Of all the characters to ride into Wynonna Earp, few are more tortured than the legendary gunslinger Doc Holliday, portrayed by Tim Rozon. Revealed to have survived for over a century after working alongside prolific lawman Wyatt Earp, Doc emerged to help Wyatt's great-great granddaughter Wynonna battle supernatural threats in the small western town of Purgatory. Eventually falling in love, the two would have a daughter together before Doc was sent to Hell, later returning to town as a vampire.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Rozon discussed coming back to reprise the role of Doc Holliday after two years away from the character, the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the series' production and Doc's new direction as the series returns for its fourth season.
Let's get the big question out of the way first: How good does it feel to be back in the saddle as Doc Holliday for a new season of Wynonna Earp?
Tim Rozon: I think you mean how does it feel again because I already had the great feeling of coming back and starting. [Laughs] And now this is even stranger. We had started and we had momentum and knew how lucky we were and then the world went kind of nuts. Now we're back mid-pandemic but, like always, I'm happy to be back and grateful. As different as it is, it's still the same.
The past couple seasons, your character has literally gone to Hell and back and become a vampire; there's a lot more baggage on Doc than usual going into Season 4. How has that informed your character and your performance moving forward?
Rozon: I'm happy you said that because I think people kind of underplay how -- especially now in this society, with what people believe or don't believe in -- but Doc Holliday 100% believes in what the old version of Hell would be, he went there and I don't think anybody would want to go. So he's dealing with stuff that he can't underplay and is definitely someone who doesn't want to go back.
But I'm excited for Season 4 because I think it's a chance for redemption, and I believe everybody deserves that chance and I feel like he's ready for some retribution.
The last thing Doc says in Season 3 is "I am her weapon" as he goes through the portal to rescue Waverly Earp. Is that a bit of a mission statement for him?
Rozon: Yeah, and I think he's riddled with guilt at that point also. He betrayed the woman he loves and it's tough because the underlying thing for me with Doc has always been that he's in love with this woman that maybe doesn't love him back. But Wynonna has the burden of the curse, Doc doesn't have the burden. So it's easy for him to just say, "Hey, let's be in love, have a family and settle down," but she doesn't have the luxury of doing that. So it's not saying she doesn't love him back, but it's not easy for her to stop everything to do that.
He's got a lot of guilt, so when he goes in [the portal] at the end there, I think it's his way of trying to do whatever he can to make up for all the wrongs that he's maybe done. Is he a weapon or is just trying to convince himself that is? He's trying to talk himself up a bit, I think.
Four seasons on, what new depths and directions do you hope to find in Doc Holliday with your performance?
Rozon: Just redemption and humor. Listen, I'm lucky that I have one of the best screen partners in the world in Melanie Scrofano so I don't try to think too much before going in there. And when you're working with someone that talented, you just stay connected to them and you find beats pretty easily. So I'm excited to know where Doc goes because I never know!
Each season kind of changes him and I just follow and go with the flow, and I trust the actors and the writers with the arc that they give me and I try to just live in the moment and see where it goes and see where Doc goes because I never know. If you would've told me that I'd be an undead vampire, I wouldn't have believed you! I was already good at being an undead gunslinger!
You mention the vampire thing, that really was something that just cropped up in Season 3. Has that shaded your performance other than the occasional need for Doc to go drink blood?
Rozon: It did, for sure, at first because I didn't know how much to play or not play, but it was one of those things at the beginning where I got the vibe that we weren't going to play it up too much. But, at the same time, you kind of forget he's a vampire and then he's going to have that need for blood and it's like, "Oh yeah! The cowboy is an undead vampire who's going to need to get blood or else shit is going to hit the fan!" So yeah, it's a fun beat.
We were talking about starting production and having to stop again because of the pandemic. Was it easy to slide back into Doc after two years away?
Rozon: I wouldn't say the word was "easy." I was just so grateful these Earpers fought so hard. I almost lost the show that I loved more than anything and, when you love something and almost lose it, man, does it feel good to get it back, especially when you're aware of how much you love it. I think people don't know what they've got until it's gone, but each one of us knew how lucky we were to be on Wynonna Earp. We knew what a great show, what a great cast, what a great fandom we have; what a great experience it had been.
Then we almost lost it and that sucked! Then everybody we know fought so hard. It's just an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and love and support. So to get back to the character again, there's a level of gratefulness and humbleness that comes there. You're forever indebted. And then, of course, six months into the process, there's a world pandemic that put the brakes on you again and you just wonder what else can happen to this show? But I love that it just keeps fighting through everything, and here we are, back again. So the journey is just kind of like the scripts, against all odds, here we are again.
Now that you've spent so much time in this guy's skin in various undead forms, who exactly is Doc Holliday to you?
Rozon: Oh man, I just learn so much from this character and who he's become. At the end of it, I think he's just someone with a good heart that wants to do the right thing but he doesn't always know the best way to go about it. It's one of those things where you have to let go of the past, you have to let the old ways die. And even his old way of thinking of the West is over, he's got to move on and I don't know if he's officially done that until now in Season 4. He can completely let go of the past, let go of his history with Wyatt, because until he can do that, he can't be free to be with anybody else anyway in the future. But I feel like we're getting to the point where he's finally understanding that he needs to let go of the past in so many ways.
Tim, what can you tease about Doc's direction going into Season 4 without giving the game away?
Rozon: Well, that's the thing: It's kind of hard to give the game away, especially with this show. As soon as you think you're understanding which direction a character is going, it's not going to go that way, and I learned that in Season 3. The reason he's a vampire is because he made all these bad choices and sometimes tough -- because I'm such a good guy, playing the bad guy can be difficult! But then, at the end, you realize the reason he became a vampire was because he was the only who could suck the poison out of Wynonna at the end [of Season 3], so the arc comes full circle. Just when I think I understand where the arc is going, it goes a complete other way, so even if the season starts off one way, don't expect it to stay that way.
Produced by SEVEN24 Films and IDW Entertainment, Wynonna Earp stars Melanie Scrofano as the title character, Dominique Provost-Chalkley as Waverly, Katherine Barrell as Nicole Haught and Tim Rozon as Doc Holliday. Season 4 premieres July 26 at 10pm ET/PT on Syfy.