Peter Krause's New NBC Thriller Is Giving New "Legs To The 2026 Network Drama"

Scott Gries/NBC Published Sep 22, 2026, 5:11 PM EDT Grant Hermanns is a TV News Editor, Interview Host and Reviewer for ScreenRant, having joined the team in early 2021. He got his start in the industry with Moviepilot, followed by working at ComingSoon.net. When not indulging in his love of film/TV, Grant is making his way through his gaming backlog and exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Warning: Mild SPOILERS lie ahead for Line of Fire's season premiere!Peter Krause is back to lead a new ensemble thriller with NBC's Line of Fire, and his co-stars have developed a real family bond. Hailing from Quantico alum Joshua Safran, the new series centers on the Hollingsworths, a family in the Washington D.C. area with a legacy of being in various branches of the federal government. The family's patriarch, Krause's Mike, is a Supervisory Special Agent in the U.S. Secret Service on the verge of retiring; matriarch Jane, played by Hope Davis, is a Deputy U.S. Marshal whose relationship with Mike has become complicated. As for their children, their daughter, Claire, played by Kat Cunning, is an FBI Special Agent trying to make a name for herself; eldest son Micah, played by Tommy O'Brien, is a Secret Service Agent whose job is under threat due to his relationship with the US First Daughter; and Russ, played by Taylor Bloom, is a former Marine getting his start as a Department of Justice National Security Division analyst. While they all find themselves grappling with their various personal challenges, Line of Fire's premiere throws the Hollingsworth family a big curveball when one of their cases investigating the death of a Deputy U.S. Marshal quickly expands into a government-spanning conspiracy involving multiple deaths at other agencies. After a new killing lands on their doorstep, the family, in particular, become the target for the mysterious killer, resulting in a high-stakes web of figuring out who they can trust. Ahead of the show's September 21 premiere, ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns interviewed Kat Cunning, Tommy O'Brien and Taylor Bloom to discuss Line of Fire. When breaking down the twist-filled story of the series and what drew them to it, Bloom began by expressing that "I have a lot in common" with Russ in the show, calling it "kismet" that he got the opportunity to audition for the role, and that he ultimately got it. More importantly for the American Horror Story alum, however, was that he is a "deeply devoted TV watcher," joking that he's "not in the camp of [a] film bro" who takes the time to "review stuff on Letterboxd," even while listing a few of his favorite movies as Pirates of the Caribbean, Love Actually and the first and third Indiana Jones movies. But with Line of Fire, he was "particularly excited" about getting to be part of a series that is giving new "legs to the 2026 network drama" with its complex story: Taylor Bloom: So, a show like this, I'm so excited about it, because I'm a network TV baby, especially this is the era of television I grew up watching and loving. I've always wanted to participate in something on this kind of scale. But particularly this show, I've heard Josh Safran, our showrunner and creator, talk about wanting to create a network show that has so much quality and so much depth, and I think that's what we're doing. O'Brien pointed out that he was reuniting with Safran and casting director Cassandra Kulukundis after initially aiming to work with them on another unspecified project, having "really loved them" in their initial conversations and finding a "familiarity with them" when he was approached for Line of Fire. As such, while he already knew "it was going to be exciting" before he read Safran's script, he was subsequently enthralled by the "many interesting things" the NBC thriller has going for it, particularly the "complexities within the genre": Tommy O'Brien: There are so many interesting things about the show, and different notes that you get to play in the performance. But at the end of the day, it was about the family dynamic, and the relatability that I think people can have to something like this, while with the backdrop of these very different professions in this complex, apolitical-political world. That was super fascinating to me. And also, the kid in me was super excited about the tactile research that's necessary to play a Secret Service agent. So that's just been an absolute blast, man. The Hollingsworth Siblings Had Different Research To Play Their Different Law Enforcement Branches ScreenRant: Kat, if you'd like to start, this is all sort of your first big lead role in the world of network TV, even though you've had experience in procedurals. What was it about your character that really drew you to want to be a part of this project and make that leap into a more leading role territory? Kat Cunning: Grant, I'm gonna be so honest with you. It was an audition that came in my inbox, and I said, "I'm gonna try that, because I'd love to work as an actor." And then, what really sold me on it was the opportunity to talk to Josh Safran, our showrunner, and Becca [Thomas], our director, and I just felt like they were enthusiastic about me for the right reasons, which made me that much more enthusiastic about being a part of this story. Because if they wanted me, then that's like — I'm kind of an indie weirdo, you know what I mean? I come from dance and music and all sorts of different places, so that gave me a lot more confidence in entering a role like this, even though it's nothing like I've ever done before. And on the other side of saying yes to the role, I've learned that Claire is so much more like me than I ever could have anticipated in that she is singularly focused, determined, believes in justice, wants it all, wants love, wants to win. I couldn't be happier to be with this team and telling this story. ScreenRant: So that actually nicely segues into my next question, which is again going to be for everybody, but I'll go individually. I feel like each layer of law enforcement all has a different air about them when they walk into a building. The Secret Service is checking every single corner to make sure their President or whoever they're with is safe. The FBI is sort of scouting everything out, including the people themselves. DOJ, they're sort of more about making sure that all the facts are in their head as they're going to between case to case. So, Kat, to start with you, I'd love to hear about the research you did for Claire, but also finding the physicality and the personality that she carries herself through this job. Kat Cunning: So, much of how I am becoming Claire is from the outside in. The fact that they saw Claire in me has led me to trust a lot of my own instincts to be her within the script, and really just coming to it, as me, in a way that I actually haven't really done in the other characters I played. I've been pretty method in other pieces I've been in, and really transformed. This is probably the most naked, in a way, I've been. Although we're in these hyperreal circumstances, I'm just a person with feelings who's kind of hot-headed, who's definitely gonna solve the case. That being said, I lowkey realized halfway through this process that one of my best friends — and this is the magic of being queer, is your common denominator is being queer, but you have a very diverse friend group. One of my best friends is a prosecutor, and over brunch with her, I was asking her questions, and I realized she's my best consultant for somebody who's in the FBI. She was giving me so much information in this casual environment that I was just absorbing. At the end of the day, one of the things she said that stuck with me was that the FBI is sort of the most creative role at the end of the day, because they are given this freedom, because the clout is so high. The ability to achieve is so high. They get to be creative and break the rules a little bit from this brilliant point of view. And Claire is described, in her logline, as the smartest one in the family. So, I'm mostly just running with that, and trusting that, and knowing that whatever she sacrifices along the way, whether it's relationships with the family or her love interests, she's doing it, hopefully, for the right reasons and because she believes in it. ScreenRant: Tommy, I'll turn to you next, because you know Micah is someone who is obviously the rebellious one of the family, but at the same time, again, Secret Service, one of the more heavily protective agencies in this country. So, how did you go about finding that balance between capturing the sort of laissez-faire nature of him with that very stringent agent? Tommy O'Brien: Yeah, I think you hit it on the head, and the thing that was exciting to me was the juxtaposition of that. He does have this rambunctious personality, but his profession requires this very tempered behavior. His responsibility is huge, every action could be a national security threat, whereas he's just been wrestling with this coming-of-age path that's in front of him, while working with his father and feeling like he's in the shadow of his dad. So, I think it's been really fun to play those different layers where there is this earnest love for his family. There is this frustration with his family members. He has this desire to be in this relationship that the stakes for being in are very high. So, I think trying to find the interesting color in each one of those juxtapositions has been really exhilarating as a performer. ScreenRant: Taylor, I'll turn to you next because Russ, being the youngest, much like Micah, is sort of still living under his father's shadow. But at the same time, he is also really trying to establish himself as pulling himself up by his own bootstraps, not needing his family's name to get into this law enforcement world. I'd love to hear about working with Josh and the writers to find who he is, but also what you can preview about that journey as we go into this season. Taylor Bloom: Yeah, I think something we've been talking about is how Claire and Jane, Hope Davis, who plays our mom, have this one-to-one foil relationship, and how Micah and Mike have this one-to-one foil, and Russ, as the youngest, rather than having a particular figure to idolize, it's like, "Everyone in my family is a superhero, and how do I live up to that?" The standard is so high. So, "I'm going into the Marines, and when I come out of the Marines, I'm going into the DOJ. I'm sort of walking paths that have not been walked in the family before." It was great to have conversations with Josh going into this whole project about Russ and his path, because the DOJ is where we find him at the beginning of our show. Not to give too much away, but I think that there is more to be explored in Russ's pathway. This is sort of a starting stepping stone. And also, his innocence as a character. I think that, despite having been a Marine, and despite growing up the youngest of this family of high-powered, super important people, he has an innocence and an optimism and an openness as a character that I think we're going to find gets challenged throughout the season and throughout the show. I think we're going to see the way that Russ struggles to hold on to that, despite a lot of dark things that may be coming. New episodes of Line of Fire air Mondays at 10 p.m. EST on NBC! Release Date September 21, 2026 Network NBC Showrunner Joshua Safran Directors Rebecca Thomas Writers Joshua Safran Cast Peter Krause Mike Thornhill Tommy O'Brien Micah Thornhill Kat Cunning Clare Thornhill A family of law enforcement officials combine forces across their various departments, breaking necessary rules to investigate a growing conspiracy. Main Genre Crime Creator(s) Joshua Safran Executive Producer(s) Joshua Safran, Jenna Bush Hager, Ben Spector, Rebecca Thomas, Angelita Esperanza Producers Jenna Bush Hager, Joshua Safran Seasons 1