As far as breakout years go, they don’t come much better than the 2022 Tyner Rushing is having so far.
It’s only the first day of July, but the actress has already appeared in Chris Pine’s action thriller The Contractor, lent support in Dustin Lance Black’s acclaimed Andrew Garfield-starring miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven, and played Virgina Creel in season four of Netflix juggernaut Stranger Things.
To top it all off, Rushing has a pivotal supporting part in Prime Video’s brand new series The Terminal List as Liz Riley, a longtime friend and confidant of Chris Pratt’s James Reece, the Navy SEAL who returns home seeking answers after his entire platoon is killed during a covert mission.
The eight-episode blockbuster is now streaming, and We Got This Covered had the chance to speak to Rushing about the project. During our chat we covered the phenomenal year she’s having so far, the challenges of working on a production with so many moving parts, and the campaign to give her character more action scenes in potential future seasons, which you can check out below.
It’s safe to say that we’re about to add The Terminal List to Under the Banner of Heaven and Stranger Things as a hit, so how does it feel to be continuing your hot streak of racking up the biggest and most popular TV shows of 2022?
Tyner Rushing: Wow, that’s so nice! I hadn’t thought about it that way. I feel great. I just feel so grateful to be a part of this one. You know, I filmed this show before I worked on Under the Banner of Heaven. So it’s funny to have Under the Banner come out first. And I worked for this on this show for so long. It just, it feels good.
Liz is a key part of Reece’s story, but doesn’t get as many action scenes as other characters, were you happy to stay out of the line of fire, or was there any jealousy that you weren’t dealing with as much running, jumping, shooting, and explosions as some other members of the cast?
Tyner Rushing: That’s a good question. I don’t know if “jealousy” is the right word! But I will say that I wanted more action. There was a time when they were like, “We’ve thought about putting Liz in this this action scene”. And I was like, “Why didn’t you like let her? Let her at ’em! Let her go!”
She kind of stays in her lane, as far as reconnaissance and stuff goes… not to dive into or dip into spoiler territory. But no, I would have loved to have been a part of that. The action that I did get to do, like the weapons training I got to do, was so exhilarating. So fun, really challenging, but just that good kind of challenging. I would have said yes to more!
So you’re saying that you’d like to be involved in more action scenes, should there be a season 2 of The Terminal List?
Tyner Rushing: Yeah! If you talk to Jack Carr, you know, just drop a word for me.
I already did! I wish I’d known that, or I would have asked him.
Tyner Rushing: We need more Liz Riley!
Speaking of Liz, it’s not really a character we’ve really seen you play before. Was it an exciting challenge to dive into something like The Terminal List that covers so many different genre bases like action, thriller, drama, political intrigue, and conspiracy, all at once?
Tyner Rushing: Yeah, I don’t think I’ve done any of that before. So it was it was a big challenge in that way. But it was also really familiar in a way because, as you know, Liz Riley’s from Alabama. And I grew up on a plant farm in Alabama. And so… sort of, like, this most authentic inner part of myself is pretty similar to her.
And it was cool to get to bring that to the screen. And it’s not something many people see, that part of myself, only after a few beers or talking to family or something, do you see that country girl! So it was cool.
The campaign starts now for Liz to get more action scenes in any future seasons of The Terminal List.
Tyner Rushing: I love it! Thanks!
The Terminal List is now streaming on Prime Video. For more on the show, be sure to check out our interviews with Chris Pratt and Taylor Kitsch, JD Pardo and Constance Wu, and Jeanne Tripplehorn and LaMonica Garrett, along with our chat with auhor Jack Carr, executive producer Antoine Fuqua, and showrunner David DiGilio, while you can catch our review of the series here.
