Juggling Multiple Jobs, Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba Fine-Tune L.A.’S FINEST for Season 2

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede For Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba, L.A.’S FINEST represents the ultimate in show business multi-tasking. “I think for both Jess and I, we’ve both done action, we’ve both done comedy, we’ve both done dramedy, we both produce things – but we haven’t been able to do all of that at one time,” said Union, whose series kicks off Season 2, Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on CTV. “So to have such a wide field to play with, while also being executive producers and making sure we’re leading from the top down, and not asking anyone to do anything that we’re not willing to do ourselves, and at the same time being in an action show, and getting to kiss boys and girls, I’ve never been able to do all of these things at once,” Union continued. “So it’s pretty awesome to have that vote of confidence at this stage of my career and not be, you know, 12.” L.A.’S FINEST can be described as an action/comedy/drama/cop series, which certainly is a mouthful. Perhaps it’s easier to explain that it’s a spinoff of the Bad Boys movie franchise, which should provide a clearer idea of tone. In fact, Union’s character – Sydney “Syd” Burnett – is the sister of Marcus Burnett, who was played by Martin Lawrence in the Bad Boys films (the first two installments are available for streaming on Crave). Alba, meanwhile, plays a former career criminal named Nancy McKenna, who switches sides and becomes Syd’s partner in the Los Angeles Police Department. Alba agreed that she gets to show a different side of herself in L.A.’S FINEST, as opposed to the bulk of her movie roles. “I’ve never been able to really play a character that feels like a real person that I want to hang out with,” Alba said. “I’ve always kind of had to play the version of the person that, you know, the studio wanted me to play. And there were always so many cooks in the kitchen, pretty much in most, if not all, things in my career that really kind of dictated the performance that you saw. In this, I get to play someone who’s complex, and has feelings. One second I’m cracking jokes, the next second I’m falling apart, and the next second I’m kicking ass. I’m just allowed to really be a dynamic person, and that has never happened for me.” Asked about the biggest challenge in Season 2, Alba put on her executive producer hat. “I think just the logistics of, how do you try and up the ante on the storylines, and then also the action?” Alba said. “And you know, really getting tight with our budgets so that we can have room to do the really high level of (executive producer) Jerry Bruckheimer Bad Boys action, and bring that into what the audience gets to see on a weekly basis.” Union had a big laugh when she was questioned about Syd’s rather active love life. After all, some of the things that viewers are going to see in Season 2 – which was filmed before the pandemic – couldn’t possibly have been shot under COVID-19 protocols. “Yeah, Syd has a very full sex life – her dance card stays full, with all kinds of dancers!” Union said. “We would’ve had to get very creative (with pandemic safeguards). Maybe some sort of Tantric thing. Maybe (longtime married couple) Sting and Trudie (Styler) would have come on to show us how to make love from across the room with energy or something. I have no idea. But that’s the new normal.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv