The Rainmaker's John Slattery Warns: You “Can’t Trust Anything” Leo Drummond Says
“He’s a self-described bully," John Slattery says of his character on USA Network's The Rainmaker, Leo Drummond.
A good villain is hard to find.
Admired and feared by his staff, Leo F. Drummond (John Slattery) in The Rainmaker on USA Network is the ruthless senior partner of a powerful law firm, Tinley Britt, having made some moves that are genuinely chilling — and we’re only three episodes in.
It requires nerves of steel to survive his icy leadership, and an equally strong personality to challenge him in court. For enthusiasts of morally questionable characters, Slattery brings something enticing to the table. Best known for his role as Roger Sterling on Mad Men, a charming yet flawed advertising executive, Slattery adds an undercurrent of menace to The Rainmaker, along with arrogance and wit.
It’s this complexity that drew the Emmy-nominated actor to the role in the first place. “The good thing about Drummond is you can't trust anything he says, and that I find interesting,” Slattery told the Los Angeles Times in a recent interview. “He’s a self-described bully. And being a successful trial attorney, there's a bag of tricks that probably grows with each year, so he's probably pretty adept at using all of them or whatever he needs given the situation."
Leo F. Drummond's memorable moments in The Rainmaker
From the first episode, when Drummond announced to his new hires, “I am the punishment of God,” we knew he would demand loyalty at all costs. When law graduate and the series' main protagonist, Rudy Baylor (Milo Callaghan), challenged him in the boardroom, Drummond wasted no time firing him on the first day. Slattery told the Los Angeles Times: “Maybe he sees a threat in the kid being that his moral code might differ from the present administration [at Tinley Britt], so maybe you get rid of those people.”
“He's always looking to learn something,” Slattery continued of Drummond. “Whether it's from someone or just the cracks in their armor or the information he can wheedle out of somebody.”
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When Rudy’s girlfriend and fellow new hire, Sarah Plankmore (Madeline Iseman), tries to get Drummond to hire him back, he pulls a chilling power play, slowly dropping one French fry after another on the ground at her feet, expecting her to pick them up.
The intimidation tactics persisted in Episode 2. After Drummond experienced a setback at a hearing for a hospital case (with Rudy outmaneuvering him in court), he first threatened co-counsel Jocelyn "Bruiser" Stone (Lana Parrilla) and then made a settlement offer — one she outright scoffed at. Concerned that Rudy might be the block, he turned to his new hire, Sarah, to dig up dirt on her boyfriend. Feeling intimidated by her boss, Sarah betrayed Rudy by revealing personal information about him: that he had a deceased brother.
Episode 3 will give viewers a glimpse into Drummond and Bruiser’s contentious history.
New episodes of The Rainmaker premiere on USA Network every Friday at 10/9c p.m. before making their way to Peacock one week after they air.
