USA’s The Rainmaker provides a breakout opportunity for Milo Callaghan, who stars as scrappy lawyer Rudy Baylor. It’s the biggest part in the British actor’s career—but viewers wouldn’t know that watching him work. Callaghan plays the underdog to perfection, and while he’ll inevitably be compared to Matt Damon’s portrayal of Rudy in the 1997 film, one thinks Damon would be proud.

In an interview ahead of the Aug. 16 series premiere, Milo spoke about what attracted him to the television version of The Rainmaker and how he discovered the character of Rudy. He also reflected on the challenge of being the hero of the show, as well as some of his favorite moments on set.

Brittany Frederick: Both the book and the movie version of The Rainmaker have finite arcs. Your version of Rudy Baylor has the possibility of going on for years. So what was it about Rudy that you said, I want to play this guy for hopefully several seasons?

Milo Callaghan: I really connected with his his sense of truth and honesty and justice in a lot of ways. When I auditioned for this part, one of the things that really struck me about it was, as much as he’s a lawyer and he has a gift for rhetoric and all of these things, he’s a kid, really, at the end of the day, with a set of ideals forged on a hugely traumatic event in his life. And that was enough for me to work with and to make strong choices with.

You took on a pretty big challenge, because while The Rainmaker is an ensemble show, Rudy is the guy it essentially revolves around. The title is referring to him. What was it like for you to tackle such a big part, both in terms of screen time and complexity?

it was a lot. I must have had about five days off in six months, and that was trying at times. But honestly, [it was] the biggest pleasure to do that with the people that I was essentially put in this boat with and told to row as far as the eye can see. The cast that I had around me, the crew that I had around me—every day was different. Every day was joyful. It was full of joy. So it was such a gift to come and get to play every day.

What’s the biggest thing you learned from playing Rudy Baylor?

I learned that nothing is as heavy as it feels at the time. Down the road, everything feels much lighter. And so, the days where I was tired or hungry or uneasy or unsure about what I was doing and was affected by those emotions—we’re six months down the line, I’m still living, still smiling. That was a big learning curve for me, to carry something like that.

Was there a particular favorite scene or episode in The Rainmaker that resonated with you, or that you just felt came off especially well?

I loved Episode 7. The first three quarters of filming, I was driving towards Episode 7. There’s a lot of twists and turns; I think [it] really starts to embody a lot of the growth that we’ve been seeing. A lot of the characters who have been apart come together, and it feels to me like the first seven episodes lead up to those moments. The first seven are fluid, and the final three are where you really start to get a sense of why we’ve been on this journey.

Viewers will also get invested in the relationship between Rudy and his girlfriend Sarah, played by Madison Iseman. It’s no spoiler to say that dynamic changes sharply, so how did you navigate that with Madison?

She’s the most charming, beautiful, lovely, kind human. We got pulled in together two weeks early, I think. It was a real like, let’s work weekends environment. Let’s get everybody together. Let’s chat, let’s converse, let’s run this. We were the two young people in the cast who really wanted to make the best of the opportunity to put this on screen. And I think I really was afforded such a lovely gift, getting to spend time with her and work with her—and then we didn’t get to see each other, and it was super sad. But we still hung out!

The Rainmaker airs Fridays at 10:00 p.m. on USA. Photo Credit: Courtesy of USA.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.