Last month, I went down to Atlanta to spend a day at the Hawks headquarters, also known as, the Necessary Roughness set. Walking onto the set, it looks and feels like a real athletic training center, as long as you don’t look up at the missing ceilings and lighting.
A highlight of the day was getting the opportunity to speak with Mehcad Brooks (Terrance King). When Mehcad walked in to room, he walked around the table, shook hands with each writer, and introduced himself. He was quite the gentleman — a tall, muscular, handsome gentleman.
At the end of the first season, after winning the big game, TK was shot. When season two began, we saw TK dealing with the aftermath of the shooting. Dr. Dani diagnosed him with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). TK has dealt with his pain from acting out and bring a gun to the Hawks’ fan event, to isolating himself at home, and most recently by running back to his hometown where trouble is sure to loom. (Check out Christina’s reviews: “TK’s got a gun” and “Marshall Pittman stirs up trouble.”)
During the interview, Mehcad talked in depth about how he prepared for TK’s PTSD and his personal feelings about the topic.
Research about PSTD
Mehcad Brooks: Yes I did [research on PTSD]. I did a lot actually, I got a couple friends who’ve come back from Afghanistan and Iraq with some issues. And one guy was actually blown up by a grenade and we knew each other for 16 years, 17 years. And, one of my best friends, he’s like a brother to me and we work together. I got him a job on My Generation as our military coordinator. And, he’s just a great guy, just a fantastic guy. Thirteen surgeries later, make a long story short, he’s walking, he’s running, he’s back you know, as part of the population physically. I’ve seen it firsthand. And I’ve been able to talk to him about it and he’s been strong enough to open up to me about it.
Portraying PTSD accurately
Mehcad: I want to portray it as serious as possible. As accurately as possible because it’s [an] under discussed subject and it’s something that you know, two million Americans are going to have to deal with actively themselves not to mention the toll it’s going to take on families and friends and relationships and jobs and so on and so forth.
Hoping he can make a difference
Mehcad: I think no one really wants to see soldiers going through it because we have this sort of war fatigue and we have this insulation, we haven’t even paid for the war you know. Taxes, like we have, we’re completely insulated from it, and I think when it’s coming from an athlete or a football player, somebody that we see every day and that we allow into our home every day, it’s different, you know. I have athletes who come up to me and say hey, what you did was real, you know, it was realistic. And I hope that one of these days I’ll have a soldier come up to me and say, you know what, I went through that, my family went through that. And thank you for taking it seriously because it really affected us. So it’s not something that I make light of.
A serious side to playing TK and Mehcad’s personal connection
Mehcad: ….that’s one part of TK that I can’t laugh at. You know, and this one I’ve seen it first hand and I’ve been there for guys who have gone through it you know I went through it in some ways, in my life. You know, you don’t have to go to war to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I’ve lost a family member, I lost my brother when I was 19 and he was 17. And you react in the way that you do. And there’s no wrong answer for it, there’s no right answer for it, but, there’s ways of healing holistically that I think that we can as a nation, that we can embrace our sons and daughters that way, and, and have them know that they’re welcome to come back. That’s what they need, they just need love. And, understanding and patience. So I, I hope that we can touch on it a little bit.
TK deals with his PTSD
Mehcad: Well it’s real PTSD, you don’t know you have it. So you, you deny, you go through, you know withdrawal of what, what the situation was, you, you have nightmares about it, you start to beat yourself up, you become a hermit. There’s all types of different things that, that happen, this sort of several different stages. He goes through the same stages that most people would if they come to this near death experience and, and they come to terms with their own mortality.
The transition from playing the upbeat character from last season to a more serious arc this year
Mehcad: Challenging. But that’s what I got into this business for is to be challenged. I love this job because it’s varied in that way. You know [what] is great about TK, one minute you can have him in a scene where he’s on the verge of tears and like not knowing what’s going on in his life and really sort of losing grip of who he is. And then the next moment he’s having a Twitter war. Like he’s a 12 year old. …it’s a lot of fun. It is, it’s fun to be challenged.
To follow TK’s journey through PTSD, watch Necessary Roughness each Wednesday 10 pm ET/ 9 pm CT on the USA Network.
Clacked by Carla Day 
on Jun 15, 2012 @ 13:48 EST5EDT
