Why Detective Marcus Dante From CBS' The Equalizer Looks So Familiar
Those who tune into CBS' "The Equalizer" have gotten to know Detective Marcus Dante quite well. At the show's beginning, he's almost an antagonist as he's deeply suspicious of how Robyn McCall (Queen Latifah) approaches serving justice. Reluctant to have McCall's help made Dante a prideful nemesis, but at the end of the first season, audiences saw the two on the cusp of what could be friendship or an allyship at the very least.
With the show well into its third season, fans can see how this friendship could perhaps blossom into something more. Aside from wanting to find justice for those who have been wronged, Dante and McCall are also single parents, which leaves them with something in common.
Tory Kittles, the actor who brings Marcus Dante to life, is very excited about "The Equalizer," as he shared in an interview with Rolling Out. Kittles expects the show to last a long time. "I feel like we'll be here for a long time and I'm not saying that in an arrogant way. When I first got the email that the project was happening and I saw that Queen Latifah was attached to it, I immediately wanted in on it." Kittles then went on to describe the show as "must-see TV" on its important impact.
Marcus Dante is hardly Tory Kittle's first role; here is where you may have seen him before.
He was street gang leader Laroy Wayne on Sons of Anarchy
Before he ever played the role of a character fighting crime, he first portrayed a character doing crime and lots of it. Those who enjoyed FX's "Sons of Anarchy" will probably remember Tory Kittles as Laroy Wayne, a role Kittles held from the pilot episode until his character's demise in Season 5 (per IMDb).
"Sons of Anarchy" captivated fans from the very first episode, when audiences saw the SAMCRO (Sons of Anarchy Club, Redwood Original) warehouse burnt to the ground. That arson was only the beginning of the gory violence that would decorate the show throughout its entire run.
With that first destructive fire, Laroy has a very important shipment of M4 carbines obliterated. Naturally, the SAMCRO president Clarence "Clay" Morrow (Ron Perlman), has to meet with Laroy to explain the situation and hopefully smooth things over. While Laroy is initially stubborn, he relents and allows Clay and his club a few more days to replace his weapon shipment. Laroy Wayne is later established as the leader of the One-Niners Street gang and is an ally for the SAMCRO crew until his date, Veronica Pope (Natascha Hopkins), is murdered by SAMCRO vice president Tig (Kim Coates) in Season 4.
"Sons of Anarchy" has an impressive 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes and even inspired a spin-off titled "Mayans M.C.," which is currently awaiting its fifth season.
Tory Kittles was a suspect for murder on CSI: Miami
Tory Kittles' appearance on "The Equalizer" isn't his first dip into crime drama shows. In the final season of "CSI: Miami," Kittles took on the role of Delonte Cassell, a club owner whose club becomes a crime scene when a young journalist named Denise Baines (Jessica Garvey) is murdered. There are lots of questions swirling around the investigation, and it doesn't help that someone else is running around, tampering with evidence. The CSI team learns that Denise was killed with poison, and while at first, the team assumes it was random, they later discover that an assassin (Katrina Law) was hired to get rid of Denise.
While Kittles isn't suspected immediately, the CSI team finds it awfully suspicious that his criminal history has been mostly excused. Getting in the way is lawyer Darren Vogel (Malcolm McDowell), who is continuously a step ahead of the team and will do anything to protect his clients, manipulating situations and evidence. He hired two of his previous clients Clyde Novak (Zack Ward) and Beth Johnson (Danna Brady), to orchestrate a distraction for Detective Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez) so they could make the DNA on the dress found in Denise's apartment corrupted. He even has Josh Avery (Ryan McPartlin) involved, who has been Samantha Owens' (Taylor Cole) boyfriend.
He represents Delonte Cassell and is able to get him off scot-free. While Vogel's plot continues into the next episode, which is the series finale, Kittles only has one appearance.
Detective on the first season of True Detective
After his stint on "Sons of Anarchy," Tory Kittles became an investigator in the first season of HBO's "True Detective." Part of what makes the show so unique is its anthology organization (meaning every season is a new mystery) and its non-chronological storytelling. Kittles, as Detective Thomas Papania, along with his partner Maynard Gilbough (Michael Potts), is investigating a serial killer in the present day (2012) who has a murder spree running 17 years. Meanwhile, he and Maynard are interviewing detectives Rustin "Rust" Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin "Marty" Hart (Woody Harrelson). They were the original detectives investigating victim Dora Lange (Amanda Rose Batz), the first victim discovered 17 years ago.
Rust, in particular, had some memorable mannerisms that translated into his real-life counterpart, McConaughey. In a 2014 interview with Vulture, Potts and Kittles shared what it was like during long taping days when McConaughey smoked real cigarettes. It was part of McConaughey staying in character, as Kittles shared. "He was intense the whole time. He stayed in character." That method of acting resulted in an amusing little pastime for Kittles.
While Detective Papania was jotting down notes for his investigation, Kittles was writing something else. "I would write a tally mark for each cigarette [Rust] finished. After he finished off the six-pack of beer, I'd write another line for each shot he'd take from his little flask."
Kittles portrayed Gary Fischer on the Intruders
The premise of "Intruders" is an exceptionally haunting one where 'intruders,' spirits of cult members, possess the bodies of those still alive, and the original soul and intruder fight over the body to determine who keeps control.
The premiere episode starts somewhat happily, with a teenage girl named Donna Albert (Katherine Evans) blowing out the candles on her birthday cake. But before the opening credits, she's penned a suicide note. Inside, she writes, "I am not Donna Albert." The suicide note is addressed to Gary Fischer, portrayed by Tory Kittles. With Jack Whelan (John Simm), Fischer investigates similar suicides. It's personal when Jack realizes an intruder has possessed his wife, Amy (Mira Sorvino). Things get darker for Gary when his baby girl is possessed too.
While "The Intruders" is creepy enough, Kittles, Simm, and director Eduardo Sánchez got their own fright while taping the finale. In an interview with BBC America, Kittles recalled one early morning when he and Simm heard crying in the abandoned mental hospital where they were shooting. "Is this real, or is somebody messing with us?" he had asked, thinking it was a prank. "We don't know where it came from. We know it happened," Kittles concluded. They had searched for the cause of the noise and found nothing. Pretty spooky.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
He later was Eric Broussard on the sci-fi series The Colony
Tory Kittles also joined the cast for the dystopian sci-fi series "The Colony," which takes place in a futuristic Los Angeles plagued by aliens. Aliens come and take charge of the city, sectioning off different areas with large walls and making them 'colonies.'
The show follows the Bowman family, with father Will (Josh Holloway), who is a reluctant inductee into the Red Hat society, an association that searches for resistance workers. His wife, Katie (Sarah Wayne Callies), owns her own bar while acting as a Resistance member without her husband knowing. Together, they have a young son named Bram (Alex Neustaedter), who also pursues the resistance.
Kittles' character Eric Broussard works closely with Katie as a resistance member. With his former U.S. marine background and experience in the CIA paramilitary, Broussard is quite the war hero, ideally suited to rebel against their alien adversaries. The show lasted three seasons and provided many entertaining twists and turns, plunging each character into dangerous uncertainty.
Before the third season aired, Kittles did an interview with Seat42F, where he discussed his favorite part of working on the show. "The cast, the writing. We've established such great relationships. We've become such a close-knit group. The writing has always been there to service us and make us want to come back."
While "The Colony" has since ended, audiences can still catch Tory Kittles in CBS' "The Equalizer" as Marcus Dante.