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"Fire Country" fans have had a gradual introduction to Sheriff Mickey Hart (Morena Baccarin), who first appeared in the fictional Edgewater, California, for a 2024 Season 2 episode and an April Season 3 episode of the hit CBS series.
The "trial run," as Baccarin, 46, calls it, pried open the small-town world for Sheriff Mickey and the law-focused spinoff "Sheriff Country," which premieres on CBS Oct. 17 (9 ET/PT), right after the Season 4 "Fire Country" premiere.
The timespan also gave "Deadpool" franchise star and "Homeland" alum Baccarin time for adjustments. Like the cumbersome, omnipresent sheriff's duty belt, complete with handgun, handcuffs and the works.
"It's really hard to sit if I have the whole belt thing on," says Baccarin, who's not packing while uniformed in a USA TODAY Zoom call during a shooting break from the Toronto set. "Luckily, we had time to improve and make a belt that's not so heavy. Because wearing that belt for 12-hour days, five days a week, will really mess up your back."
Just to be clear, in key scenes, Baccarin packs the real-deal heavy props. But when she's just walking the Sheriff Mickey walk, the actress packs lighter lookalikes, including a plastic baton and a hollowed-out radio.
"All of it easily takes 15 pounds off the belt," says Baccarin. "Still, the way that belt sits makes you move differently and walk a certain way. It's a big-time character component."
Sheriff Mickey's complicated Edgewater family life remains fully emotionally overloaded in the town "where you know everybody and everybody's history," says Baccarin.
Mickey grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, and the series explores the town's "dark underbelly," Baccarin says. Her ex-con father, Wes (W. Earl Brown), attempts to go straight as a legal marijuana farmer. Her teenage daughter, Skye (Amanda Acuri), struggles with substance abuse, and Mickey's lawyer ex, Travis (Christopher Gorham), starts an affair with the sheriff's deputy, Cassidy (Michele Weaver).
Among Mickey's relatives, there's even an established connection with the top "Fire Country" family. Mickey's stepsister is Cal Fire Division Chief Sharon Leone (Diane Farr), who appears in early "Sheriff Country" episodes, along with her firefighter son Bode Donovan (Mickey's step-nephew, played by franchise creator Max Theriot).
Theriot says Edgewater is similar to his real wife Lexi Murphy's rural hometown in upstate California, Humboldt County.
"I'm used to it now, but every time I'd go up there, I'd be like, 'So your aunt dated your dad before your mom? And your mom's best friend is married to your mom's ex-boyfriend?' The pool is small," says Theriot, who adds that viewers love the small-town vibe. "With this show, it was like, 'How can we grow Edgewater without actually growing it?'"
There will be many crossovers between the franchise shows, which is more logistically complicated than it would appear. "Fire Country" is shot in Vancouver, while "Sheriff Country," showing different sides of the same town, is shot across the continent in Toronto.
That's considerably closer to Baccarin's upstate New York home with "O.C." star husband Ben McKenzie, where they raise three children (Julius, 11, from ex-husband Austin Chick; daughter Frances, 9, and son Arthur, 4).
Still, the separation and flying home for weekends during the 20-episode season is admittedly "hard."
"I have a 4-year-old, so this has been an adjustment for everybody that's been especially tough," says Baccarin. "I feel like I'm divided and most likely failing at something. Some life aspect is falling apart somewhere. Sometimes at work, I have to remind myself that this is temporary and I'll get back to them as soon as I can."
On the bright side, the kids are really into police shows and Mom's new job.
"They're really excited for this show," says Baccarin. "My daughter is fully committed. Every time I go on set, she's like, 'What are you shooting today?'"
The parental emotions imbue Baccarin's empathetic performance as a protective sheriff raising her own daughter. "In some ways, this part seems made for me, because I really connect with it."
After taking the role, Baccarin did a ride-along with small-town cops in upstate Ulster County, New York.
"I asked a million questions," Baccarin says. "The things I was most curious about were if they wore their belts sitting down at the desk and what kinds of calls they got on a Saturday night."
On the all-important belt question, Baccarin laughingly reports the pros find the thing cumbersome too: "They do take it off at the desk. But you put it right back on, because you just never know what happens next."
Baccarin, who broke out as killer Earth-invading alien Anna in the 2009 TV series "V," stands out in the series' steely-eyed action in defense of her adopted hometown.
"Sheriff Mickey is the mother of this town in a protective, lioness kind of way," Baccarin says. "She is pretty badass when she needs to be, but she's also vulnerable, even though she hates to be. Edgewater allows for different colors in a leader."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Sheriff Country' star Morena Baccarin battles TV crimes, 'tough' separation from her kids
Reporting by Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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