Tobi Bamtefa: Bunny-Mike partnership key to balance in 'Kingstown'

NEW YORK, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Berlin Station and Cheaters actor Tobi Bamtefa says Bunny Washington, the drug dealer he plays on Mayor of Kingstown , is surviving the only way he knows how to in Season 3.

"Insulate yourself as best as you can and make sure that your family is protected, make sure that your interests are protected and Just utilize all the connections that you possibly have, so that you don't come up short," Bamtefa told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

From co-creators Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, the Michigan-set show wraps up its third season Sunday on Paramount+.

It follows Mike McLusky ( Jeremy Renner ), an influential ex-con who works with cops and criminals alike to maintain some semblance of order and justice in Kingstown, where most people either live or work in the local prison system.

"That balance is always under threat, so there's always tension because things don't go quite the way each character wants to handle the situation. Everybody has their different ways of handling things," Bamtefa said.

"Bunny tends to be a bit heavy-handed with his approach to stuff and Mike tries to kind of have a little bit more finess in that, but that takes time, and time can often cost lives, so that's kind of how they grapple with that."

The most recent run of episodes saw Mike refereeing a bloody war between Bunny's gang and Russian crime lord Konstantin (Yorick van Wageningen).

"Mike offers Bunny access that he wouldn't otherwise have and vice versa because Bunny is so connected with this underbelly of Kingstown. Mike utilizes that relationship to get whatever information he needs very quickly -- things that police wouldn't necessarily have access to," Bamtefa said.

"Bunny's network allows Mike to be able to do this job much more efficiently," he added. "Mike also has a network in the world that Bunny has no access to, in order to be able to move around and maintain the networks that he has and the various business enterprises he employs."

To play someone who has to be on his guard all the time, trusting nobody, Bamtefa said he looked to the competitive corporate world.

"You kind of are always on edge," he said. "You never really know who to talk to you until somebody gives us a reason to trust. In Kingstown, that mentality is very heightened because lives are at stake."

Although Bunny is a violent man, Bamtefa said he tried to look past his misdeeds to understand his head and heart.

"I have to recognize the humanity in each character that I play, even if they participate in or exacerbate absolutely horrendous acts. Even if they're bad people or they've done bad things, you have to be able to see the humanity and excavate that and bring it to the forefront."

The actor also appreciates how the show tells an entertaining story while spotlighting important issues like crime, addiction and the prison industrial complex.

"We are all human beings, regardless of private sector corporations and how they kind of numerify the worth of any individual," he said.

"Human beings [are] perpetuating these acts and it's also human beings suffering the consequences of them. These are human issues and I am always interested in human issues. We have to evolve as a species."

Dillon, Emma Laird, Taylor Handley and Aidan Gillen co-star.