‘Sugar’ Season 2 Exclusive Interview: Tony Dalton

Tony Dalton stars in ‘Sugar’ season 2.

Premiering June 19th on Apple TV is season 2 of the popular neo-noir mystery series ‘Sugar’, which stars Colin Farrell (‘The Penguin’).

Air Date: April 4th, 2024

In addition to Farrell, the series stars Tony Dalton (‘Hawkeye’), Jin Ha (‘Civil War’), Raymond Lee (‘Top Gun: Maverick’), Laura Donnelly (‘Werewolf by Night’), Sasha Calle (‘The Flash’), and Shea Whigham (‘Joker’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Tony Dalton about his work on ‘Sugar’ season 2, joining the popular series, his approach to playing his character and working with Colin Farrell on set.

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Tony Dalton in ‘Sugar’ season 2, premiering June 19, 2026 on Apple TV.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about joining this series and your approach to playing your character?

Tony Dalton: Well, you read the script and find out a little bit about where he’s from. I have some friends here in LA who are from Compton. So, they took me over there a couple times, saw the neighborhood, and met some people just to see where this guy grew up. I think that makes a huge difference because it gave me the sense to just be fearless. These guys that come from this neighborhood, where danger is around the corner every day, it’s shady and you got to watch your back. So, once you grow up on that side and you do that for your entire life, then you become a cop and you become morally corrupt as a cop. You kind of use the police as your shield and start doing whatever the hell you want because you feel like you’re owed that. It helped a lot to shape and to excuse the character for his actions.

Tony Dalton in ‘Sugar’ season 2, premiering June 19, 2026 on Apple TV.

MF: To that point, he doesn’t act like he is corrupt. He’s calm and charismatic. Can you talk about why you decided to play him that way?

TD: I mean, yes, I think that this guy is just carefree. He really doesn’t think that this is that big of a deal until it is. So maybe in John Sugar’s world, it’s a big deal, but not in Ray Vega’s. It’s just another day. The other thing is that I saw an interview a while back with Samuel L. Jackson and he was asked, “What’s your secret to acting?” I love what he answered. He said, “Well, don’t do sh*t until you got sh*t to do.” It’s like, just take it easy until somebody pulls a gun on you and then get worried. Otherwise, just take it easy, which I think is very helpful in this character specifically because he’s got so many things going on that maybe the audience doesn’t know, but you can tell that he doesn’t care until he cares.

Colin Farrell in ‘Sugar’ season 2, premiering June 19, 2026 on Apple TV.

MF: Finally, what was it like working with Colin Farrell on set, especially in the interrogation room scenes?

TD: That was the first scene we did. It was great. Man, it was wonderful. I mean, I’ve seen this guy for 25 years, and then suddenly, I’m doing a big scene with him. It’s intimidating, but it was great. He’s such a pro, and he’s just a sweet guy, and he’s nice to everybody. He’s the first one there and he’s the last one to leave and it just gives you this sense of, “All right, we got to step up our game to do this.” It was wonderful. It was really one of the best acting experiences I’ve had.

Colin Farrell in ‘Sugar’ season 2, premiering June 19, 2026 on Apple TV.

What is the plot of ‘Sugar’ season 2?

Season two ushers in the return of Los Angeles’ iconic private detective and film connoisseur, John Sugar (Colin Farrell), in a new case, tracking the troubled older brother of an up-and-coming local boxer, as his search for his beloved missing sister continues. As the investigation expands into a citywide conspiracy with sinister intentions, Sugar must reckon with himself to answer the question — how far will he go to do what’s right?