Legal dramas capture the hearts of viewers around the globe as we become invested in the twists and turns that unfold on our screens. Suits became one of television's biggest shows after its 2011 debut. Ever since, there has been a bigger draw towards those legal dramas than ever.
Last year, the thriller series The Rainmaker aired in the USA and focuses on a lawyer who begins to unravel a conspiracy around the mysterious death of a client's very own son. The Rainmaker is based on John Grisham’s 1995 novel, which was a number one New York Times bestseller. For fans of the book, this series is sure to allure you into the fresh take on the classic story.
I had the privilege of talking to the incredible and accomplished talent Karen Bryson, who portrays a grieving mother mourning the death of her son, which then becomes the first lawsuit for the new aspiring lawyer Rudy Baylor. There is a lot to tackle in this series: emotions, relationships, and complex stories, but the cast does a fantastic job of bringing dignity to a sensitive subject. Catch some highlights from the full interview below.
You star in The Rainmaker, which is hitting UK screens on ITV1 very soon. I wanted to get started by asking about the book itself. The series is based on the New York Times number one bestseller by John Grisham. How familiar were you with the book before the series? Was it something you were already a fan of, or did you learn a bit more about it after the role?
BRYSON MBE: So I actually read it many moons ago, and it was part of my makeup, if that makes sense. It was such an iconic book at the time, you know, the underdog doing well kind of thing. And when I got the part, I went to reintroduce myself. I found the book, a well-thumbed book, went to reintroduce myself, and thought, "Actually, I'm gonna put this down. I'm going to put this down in terms of moving forward with Dot Black" because, in the book, she's slightly different.
What we've done is we've taken the source materials, brilliant source materials, and run with it. So there are many things that are slightly changed. Things like Bruiser in the book was a man and is played by Lana Pria. And again, there are many little differences in the story. So I thought, I've got to leave it. I've got to just go with our scripts and what we've got, even though I was familiar with the film and familiar, of course, with the book.
How important was that to you to put your own stamp on Doc Black? Was there anything that you thought after reading the book, like, "Okay, I want to keep this, but I still want to change this other thing"? Was there anything you completely changed?
BRYSON MBE: I just tried to go with our scripts. What I was given in the scripts is who my Dot Black is. The writing was so brilliant on this. It's ten episodes, so of course it's going to be slightly drawn out with different twists and turns. But there were many things, for example, that a description of her was exactly the same as in the book: that she had high-waisted jeans or big jeans because she worked in a jeans factory. So I kept that in my mind for my background, if that makes sense. So a lot of Dot, from the point of view of her backstory, that I tried to keep in there. Just to make her a fully old human being. But the scripts were brilliant anyway, so my source materials were our scripts.
You touched on it a little bit there about her backstory and who she is as a character. Obviously, Dot Black is a grieving mother whose son's case becomes the first for a new and aspiring lawyer. That clearly involved taking on some very deep and complex emotions, obviously, to get into that mind space. What was your emotional preparation for playing Dot?
BRYSON MBE: Wow. Okay, so I'm really present as an actor, and I'm a firm believer in getting your background done on who she is. So we understand the story of what's happened to her son. What I— what was really, really important to me is why this woman, on her own, tries to pursue a lawyer because she knows in her heart something happened to her child. So there was something really human about that emotion. She knows her son; he's made mistakes, but something is wrong. Something doesn't feel right. She's a fierce protector and has a massive heart. So those were my sort of—it's a very emotional part.
There weren't many things that were intellectual about Dot. I just had to tap into my heart and what it would be like to know that there's been a miscarriage of justice, something is wrong, and pursue that. It originally starts when she tried to file the paperwork herself. She doesn't know much about law, and a judge said, "Look, come back when you've got representation." And there we have it. Of course, it was Rudy Baylor, the only person who believed her. So there's a real—something to do with the heart was my Dot Black. I played it purely from a heart and head point of view, not intellectually at all.
What was the most rewarding part of playing Dot for you?
BRYSON MBE: Everything. I'll say this now, honestly, I absolutely love Dot, and I'm going to get a little kind of political here. Actually, women get to a certain age, and sometimes representation on screen isn't there. It's like we fall off a cliff when we hit a certain age. So to play a woman with such an emotional arc, a strength, an inner strength—she's angry, but her grief does not break her; it propels her. Just this complexity of Dot has been an absolute joy. And to be honest, I didn't think I'd get a part like this in my life.
Catch the rest of this impactful interview in the full video above. Thank you to Karen for her time, positivity, and delivering a profound interview. The Rainmaker is sure to capture audiences upon its debut on UK screens, and all ten episodes can be streamed on September 4 for fans who love to binge-watch series.
The Rainmaker will air on ITV 1 and ITVX on September 4, 2026.
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