Casting Beau Bridges and Jason Ritter as father-and-son attorneys on “Matlock” was a stroke of genius — and perhaps an inevitability. Both were born into performing families; Bridges is the son of Lloyd and brother to Jeff Bridges. Ritter is the grandson of Tex Ritter and son of the late John Ritter, who, ironically, was often mistaken for Beau Bridges during his early career, even to the point where people asked him to sign the wrong headshot.

The two actors have even shared a role: Ritter participated in a 2007 reading of the play “The Trial of the Catonsville Nine,” taking on the part that Beau had originated in 1971. While Bridges had a different part at the reading, it was there that the two actors first met in person. 

Now, the legacy actors are sharing scenes in the CBS hit, created by Jennie Snyder Urman and starring Kathy Bates as the eponymous attorney, who takes her name from the original Andy Griffith series. Though the relationship between their characters, Howard “Senior” Markston and his son Julian, is contentious onscreen, that doesn’t carry over into real life. 

Below, Bridges and Ritter discuss their easy chemistry, following in their fathers’ footsteps and the power of a good hug.

That first “Matlock” was a great one. I watched it when I was younger. And this one is a whole different ball game. Jennie Urman has created a really interesting show full of surprises and exciting twists and turns. People are really into it – and we are too! I never know what’s going to happen. Every script is like opening a Christmas present. 

I think there are a lot of people who either had a relationship to the old one or didn’t, and they just hear about it and go, “I don’t know if that’s really my thing.” But everyone who’s given the chance of watching the pilot has really enjoyed it, and so it’s been fun to see the audience expand beyond who you might guess. It’s kind of crossed all these barriers. Like Beau is saying, we all love it. We are having so much fun. It’s a rare and lovely experience when the audience reaction to it mirrors your own.

I was absolutely nervous going in, but I was immediately met with Beau’s welcoming energy. There was no sense of rivalry; in fact, he was very helpful to me because he knew so much about the character, and he didn’t gatekeep that information.

What’s great for us as actors playing father and son is that we have this history together, so we can bring that all into play. And we relate; my dad was an entertainer and Jason’s dad and [grandfather] were entertainers. There’s a lot that comes to bear with how you move forward in your professional life if your father was in the same business. Good things, but challenging things too.  

I don’t think we’ve explicitly talked about it, aside from the connections. For example, Lloyd was in “High Noon,” and the song became a hit for Tex. There are so many places where our history overlaps. My dad was also the son of a working actor, and it’s funny because I will find an old interview of my dad when he was on “The Waltons” and he’s answering questions about his dad and it’s almost word-for-word how I talked in interviews at the beginning of my career. 

There are many mirror experiences between these two families that overlap in a beautiful way and make it so easy to play this relationship – especially set in a world where the father and son are working in the same industry, and all the things that come with that about wanting to prove yourself and feeling like maybe people are making assumptions about you. So, it’s been really helpful to have all of that history to feed into what we do today. Of course, on the show, their relationship is a more toxic version of that. 

Actually, we do sometimes! It can be tough because we invest a lot of our personal emotions and lives into our work as actors, and I think it’s a good thing to release when you’re done so you can go back to who you really are. What’s nice is that if I didn’t know the actor as well, I would have to do more preparation to imagine that actor as my son. But because it’s Jason, I can let go of that. I have a genuine respect and joy about my relationship with him, and I let that inform the scene. 

It feels great! Especially after some of those scenes. I always know it’s pretending, he’s never actually hurting my feelings. But when he says some of these lines that are so cold and intense, it’s still coming from a face and from a heart I feel is capable of love, which makes it more painful. Howard is not a cold guy all around. He can be warm. He’s just so reserved with his son. It’s hard, but I do appreciate those hugs. 

Ritter: Maybe two-thirds into the season, Jennie said, “By the way, I think you should know where this is heading.”

Bridges: It’s so fun to watch it unfold. Even with my family, we all talk about, “Where’s it going to go now?” Because Jennie’s mind is just wild and things could go in so many different directions. 

Were you worried about how angry people were going to be with you after the reveal? 

Ritter: I was nervous about that. There was, like, a two-week break where the guilt had shifted towards Olympia and the heat was off me for a little bit. I greatly enjoyed that period of time.