Robert Kazinsky Previews ‘Second Chance’

“True Blood” alum Robert Kazinsky has a new role on his hands in Fox’s “Second Chance.” 

The actor is playing Jimmy Pritchard, an elderly cop who, after being murdered, is brought back (in Kazinsky’s body) by genius tech twins. 

And playing an older man in a younger gentleman’s body has been a blast for the British actor. 

“There’s a lot to like about it, to be honest,” he told AccessHollywood.com during a visit to the show’s set last fall with other reporters. “I’ve always struggled to fit my face to my persona.

“I’ve always played older — I’ve looked like this since I was 12,” he continued, with a laugh. “And I have a certain cynicism and world-weariness that comes with age, I think. When they were casting this kind of thing they said, ‘Yeah, good luck finding a 30-year-old guy that feels 70. And voila, they found one, which is nice, and also, Jimmy is the same age as my father, so I get to be my father before my time. I’m putting a lot of him into this, which is kind of — it’s my favorite part.”

READ: Fox Picks Up Robert Kazinsky-Starring ‘The Frankenstein Code’

After Jimmy realizes he’s been brought back to life by two scientific and tech geniuses – twins Mary and Otto Goodwin (one of them needs him to survive) – he turns to what he used to know – solving crimes, including why he was murdered. 

He’ll also come face-to-face with the son he had a strained relationship with – Duval — played by “White Collar’s” Tim DeKay. But don’t expect them to have a great relationship overnight, especially since Duval has no idea his dad is back.

“I think it would be incredibly boring if this experiment made him a decent person and that’s the whole point of this show,” Robert said in response to a question from a reporter on the set visit. “I mean, yeah, you’ve got a second chance, but nature versus nurture kind of thing. 75 years [of] being a pretty horrible human being is not going to change just because suddenly you have a young, strong body. There are mistakes you want to make the most of, but nature will out. And you’re still going to be, essentially, selfish and spoiled and short-sighted. And it’s, you know, what these powers and this opportunity presents to him, against what his natural nature is.”  

With a new chance at life (although he has to return to the twins each night for a reboot), Jimmy will start tackling crimes, and solving them using the technology from the twins’ company, and helping out his son, Duval, who is an FBI agent. 

“Solving crimes would be a lot easier if the law enforcement wasn’t restrained by law. The idea of justice is often at odds with the penned laws of the land and when somebody has done something awful and they get off on a technicality, that’s always a horrifying thing to have to sit there and watch, and when you have the ability and technology to find these people and see what they’ve done and you have somebody outside the law like Pritchard who able to dispense the true ideal of justice, then you end up with a very powerful, megalomaniacal and dangerous vigilante,” Robert said. 

“If somebody with code could find out what you had for breakfast, they could find out where your car is, what your insurance is, where your house is, they could completely steal your identity. And when you put that kind of power, which is the only super power that exists in the real world, in the hands of somebody who… his morals are questionable, that’s when Duval becomes more and more important. And the straight edge side of the law does become important, to balance out this vengeful spirit that Pritchard is,” Robert added.

“Second Chance” premieres Wednesday at 9/8c on Fox. 

Production assistance provided by Fox.

— Jolie Lash