Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
Jesse L. Martin's Family Thinks He Has *This* in Common with His Character on The Irrational
Family can be tough critics, but Jesse L. Martin said his family are some of his biggest fans.
The final four episodes of Season 1 of The Irrational return on Monday, January 29, and we know a few fans who’ll definitely be tuning in: Jesse L. Martin’s own family.
“My family has watched The Irrational, and they absolutely love it,” Martin told NBC Insider.
Martin’s character, behavioral science professor Alec Mercer, has a lot of unfinished business to figure out when new episodes return, including an unfinished love story. Alec went on his first date since his divorce in Episode 7, leaving it up in the air what happens to Alec and his soon-to-be-ex-wife, Marisa (Maahra Hill). That’s on top of solving new crime cases using behavioral science. We're sure his family is eager to see what's next!
Jesse L. Martin's family reacts to The Irrational
“First of all, they love me. So, they’re very glad that I’m there and I have a job and I’m still doing my thing,” Martin told NBC Insider of his family's response to the show.
Martin’s career has spanned Broadway to television and even the big screen. He made his Broadway debut in 1993 as an officer in Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, further gaining fame for his role as Tom Collins in Rent. His first major television role came in 1999 as Detective Ed Green in Law & Order.
Through it all, his family has been by his side, including when he got his unofficial start in show business by being cast in his fourth-grade school production of The Golden Goose.
Martin told NBC Insider his family has had a surprising reaction to his character in The Irrational.
“One of my cousins said, ‘I feel like I might be a little bit smarter watching the show.’ Which is really cool,” Martin said.
RELATED: Everything We Know About The Irrational Season 2
On the show, Alec uses his expertise on behavioral science, including his knowledge of tricks like body language reading, to help law enforcement. It’s a tool sometimes used by real-life law enforcement.
“The criminal lifestyle is all about manipulations and conning people,” Dr. John Paul Wright, a professor of criminology at the University of Cincinnati, said to NBC Insider. “Some of the body language could be exaggerated hand, eye, and body movements. It’s using the body, if they’re conscious of it, as a method of deception.”
However, Martin is unsure if playing Alec is making him smarter as well.
“Look, I can’t claim to be smarter because I am playing Alec. Because I don’t write it — like it’s all put down there [for me],” he told NBC Insider. “I just play smart on TV.”
Martin revealed his family also sees a bit of himself in his Irrational character.
“Well, what they do see, and seem to appreciate, is apparently my cadence,” he said. “The way I speak as Alec is a lot like me in real life.”
Watch new episodes of The Irrational on Mondays starting January 29 at 10/9c on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
