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Ronen Rubinstein is breaking his silence after S.W.A.T: Exiles unpacked his character Jude’s past undercover work with a white supremacist group.
“They were hinting at it that we’re going to really go down the rabbit hole of Jude’s history. Luckily, I got to find out very early on that it was a white supremacy undercover operation and so that gave me so much fuel to think about every single scene,” Rubinstein, 32, exclusively told Us about the Friday, October 30, episode of the hit Starz series.
Rubinstein was “very grateful” for the chance to explore more of Jude’s backstory, adding, “I knew if we’re going to go down this path and deal with this subject matter, that I would have to go to a very intense and dark place and a very vulnerable place. It would really test my spirit and most likely test my body, which it did because I got my ass beat in this episode. But I knew that I had to give it 150 percent and nothing less.”
In Friday’s episode, it was revealed that Jude previously spent two years undercover inside a white supremacist organization. He had to go back into the Ripley Collins crew, which led to the rest of S.W.A.T learning about the case — and questioning Jude’s future with the squad.
“That script deserved me giving my absolute everything. So I was definitely dreading it, but man, the artistic side of me was just foaming at the mouth,” Rubinstein told Us. “I knew that it would be something that — if executed correctly — it could be the proudest work of my life. I do truly think it is and I don’t say that lightly.”
While digging into Jude’s fake persona as a white supremacist, Hondo (Shemar Moore) and Malik (Adain Bradley) ended up in a home surrounded with KKK memorabilia. Rubinstein warned “viewer discretion is advised” going into the episode.
“Do not take this episode lightly. It feels very different than kind of anything we’ve done,” he noted. “The amount of themes they were able to squeeze into this episode is impressive. The writers really went above and beyond with this episode. I was very fortunate to have a moment in the pilot that really showed that Jude is going through something and going through tremendous trauma and most likely PTSD. So to have all these little Easter eggs for myself to rationalize and start putting the details together of who Jude is [was important]. Then we got to see these horrifying tattoos and some people online have figured out what it means. There [were] a lot of clues that I was given throughout the season.”
Rubinstein continued: “To get the script, it just opened my eyes and mind to so much more about who Jude is and that’s just the ultimate gift is to learn more about who your character is. All of that to say that it was a lot and it was kind of brutal to try to rationalize everything that I’m about to go through as Jude in this episode. It destroyed me a little bit, but you know, I feel like for great art, it’s worth it. This episode is an example of great art.”
The actor gave credit to his family — wife Jessica Parker Kennedy and their 2-year-old son — for helping ground him emotionally off screen.
“It really just immediately grounds me back in reality and my world, which is much more peaceful and happy than Jude’s world, unfortunately. That’s my go-to for anything. It doesn’t matter what I’m working on or going through,” he gushed. “My family is my absolute happy place and my rock, and I really leaned on them for this episode.”
Looking ahead, Rubinstein is excited to see where Jude’s story goes next. He is also still hoping to reunite with some of his former 9-1-1: Lone Star or Dead of Summer costars on the S.W.A.T spinoff. But after previously telling Us he wanted Alberto Frezza to join season 2 of S.W.A.T: Exiles, Rubinstein is also adding Kennedy, 42, to the list.
“My mother-in-law read that [Us] article and said, ‘Oh, you’re picking Alberto over your wife,’” he quipped. “So, in order to not get my ass kicked by my mother-in-law, who I love dearly, I’m gonna have to say my wife. I think she would also kill it.”
S.W.A.T.: Exiles airs on Starz Fridays at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on the Starz app.
