pilot.
This story contains spoilers for The Hunting Party Season 1, Episode 1, "Richard Harris."
In the premiere episode of NBC's new high-concept serial killer procedural The Hunting Party, Melissa Roxburgh (Manifest) returns to the network headlining the series as FBI Profiler Special Agent Rebecca "Bex" Henderson.
Recently disgraced from the agency, Henderson finds herself summoned back into the fold in the wake of a massive explosion at the secret, black-site prison known as The Pit. When many of the dangerous inmates escape in the wake of the blast, Henderson is assigned to work with CIA agent Ryan Hassani (Patrick Sanbongui), Army Intelligence officer Jennifer Morales (Sara Garcia), and Pit prison guard Shane Florence (Josh McKenzie) to get them back in custody.
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In the pilot episode, "Richard Harris," audiences get to see some of Henderson's origin story. Roxburgh walked NBC Insider through some key reveals in the episode, including her unexpected role as a mother, her career pitfalls, and the complex ties to her former partner, Oliver Odell (Nick Wechsler).
Bex's return to grace after a career misstep
In the episode's opening, Henderson is in Portsmouth, Virginia, working a security job that's way beneath her gifts.
"I think we've all kind of been in points in our career that we're like, 'All right, this here's just a stepping stone.' And that's where we find Rebecca, or Bex, at the Royal Hearts casino," Roxburgh said of her character's lot in life. "She's profiling drunk gamblers, so not the ideal profiling for her. She used to work with the Bureau, but had a fall from grace due to something her ex-partner, Oliver Odell, did and it's really shattered her."
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As for her past with the FBI, Roxburgh said Henderson has been through a lot even at her young age.
"She even got a daughter out of it, who was victim in [the case] and she adopted her. So, we find her at this in-between stage in her life," she explained. "When she's asked to come join this team again, she's excited and she's scared, but she's ready to go. She's definitely ready to get out of the casino."
Agent Henderson's strengths going into the fray
While there's still plenty to discover and know about Henderson's past as a person and FBI Agent, Roxburgh said one thing was certain from the start about her character: "She's really good at her job."
She continued, "She's incredibly smart. She's incredibly good at profiling people and reading people and understanding why people do what they do, despite her age. It's really cool playing a character so observant."
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FBI profiler and... a mom
She's also a mom to Samantha, her college-aged daughter, which adds another layer to how and why Henderson approaches her job as a profiler.
"She didn't raise Samantha but she kind of took her under her wing when she was 13," Roxburgh explained of the pair's relationship. "Even as an actress, I was like, 'How do I play that?' She doesn't have the nurturing thing down pat because it's not her kid. But she is still nurturing. But I think that's kind of how she approaches her work too, semi-treating these killers like the kids that they are. Trying to understand how they got there and why they got there, and what she can do or say to get into their psychology. I think her being a mother gives her this empathy and this patience to figure out why someone does what they do."
What's the deal with Oliver Odell?
In both the flashbacks to Henderson and Odell's past FBI partnership and in the present reunion scene at the end of the pilot, something is obviously crackling between these two characters.
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Of the surprise reveal that Odell was the Warden of the Pit, Roxburgh said, "I mean, she's gotta confront old wounds, for sure. I think it just makes the dynamic so much more interesting because, we too, as an audience, are getting to know Oliver Odell. We see what he did; he caused a lot of bad things. So we're trying to figure out, too: Is Odell good? Is he bad?
"Like any really well-written character, it's complicated," she continued. "And so, [it is] for Rebecca, too. What I really love about their dynamic is...you have two highly intelligent FBI officers who really want to do a good job, but also just happen to have a past."
An encore episode of The Hunting Party will air in its original premiere timeslot (Monday, February 3 at 10 p.m.) with new episodes continuing on Monday, February 10.
