James Remar
A Conversation with James Remar
Hudson Benoit



Q: Does THE GRID address the issue of stereotyping terrorists?
A: Yes. I have difficulty also with the popular phrase "terrorist." I think that the term empowers them and emboldens them. I believe that the press should have changed the characterization of people who commit murder without showing their faces. They're criminals and they're cowards. If you have a cause or something you want to promote in a violent manner, then let us know who you are. I don't think blowing people up in marketplaces anonymously really helps anything. It's just an act of sickness.

Q : Where is the drama in this story?
A: The drama in this is global. You have people with conflicting interests. When there's conflict of interest, when people are somehow struggling against themselves, against nature or against anything, then you have drama. Drama is essentially struggle and conflict.

Q: Tell us a little about your character, Hudson Benoit.
A: There's drama in the unfolding mystery of Hudson. He's an opportunist who has a fairly simple view of life. He doesn't really take into account the extent of individual human suffering. He's a moneymaker and really isn't on anybody's side.

Q: The saying goes, "Oil and water don't mix." Do you think Hudson is the oil mixing in with all these agencies?
A: I suppose you could say that. He is, in a sense, a true American because he is truly independent. He believes in free enterprise and the expanding frontier. The frontier is no longer the great West, but, rather, it's an undeveloped oil country in places like Nigeria and different parts of the African continent.