Justin Hartley Says His ‘Tracker’ Character Is Very Similar to This TV Superhero

Before his breakout role as Kevin Pearson on NBC’s hit drama This Is Us, Justin Hartley first came to public attention as the talented archer Oliver Queen (aka Green Arrow) on The CW’s Smallville. Now with three hit shows in his growing creative portfolio, with Tracker being his latest project, the actor shares that there are some similarities between his Smallville character and the lone wolf, Colter Shaw.

Hartley first appeared in a recurring role in Smallville’s sixth season and went on to become a series regular from Season 8 through the series’ final season. After his Green Arrow role, the actor tried his hand at other TV projects (including Emily Owens, M.D. and The Young and the Restless) before eventually landing the role of Kevin Pearson on This Is Us, which he played from 2016 to 2022. A role he’s been playing for a long time, the actor revealed in an interview with ComicBook that he never gave much thought to Green Arrow until he played Tracker’s Colter, who he believes has similarities to his Smallville character. “I think I try to keep the characters different, because they’re all so different, but I like to make a list of what I have in common with the characters I’m playing and what I don’t have in common with them. That’s how I start,” Hartley said. “What’s interesting is I’ve made the list of Kevin Pearson and Colter Shaw, because I’ve played Kevin Pearson for a long time. But I’ve never really thought about Green Arrow. Really, he’s a loner sometimes. He has strong beliefs about certain things. I think Oliver, the way I play him, is a little more driven than Colter. I don’t know if Colter necessarily is. Colter, you could call him a vigilante in a lot of ways. He breaks the law sometimes. He does what he needs to do to get the job done. Maybe a little more daring in dressing differently.” Originally scheduled to premiere its second season on October 27 of this year, CBS announced that Tracker would return two weeks earlier, on October 13. Tracker, which premiered to high ratings, is based on the novel “The Never Game” by Jeffery Deaver. The film follows veteran survivor and “reward seeker” Colter Shaw, who uses his extraordinary tracking skills to help law enforcement and citizens solve mysteries, including missing persons.

Tracker also stars Robin Weigert as Teddi Bruin, Fiona Rene as Reenie Greene, Abby McEnany as Velma Bruin, Eric Graise as Bobby Exley, Jennifer Morrison as Lizzy Hawking, Jensen Ackles as Russell Shaw, Sofia Pernas as Billie Matalon, Melissa Roxburgh as Dory, Lee Tergesen as Ashton Shaw, Wendy Crewson as Mary Dove Shaw, and many more