Ryan Phillippe stars alongside his son, Deacon, in Prime Video’s Motorheads, but their familial connection isn’t what led to the casting decision.
The coming-of-age series, which premieres on May 20, features Phillippe, 50, in the role of Logan Maddox. Deacon, 21, appears in flashback scenes as Logan’s younger brother, Christian.
“It’s so unique to be in a situation like this where you’re both working on a show with really good people,” Phillippe exclusively told Us Weekly at the show’s Los Angeles premiere on Tuesday, May 13. “It definitely wasn’t lost on either of us.”
Phillippe recalled being on set with Deacon, adding, “There were times when we would look at each other and just be like, ‘Can you believe that we’re actually doing this?'”
Despite his impressive career, Phillippe noted that fatherhood is the job he is most proud of. (Phillippe and ex Reese Witherspoon share Deacon and daughter Ava, 25, who recently appeared on Netflix’s Ransom Canyon. Phillippe also shares daughter Kai, 13, with ex Alexis Knapp.)
“I’m proud of all three of my children,” he told Us. “It’s such an honor to be a father, generally — and they make me proud every day in different ways.”
Motorheads executive producers John A. Norris and Jason Seagraves shed even more light on the process of bringing Deacon onto the show.
“I’ve known Ryan for quite a while now, so to actually get to work with him and see how professional he is and he comes to work prepared every single day,” Seagraves shared on Tuesday. “He just brought so much heart to it and [we] couldn’t be more fortunate to have him.”
Norris recalled how Phillippe supported his son but emphasized that no strings were pulled in Deacon’s favor.
“Him showing up [to set] — not to play Logan — but because his son was there was really sweet. He really was not involved in the hiring of Deacon,” Norris told Us. “We sort of kept it from him for a little while. Then we came to him and yeah, he would show up.”
Norris continued: “He just didn’t show up the night that [Deacon] had a kiss scene, but it was just super sweet. He loves that kid so much and it shows. And him showing up as the proud dad was pretty great.”
Motorheads “follows a group of outsiders in a once-thriving Rust Belt town form an unlikely friendship over a mutual love of automobiles.” In addition to Phillippe and his son, the series stars Michael Cimino, Melissa Collazo, Uriah Shelton, Nicolas Cantu, Drake Rodger, Johnna Dias-Watson, Josh Macqueen and Mia Healey. (Nathalie Kelley and Matt Lanter make up the rest of the adult cast.)
While speaking to Us on Tuesday, Phillippe opened up about how he supported the younger actors on set throughout filming.
“It’s a position that I take seriously. I’ve had a long career — luckily and fortunately — in this industry. There’s a lot of good and bad that I’ve experienced that I want to help share with them to avoid certain things or to learn from mistakes,” Phillippe explained. “So it is similar to the way you are with your children, where you want to just give them the best of your knowledge. I had that experience with some of the young cast members on this show.”
Motorheads premieres on Prime Video May 20.
