On Season 3 of the TNT series Animal Kingdom, Smurf (Ellen Barkin) is in jail and she’s left her grandson J (Finn Cole) in charge of the family crime business, which isn’t going over well with the rest of the Cody family. As a result, Pope (Shawn Hatosy), Craig (Ben Robson) and Deran (Jake Weary) are becoming increasingly divided, while trying to figure out how they’re going to keep money coming in, as they fight off outside threats that put all of their lives on the line.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actor Jake Weary (who plays Smurf’s youngest son, Deran) talked about the new revelations of Season 3, the evolution of his character, both losing and gaining a cast member this season, what Denis Leary is bringing to the show, as Deran’s estranged father, shooting the crazy action sequences, why this show always needs to have a lingering threat to the Cody family, what Deran would like for himself, at this point, and whether he’d ever consider directing an episode of the series, like his co-star Shawn Hatosy.

Collider: After two seasons on a show, playing this character, how does Season 3 feel for you?

JAKE WEARY: The thing with television is that, after you’ve had a chance to sink into a character, there are these new elements to this person that slowly make their way in, over a longer course of time. Come Season 3, you have these new revelations that maybe didn’t hit you in the first two seasons that, all of a sudden, are now coming into play. I feel like there’s a lot of that happening in Season 3. Now that Deran has had this time away from Smurf, he’s been able to deal with his own problems, and that just introduces all of these new hurdles that he has to leap over and navigate his way through. It’s like a new Deran that we’re seeing, in Season 3. It’s a grown-up Deran, and he has to figure out how to adapt to the real world.

When you think back to how he was when we met him, he was one of the bigger messes of this family and now he’s become the more put together one. Could you have imagined that he would get his head together like this, even if he doesn’t necessarily have all of his shit together?

WEARY: To an extent, you root for J (Finn Cole) because he’s the person we can relate to, on a human level. But then, there’s also Deran, who is still borderline sociopathic, but you empathize with him, in a weird way, because you want him to be happy and succeed, which is cool. It can get a little tricky when you’re making a show about criminals. I just feel like they do such a great job with that, on the show.

What was it like to both lose a cast member this season, with Baz getting killed and Scott Speedman no longer around, and also add a cast member, with Denis Leary joining the show?

WEARY: It’s funny because they both bring their own antics to the set. Scott became a really good friend of mine and it was a bummer to see him go, but at the beginning, we all knew that there was a chance that could happen, if they stuck to the source material. But then, Denis came along, and we really needed that kind of energy on the show. With Scott leaving, there was a bit of a void that needed to be filled, and not just on camera, but also with the morale, on set and off camera. Denis came in and really held his own, and just made everyone laugh and feel grateful to be able to do what we do. When you’re on a television show, after three years, it can feel a little overwhelming and things get a little comfortable. It’s really nice to have a curve ball thrown at you, like Denis Leary, where you have to be on your A-game again. He just makes you realize how lucky you are to be able to come to work, every day, and have fun. We really needed that, this season.

Any time you might have thought about who Deran’s father might be, is this, at all, how you would have ever pictured it?

WEARY: No! In a weird way, as soon as I found out that they were looking at Denis Leary for the part, I was like, “Of course! That makes a lot of sense.” It made the most sense, out of any other prospect for the part. Denis is from Boston and I’m from New Jersey, so there’s that east coast vibe going on. Honestly, the trickiest part about working with Denis Leary was trying to keep my east coast accent at bay. Our executive producer, David Rodriguez, is also a big New Yorker, so when he’s directing an episode, he tries his best to do a simple accent because my New Jersey accent can slip sometimes.

How does having that character around change Deran’s perspective on things? Will he see things differently or approach things differently, once he learns a little bit more about his own history?

WEARY: Yeah. Deran tends to look down on himself a lot and pity himself. With his father coming into the picture, Denis Leary’s character, Billy, helps him be a little more comfortable in his own skin. He forces him to look at the bigger picture and take himself more seriously, as a business man and as a free-spirited human being, who has the right and opportunity to be on his own. Smurf’s hold on him isn’t as strong as he thinks. He is a strong-willed individual. That’s a really interesting thing to see, especially when it’s someone like Denis Leary. We have so many scenes that will make you laugh, but then there are these really true and honest father-son moments between the two characters. There are these nice little moments, throughout the season, that make you feel good.

We know that Smurf doesn’t like the idea of anyone encroaching on what’s hers, so how does she feel about Billy being around?

WEARY: She’s not happy with him being around. His presence is potentially devastating to her position of power. He’s coming in and testing that. It seems like he’s maybe come into her life, a couple of times, and caused some drama, and then moved on and stayed off the radar. Smurf is always protecting what’s hers, so when someone comes in and puts her to the test, things can get pretty hostile.

This family has pulled a lot of smaller jobs, but they also do some crazy shit, every so often, and we’ve seen that you guys rob an airplane this season. How crazy and fun is it to do scenes and sequences like that?

WEARY: It’s very fun! Those are the moments on the show where I have to pinch myself and be like, “This is a real thing. This is my job. I get to go to work and do this.” It’s real easy to get caught up in the meaningless drama that you find yourself in. I just enjoy and embrace the fun stuff. There are some moments where you feel like you’re in a James Bond movie, and you’re with your best friend. These are people that I really care about. I used to make a ton of home videos and little movies, when I was a kid, and this is the same, except that there’s a lot more money involved, a really expensive camera, a big crew, and a script. It just totally brings me back to being a kid and making these fun home videos where we’re doing our own stunts. We just have a blast working doing that stuff. It’s more and more fun, every year. They try and up the ante, every year. Before every season begins, you’re anticipating what they’re gonna throw at you next. That aspect of it is very, very fun.

At the same time ,this family has been doing this a long time without getting caught or ending up dead. Do you feel like they’re really just on borrowed time, at this point? Is it just a matter of time before it catches up with them?

WEARY: I don’t want to speak directly on behalf of (executive producer/writer/director) John Wells, but I think that there’s a part of the show where there needs to be this lingering threat. You can suspend disbelief and make people assume that the Codys will get away with everything because they’re these flawless criminals, but I think there should always be this black cloud following them, wherever they go. It’s this lingering peripheral threat that’s always there, whether it’s the cops, or people outside of the family, or some external threat. It always has to be there, or you don’t have a compelling piece of television. We can keep robbing banks and getting away with everything, but if we don’t have repercussions, in some way, then there’s no point in watching, every week. I’d like to believe that there just isn’t enough evidence to bring the Codys down, at this point.

With Deran being a bit more zen, calm and centered now, and a bit more accepting of himself, as far as who he has romantic feeling for, and having interests outside of the family, ideally what do you think he would like to see happen for himself? What do you think he’s looking for out of life, at this point?

WEARY: I really think that he’s searching for simplicity. I really, truly feel that he just wants to be a normal guy, managing these new responsibilities that he has, and find someone who knows him and knows his history, but who’s also supportive of him, in this change. I think there’s a life after a criminal undertaking. What is normal, at that point? Everybody has their own definition of normalcy. What is Deran’s? Is it just owning the bar, for the rest of his life, or is it running his own jobs? I honestly just think that he’s trying to find the balance with both. It’s teeter-tottering with, do I continue to make money? I’ve always had this nice cushion, so how do I keep that up? Can I do it legally? There’s definitely a lot of variables going, with his overall decision-making.

Did seeing your co-star, Shawn Hatosy, directing an episode this season give you any desire to also try your own hand at directing?

WEARY: After watching him go through that, no! I thought about it, and the idea was tantalizing, and then I watched what he went through. However, it did give me the utmost respect for him, as a person, and I think he’s a fantastic director. He came in there and really made it his own, and he made us feel comfortable. We all really supported him through the process and made him feel comfortable. I honestly think he did an incredible job, and the episode is gonna be really good. The funny part is that is you have this first-time director come in, and he had to direct one of the hardest pieces of television we had, all season. There was this absurd, crazy action sequence that we’ve never done on the show, and it had lots of moving parts. He just came in, like a boss man, and handled it with ease. I have nothing but respect for him. Would I want to put myself in that position, at this point? Probably not because it’s a lot of work. It was a lot of work and we’re divas, and I wouldn’t be able to work with myself, let alone in front of my castmates. It’s so different to come in and direct TV. You really need to come in there and make sure you’re getting everything that’s on the page and everything that’s asked of you. It’s really tricky because, a lot of the time, there isn’t much room for putting your stamp on it. It already has this vibe. But despite that, I truly think Shawn made his own episode, and it’s gonna be really fun. I’m excited to see that one.

Animal Kingdom airs on Tuesday nights on TNT.