Making the transition from the military to Hollywood is difficult, but two Navy veterans lean on their expertise to keep the hit TV show “Marshals” engaging, exciting, and accurate in its portrayal of the military and law enforcement communities — all while ensuring safety.
From U.S. Marshal to ‘Marshals’
Lenny DePaul is a technical advisor to the “Yellowstone” spinoff. The CBS show follows former Navy SEAL Kayce Dutton as he joins a team of U.S. Marshals — a job DePaul understands all too well.
DePaul was only 17 when he joined the Navy. After five years of active-duty service, he went on to the “highlight of [his] career” as part of the Secret Service under President Reagan. DePaul then made a lateral move to the U.S. Marshals, to which he dedicated the next 30 years.
“I came back to New York and spent three decades chasing violent felony fugitives across the globe for a living,” he said.
DePaul eventually became the chief inspector and commander of the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, apprehending “the worst of the worst” in an effort to make communities safer.
“U.S. Marshals average anywhere from [80,000] to 100,000 arrests of violent felony fugitives every year. It’s fascinating. It’s astounding,” he added.
With his public success as a U.S. Marshal, Hollywood noticed and came knocking. DePaul became a reality television sensation on “Manhunters,” a three-season crime series that followed DePaul and a task force as they hunted down “some of the world’s most wanted fugitives and felons.” He went on to do three seasons of “Hunting Hitler” before being asked to be the technical adviser for the CBS hit show, “Marshals.” In this role, he gives script guidance to writers on “TTPs: tactic, techniques, procedures and whatnot,” and even advises on things like the cast’s attire, where a badge should be on a belt (“always wear your badge next to your gun,” if you were wondering), and how extras should act in the background of a riot.
“I see both sides, which is perfect… as a technical adviser on a show like this because I lived in the real world,” DePaul said.
“It’s fun to to be on set, standing behind the director, every scene, every cut, every take, and [then be asked], ‘What do you think?’”
Involved in most of the process of episode concept to completion, DePaul’s expertise is well respected. However, there is a certain drama expected for television, and he understands when his advice is overruled.
“I enjoy every minute of it… being on Zoom calls with the writers as they’re establishing every episode, I’ll get the [scripts] when they’re done… I’ll look at it, I’ll mark it up. And my famous last words [are], ‘Listen in the real world, guys, we would do it like this.’ Whether they listen to me or not — it’s television, I get it,” he laughed. “They’re going to blow things up… things that we probably wouldn’t do as as U.S. Marshals.”
On the transition to Hollywood, DePaul shared the words of a late friend that put the job in perspective.
“I had an old friend [that] I was friends with for years, Brian Dennehy… when I called him [to ask], ‘What do you think about all this?’ He said, ‘Lenny, this is perfect. You can yell ‘cut!’ in the middle of a shootout now.’
“That kind of hit home… I’m able to yell ‘cut!’ in the middle of a shootout.”
Action-packed drama
While each episode promises high-action and drama, “Marshals” is careful that it is authentic and the cast is safe. Along with stunt coordinator Matt Taylor and stunt performers on set, that responsibility falls to fight coordinator Ryan Sangster, a former Navy SEAL. In this role, he reads the script, attends production meetings, assesses fight locations, and works with the directors, stunt coordinator, and cast for every scene.
“I work hand in hand with the stunt coordinator, designing all of the action and the choreography and everything,” Sangster explained.
Sangster also makes sure the writers’ intent isn’t lost in the action, advising on “the important parts [of] the story that we can’t lose” within a fight sequence. Arielle Kebbel, who plays U.S. Marshal Belle Skinner on “Marshals,” explained the level of intent behind every scene.
“I’ve been doing stunts work with characters for almost 10 years now, so a lot of fight training and coordinating I’m very familiar with,” said Kebbel. “What I was not familiar with was working with M4s, especially like running up and down mountains and in small spaces and moving as a team. And so the pieces that we worked hard in learning was just the technicalities of what it means to carry an M4 and to also clear a room and move with your team, and the footwork that goes into it, and the signals. Those sort of very specific details obviously, were very important to Lenny and to Sangster and to all of us… before a stunt, they would pull us aside and we’d run it again and…again. Or Ryan would come over to me after a take and say, ‘This was great. Change your angle here.’ So we were constantly moving and adjusting, and really just doing whatever we could to make it as authentic as possible.”
‘High-caliber performers’
Sangster’s transition to Hollywood after nearly 10 years in the Navy wasn’t an easy choice, but with injuries from his time in service, he knew he was ready for a change.
“When I was getting out, it was a difficult choice, but I also had a lot of injuries…I felt like it was a time where I was ready to move on and try something else with my life,” Sangster said. He went on to describe the desire to “jump back into the unknown,” and pushing himself creatively while not subjecting his body to more injuries.
“It was a difficult transition, as [it is] with many people, but I just trusted that things were going to work out the way they needed to… it’s amazing because I can do a lot, but I also know my own [physical] limitations, and it allows me to still be creative, [to] do things within film that I really enjoy doing and helping be part of that creative process.”
According to Sangster, top-tier professionals work on the set of “Marshals”; he praised everyone’s dedication to their craft, from the cast and stunt performers to writers and special effects.
“I just love working with extremely high-caliber people and high-caliber performers at whatever it is they’re doing… I just like being able to work with high-level people that really care about what they’re doing, similar to when I was in the military,” he said.
“I’m just one small player in a huge picture of amazing people that are all contributing to this final product.”
Watch “Marshals” on Sunday nights (8:00-9:00PM, ET/PT) on CBS, or stream on Paramount+.
