Season 4 of Mayor of Kingstown is loaded with talent—and the stars have plenty to sink their teeth into. Ian Ferguson has to look over his shoulder constantly as Robert’s misdeeds cause problems for everyone. But can Ian keep the peace while investigating a new and disturbing threat to the city of Kingstown? Meanwhile, Cindy Stephens arrives at Anchor Bay and faces the grim realities of being a correctional officer.

There’s a lot facing both these characters, and TVBrittanyF.com spoke with the actors behind them to tease what’s coming in Mayor of Kingstown Season 4. Award-winning star Laura Benanti talked about jumping aboard the Paramount+ show and what she purposefully didn’t do before filming. Plus, star and co-creator Hugh Dillon reflects on Ian’s predicament and seeing his idea grow into a hit series.

Brittany Frederick: Laura, you’re one of several new arrivals in Mayor of Kingstown Season 4. Did it help you that Cindy is also new to her job, so you and your character are starting in the same place?

Laura Benanti: Yes, and I purposefully did not watch up until then, because I wanted it to all be new for her. And actually, my first day on set was her first day at the prison, so it worked out perfectly.

Hugh, Ian has the opposite problem; he knows too much and has to sort of referee everything. What is he thinking, seeing the McLusky family struggle and then also having to wrangle Robert?

Hugh Dillon: He’s insanely loyal, so I think that’s oddly his blind spot. I think he’ll do whatever needs to be done for the McLusky family. And he also has a very difficult relationship with accountability, so I don’t think he quite grasps the idea of consequence.

Some viewers may not know that you’re also the co-creator of Mayor of Kingstown, and you write on the show. What is Season 4 like for you in that sense, to see this idea you had not only succeed, but attract a level of talent like Laura, Edie Falco and these other great stars?

Dillon: it’s the gift of a lifetime. Taylor [Sheridan] really mentored me as an actor, and he was my coach and mentored me in terms of my skill set as a songwriter and musician and a stage performer, to TV and film, to creating this world with him. That is one thing—and then to land it, and then work with such outstanding people like Laura and Edie and Jeremy [Renner], and to be able to continue to build that world out and find even more fire for it, I became more insatiable with telling these stories and making them unpredictable and making them something.

Especially with Jeremy’s injury, suddenly it wasn’t about TV or a certain success or anything. It was about this one guy and making him excited about it. And that changed everything for me in my life, and even my songwriting at home and how I work, because that is a deeper thing than just, “Come on. Let’s go. Okay, we got it. Move on.” You now want to have these people that you respect look at the work and [say] like, this is excellent. And then to see them bring their “A” game, and transform—it’s all you ever thought about in terms of moviemaking.

That’s what Taylor would teach me—if you did get the shot, what would you do? He knows me, and he knows that I’m so ridiculously driven, I don’t burn out. And so I can be thinking about this show and driving this show till the cows come home, as my dad would say.

Laura, what did you see in Mayor of Kingstown Season 4 that you responded to? What made you want to add something to what Hugh and Taylor built?

Benanti: She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever played, which is really interesting. I think that as an artist, keeping your brain facile is really important, stretching yourself beyond what you normally do. I do a lot of comedy and theater, and I sing. So for me to play someone so incredibly different from myself—someone who holds in their emotions, someone who has lived a hard life, someone who has limited choices and makes the very difficult choice to become a corrections officer at a maximum security male prison in order to have health insurance and benefits and flexibility to be with her children—there’s a lot of integrity to her.

Getting to play a role where it’s so small and a lot of it is so internal, that was really exciting. And I actually didn’t know what where she would end up, so I got to go on the ride in the way that the audience is going to go on this ride. To see where she ends up versus where she began is very exciting.

Both you and Hugh are very talented musical artists, as is Jeremy Renner. Is it at all possible that some kind of musical performance can be incorporated into Season 4?

Dillon: That’s a good point. (Laughs.) I will write that, and we will have Jeremy and Laura partake.

What stood out to the two of you across the season? Any particular highlights that fans should be looking forward to?

Benanti: There is a scene that [Hugh] wrote in Episode 9, that I had the privilege of doing, that I’m really excited for people to see.

Dillon: It’s the same with me. I had this particular scene; I had it for a long time. We landed it, and then we got Laura on board, and just to sit behind the monitor and watch that kind of perfection is outrageous to me. She nailed it.

And then, on top of it, we’re talking about music—I grew up with The Doors’ first album, and there was a song on it, and I landed that at the end of this particular Episode 9. To see it all come together, as Taylor taught me, just in terms of cinema… You very, very rarely walk away with, that’s it. There’s nothing more to add.

Mayor of Kingstown streams Sundays on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+.

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.