Few people in Hollywood put on as many hats as Eriq La Salle. Actor, director, government producer, and writer, La Salle’s profession spans a long time of storytelling throughout mediums.
His newest undertaking, Prime Video’s On Name, exemplifies this multi-faceted expertise, placing him in entrance of and behind the digicam for a uncooked and fascinating police drama.
Though the solid is beneficiant, the storytelling method is lean, specializing in two collection regulars with different characters as supporting gamers of their orbit.
It’s a singular method and one which appeals to La Salle, who has been on each aspect of storytelling for the final three a long time.
La Salle’s journey into storytelling started early. “At 14,” he recollects,
“I believe it’s what each particular person experiences once you discover one thing that you just really feel good at, and you are feeling valued, and that issues are pure to you … I felt good about myself. It helped my shallowness, it helped my confidence, and it gave me goal and course. My grades drastically improved.”
A transformative expertise along with his highschool drama membership and the mentorship of Clay Stevenson, who inspired him to think about Juilliard, set the inspiration for a exceptional profession.
“I believe all of us need to do what we really feel valued at, and what we really feel we’re contributing one thing, and the place we really feel we’ve got a expertise. And never essentially that you just’re one of the best; you simply be ok with being good at it. And that’s why I knew at that early age that this was for me.”
He additionally credit performing with serving to him discover course throughout a difficult time in his life. “I used to be off to a foul begin in highschool,” he shares.
“I greater than possible would have been saved behind,” he mentioned of his life earlier than discovering drama membership. Stevenson’s mentorship helped him focus and take faculty severely, permitting La Salle to just accept he may really feel and pursue one thing particular.
After years of memorable performing roles, together with his iconic flip as Dr. Peter Benton on ER, La Salle shifted gears to directing. His directorial debut got here with HBO’s Rebound, a undertaking that includes a formidable solid that included Don Cheadle, James Earl Jones, and Forest Whitaker.
“Steven Spielberg and Mel Gibson, they advocated for me,” he shares. That chance launched his directing profession, and its success led to pivotal roles behind the digicam on collection like With out a Hint and Regulation & Order: SVU, ultimately culminating in an government producer function for Chicago PD.
Reflecting on his eclectic profession, La Salle notes, “On the finish of the day, you recognize, I used to be asking myself, how do I outline myself? And I believe that it truly is that I’m a storyteller, and I really like being a storyteller.
“As a result of earlier than I used to be like, effectively, you’re an actor, you’re a director, you’re an writer, you’re this, you’re that. All of them have one factor in widespread, I’m a storyteller.”
And so having the chance to inform tales is what I believe I used to be born for. That’s my biggest expertise. I’m not saying I’m the best in every self-discipline,” he mentioned.
“There are various extra actors, manner higher than me. Many extra administrators, manner higher than me. Many extra authors, manner higher than me. Many extra government producers, manner higher than me. However you’re just a little extra hard-pressed to search out somebody who does all of that manner higher.”
That’s the place he’s carved out a singular area. He’s not one in every of many, however one of many few to perform a lot and do all of it effectively.
Drawing inspiration from creatives like Jason Bateman, who juggled performing, directing, and producing on Ozark, La Salle noticed tackling On Name as a chance to push boundaries.
There simply aren’t many individuals performing, directing, and producing in the identical area. “There are even fewer African-People dwelling in all of these areas,” he says, making it an excellent smaller class. “These are the issues that encourage me,” he shares.
Stepping As much as On Name
La Salle’s latest endeavor, On Name, is each a return to performing and a continuation of his dedication to significant storytelling. The collection affords a gritty, unvarnished have a look at policing in 2025, eschewing agendas in favor of an immersive, character-driven narrative.
“Proper now, we’re in a second the place every little thing feels so agenda-driven,” La Salle explains. “We’re not pro-cop or anti-cop. We’re telling the story of some folks and making it as actual as doable. It’s subjective artwork — you are taking away what you convey to it.”
The collection employs revolutionary filming methods to create a visceral “ride-along” expertise. “It’s simply our job to say, ‘Hey, you need to experience together with cops?’ With our cops right here, we need to put you in as shut as doable,” La Salle says.
He notes that it’s the viewers’s perspective that shapes how they’ll see the story they’re telling with On Name — based mostly on their belief, distrust, or expertise with legislation enforcement.
For La Salle, On Name additionally represents a uncommon alternative to originate a collection relatively than revamp an present one.
“After I got here into Chicago PD, we revamped the present, we modified it, and so they have been blown away by it,” he says.
However with On Name, he had the chance to assist create a present with a singular model, palette, and tone. It’s about having a say in how the story is informed throughout the board, but in addition to “get again in entrance of the digicam to point out that you are able to do all of it.’
A New Normal for Streaming
On Name additionally goals to reshape the streaming panorama with its concise, half-hour episodes. “You get quite a bit in a half hour,” La Salle emphasizes.
“It’s completely bingeable in an addictive manner,” he says of the format and the way they crafted every episode’s finish to induce viewers to look at extra. “It’s solely one other half hour, and you then say, “OK, I’m simply going to look at yet another…”
This format — quick but impactful — affords a compelling various to the bloated budgets and prolonged run occasions of many streaming dramas. “We’ve seen the overspending of streamers making a non-sustainable mannequin and platform,” La Salle observes.
In distinction, On Name is soiled and edgy, grass-roots, and we make it work. But it surely’s additionally exhibiting which you can inform these compelling tales in an economically extra accountable manner,” he says. “”
La Salle hopes the collection’ success will problem business norms. “There’s a shift occurring,” he says. “It feels good to be part of a possible or at the least partial answer.”
With this format, viewers don’t lose something, however they really acquire — there’s no filler, no extraneous characters. “It’s good storytelling,” he says, a streaming TV model of impartial movie.
Wanting Forward
As La Salle displays on the way forward for On Name, he’s optimistic about its potential to develop. “The excellent news is we’ve got the scripts just about prepared for the subsequent season,” he reveals. “We simply want the OK.”
In truth, La Salle hints that plans for future iterations of On Name are already in movement. “I had dinner with the showrunner, and we’ve talked about precisely that,” he shares. “We’ve already picked one other metropolis.”
In the end, On Name is greater than a present; it’s a testomony to La Salle’s potential to innovate and adapt in an ever-changing business.
His ardour for storytelling, coupled with a need to raise the artwork kind, makes him a standout expertise. At its core, On Name invitations audiences to see the world from a unique perspective. As La Salle says, “That’s what artwork ought to do.”
All eight episodes of On Name drop on Prime Video on Thursday, January 9.