Over a huge Italian meal, the actor discussed what it means to be ‘Bosch’-pilled, his tattoos, and the overlap between his real life and the ‘Bosch’-verse.
When Detective Harry Bosch eats , he typically shovel take - out food into his mouth from a container poise on the exhaust hood of a railway car . Solving slaying does n’t lend itself to easygoing lunches . Titus Welliver , the actor who has play the gruff Los Angeles cop - turned - private middle for nearly a 10 , has a number of Bosch - like qualities when you meet him : piercing center , a see - some - dogshit heaviness , and a tendency to call people " buddy . " Even with a shaggy beard , dressed in baggy dungaree , a Boston Celtics T - shirt , and a baseball cap , he exudes an inborn Bosch - ness . But , unlike the character he ’s intimately know for , he live how to stop and enjoy a ripe repast .
Still , the line between Welliver ’s reality and the Bosch - verse can get blurry . For example , on a recent instalment ofBosch : Legacy , the quasi - spinoff that recently enfold its first time of year on Amazon ’s advertizement - defend cyclosis servicing Freevee , our Heron rolls out of bed in a T - shirt for Basta Restaurant . That ’s not one of Bosch ’s Hollywood haunts like Musso & Frank . No , it ’s an Italian eating house Welliver suggested for this consultation . ( It ’s site in Agoura Hills , not far from the place Welliver recently purchased in Topanga Canyon . ) He hit upon the place while furniture shop with his wife , befriend the proprietor , and now stops by as often as his schedule ( and diet ) let . So , naturally , life sentence bleeds into the show .
" I ’m guess Harry will have to make his way out here for a scene , " Welliver allege between bites of the mussels and the braise brusque rib . From the moment he sits down , the dish do n’t give up coming . At one point , the chef , Saverio , brings out a sample of a pasta made with fresh duck egg . Welliver approves : " It ’s crashing fissure . It ’s so rich . Italian cleft . "
Photo by Alicia Cho for Thrillist
Why not baby ? I ’m meeting with Welliver on the day before the last two episodes ofBosch : Legacywill fall , and the show has already been renewed for a 2nd season . concord to Welliver , the fan response has been " overwhelmingly in force " and Amazon , which launchedBoschas part of its initial " Pilot Season " programming slate back in 2014 , appear happy with the viewership numbers . Welliver co - compose the script for the coda with Michael Connelly , the writer who created Bosch all the way back in 1992 with his Edgar Award - winning mystery novelThe Black Echo . Welliver has never penned an episode before . ( I ’m using " playpen " literally : He writes cursive and then dictate his chicken scratch . ) He ’s aiming to organise next . " I ’ve directed some theater , but I knew I need to get behind a photographic camera and do that , " he says . " So , I will do it , for sure . "
The specific pleasures ofBosch , theDirty Harryof pa demo , can be difficult to pin down . Welliver is quick to credit the guiding strength of Connelly , who also writes the series ofLincoln Lawyernovels , which now has its own cyclosis - series edition on Netflix , with giving the show depth and a literary link to the noir of Raymond Chandler , Nelson Algren , Dashiell Hammett , and Mickey Spillane .
" Michael ’s books are a reversion to the big writers of that writing style and he was inspired by all of them , " Welliver explicate . " I recall now that we ’ve shore with Harry being a private eye , we ’re serving the genre in a different way and I think it goes back to the matter that instigate Michael to desire to write . "
For the show to work , Welliver require to deliver that Steve McQueen - similar chroma . Born in Connecticut to a Yale fine - art prof father and a style illustrator mother , he found acting early and move to New York , where he learned how to break down a hand under David Mamet at NYU . He decamped to LA in 1989 , living in Venice and attend out at burnt umber store between audition . His first part was as " Redneck in Bar " in the Charlie Sheen action at law movieNAVY seal .
During the ' XC , he appear in almost every notable television receiver drama of the era : L.A. Law , NYPD Blue , The X - Files , New York Undercover , Nash Bridges , The Practice , andTouched by an Angel . BeforeBosch , he popped up in movies likeGone Baby Gone , The Town , Argo , andTransformers : Edge of Extinction , further solidifying his " that guy " status , and after the dawn of TV ’s so - called Golden Age he had polar roles in appearance likeDeadwood , Sons of Anarchy , The Good Wife , andLost , where he played the puzzle - boxwood antagonist jazz as the Man in Black . But , in his L , when theBoschpilot was shot , he ’d never been the wind of a serial publication before . He get wind an chance to do something special with the copper show : " You ca n’t reinvent the wheel , but you may enjoin a different story . "
Despite the show ’s gray - haired star and its proudly sure-enough - school affectations , Boschhas cross - generational prayer . Some of that might have to do with the character ’s relationship with his daughter , Maddie ( Madison Lintz ) , now a rookie cop inLegacy . Their adherence , built over In - N - Out burgers and Chinese intellectual nourishment , forms the emotional moxie of the serial publication . " I was really taken aback the first few times when considerably untried citizenry would evince their love for the show , " says Welliver . " The funny thing about it is nobody is half in . They ’re either all in or they ’re not . "
Photo by Alicia Cho for Thrillist
What exactly does " all in " look like ? ABoschobsession unremarkably starts with a recommendation from a family phallus , colleague , or friend ( " Hey , you ever watchBosch ? " ) , a brief stop of soul - look after the first couple episodes ( " Wait , do I really likeBosch ? " ) , and then a delirium of full immersion that involves finishing the series , reading the books , and , if you ’re like me , moving to Los Angeles . ( " Help , I have aBoschproblem . " ) Concerned loved unity in your lifetime might question the grade of serious-mindedness or irony postulate in aBoschbinge , but it ’s best to drown them out like you ’re Harry Bosch represent a Thelonious Monk record at auricle - splitting volume . They do n’t get it — yet .
For an audio - optic representation ofBoschmania , I extremely recommendwatching this interviewfrom 2021 ’s Vulture Fest between Welliver and the hosts ofHollywood Handbook , a funniness podcast host by writer Sean Clements and Hayes Davenport . It bulge out with Welliver meeting Clements ' dog named Bosch and escalates from there , with Davenport slant a new interpretation of theBoschtheme song that ’s just " a scary version of [ Macklemore ’s ] ' Thrift Shop ' " and Clements asking Welliver to role - play as his dad saying he ’s gallant of him . " They ’re fucking suspect , " says Welliver when I bestow up the consultation . " They were so debauched and loose with it . Those are the most fun things to do , where you feel like you ’re sitting in your living way and people just pass off to be there . "
ThoughBoschis an often serious show , concerned with matters of justice and institutional hogwash , Welliver can be funny , and he ’s also a proud nerd witha vast toy dog collectionand a tattoo of the Fantastic Four ’s Silver Surfer on his right arm . ( " My all - sentence favorite , " he observe . ) He likes to do voices ( his carbon monoxide gas - star , his directors , even his Calabasas neighbour the Kardashians ) ; he say stories ( his slip to Italy , his time playing in bands as a teen ) ; and , like most pa , spill about his three kids , who have all made coming into court on the show . His 23 - yr - old son Eamonn spiel Bosch in a flashback sequence in Episode 8 ofLegacy . Most significantly , Eamonn also introduced his dada to the Deftones , the toilsome - sway group that inspired the pony tattoo below the Silver Surfer .
Photo by Alicia Cho for Thrillist
As he finishes his meal , pack up food for thought in to - go box to convey home to his family , he order me about a recent trip-up to see the ring at The Greek Theater , where he had a concertgoing experience that probably would have send the idle words - have intercourse Bosch running for his railway car . " There ’s a nautical layer that comes over Griffith Park and ensnare all the weed look , " says Welliver . " My son and I are both sober citizenry , and the acquaintance that was with us is also sombre , but we ’re all express mirth because we ’re going , ' This does n’t count , right ? We do n’t have to worry about this . ' " A massive weed cloud ca n’t discontinue him : He just get tickets for Smashing Pumpkins and Jane ’s Addiction at the Hollywood Bowl .
Where Bosch tends to work thing cool — own his crotchetiness — Welliver ca n’t help himself . Freshly made food , heavy alloy , and movies all bring out his ebullience . In this season ofBosch : Legacy , he got to share scenes with one of his playacting heroes , William Devane ofMarathon ManandRolling Thunder , a 1977 revenge movie Welliver make out so much he named his California estate of the realm after it . The 82 - year - old Devane plays a billionaire with a potential unnamed inheritor , and Welliver found himself standing across from a guy he ’s admired his whole career . " I ’ve been doing this a long sentence , " he say . " I have frightful obedience for people , but I do n’t miss my head . " He pauses . " I have to say I fanboyed a piffling bite . "
At Basta , with a post - lunch espresso in him , the fanboy emerges . He ’s looking ahead to blend it up with fans on Twitter when the last drop , but he hump the finale , which terminate with a bad cliffhanger , is give out up against tatty , buzzier show like the premiere ofObi - Wan Kenobion Disney+ and the new mess ofStranger Thingsepisodeson Netflix . In a streaming epoch that prize spectacle and novelty , Boschcould be called a grizzled vet . A heady senior . Or , sure , a dinosaur . You get the sense Welliver takes pride in that : " The one matter that we ’ve been is ordered all these years . "
Titus Welliver on ‘Bosch: Legacy’|Amazon Studios
