Kenny Johnson on How He’s Being Written Out of ‘S.W.A.T.’

In the “Escape” episode of S.W.A.T that aired before the hiatus, off-duty third-generation S.W.A.T. team member Dominique Luca (Kenny Johnson) took three bullets to the chest and shoulder while trying to prevent a robbery. It looked impossible for him to survive the shooting and then in the promo for the next episode, it looked like there was a funeral.

It even faked out Johnson, who went into the studio to do some looping and was only allowed to see the episode up to the point where he got shot.

“I remember I said, ‘I’m dead. I’m dead. You can’t survive that. I’ve got to be dead,’” he tells Parade. “But it’s written that it missed the main artery by three millimeters or something. So, nothing was life threatening. But it looks like I’m dead. And the way they promoted it, it’s like a freaking funeral. So, yeah, people are excited to come back to see Luca’s funeral. But it’s not going to be, it’s going to be way different than that.”

What looked to be a funeral turned out to be a ceremony honoring Luca when he was forced to retire. The bullets didn’t kill him, but one of them caused serious nerve damage in his dominant shoulder and he will never again be able to properly hold a weapon. So, he had to make the choice: Stay with the LAPD and do office work or retire. It was a truly difficult, emotional decision for Luca, because he was born and bred to be part of the LAPD in action as a S.W.A.T. officer.

“It’s all he knows,” Johnson agrees. “I think Luca, in particular, not only is he S.W.A.T. because it’s all he knows, but he really wants to serve and protect people. He wants to be out there on the frontlines, whether that’s giving up his life or not. It’s what he was born to do and it’s the selfless part of him.”

So, to have him have the job taken away from him has put him in the impossible position of trying to figure out what’s next for his life and we saw him at the beach trying to do just that.

“He’s in a very lost space,” Johnson points out. “You’re in shock, you’re angry, you’re emotional and at the same time, how do you accept that from when you get the news to the end of the episode? I think it is still spinning in his head, like, ‘I’m lost, I’m lost.’”

Related: Who Left S.W.A.T. in the 'End of the Road' Episode?

Luca’s involvement with S.W.A.T. is an interesting contrast to the free-spirited surfer that he is off duty, but it was what made Luca such an interesting character. At one point, he used to live in HQ, sleeping on the couch and taking showers there, but the money that he saved, he used to buy the house in East Los Angeles to try to help the community, which goes with his desire to protect and serve.

Now, he has to decide what’s next? Will he pack up his surfboard and follow the waves around the world, or will he be able to find another career that will be as fulfilling for him as S.W.A.T.?

“You can surf the world and you can be in Bali and Bali’s like a great place to escape to and they’ve got the best waves and you’re tranquil and you’ve got all that going on with your mind. But the same thing at the end of the day, what do you want to do? You want to be out there with the team, and you want to be doing, again, the only thing that you feel like you’re great at.”

As easy going as Luca is and as much as he believes what's meant to be will be, it doesn’t mean he might not experience depression, even if he is a paradise somewhere like Bali.

“Without knowing it, I guarantee that creeps in at some point,” Johnson speculates. “It’s like real life. Life imitates art, it goes reverse because if you put yourself in that situation, everyone’s different and some people can accept things and just move on. But you’ve got to be more of an enlightened state of mind in order to do that.

“Where Luca’s at right now is a lost space. It’s kind of a sad not knowing what to do. It’s a little late in his life to be like, 'I want to find a whole new career.' Is a food truck going to fulfill me? No, I don’t think so. You can go out in the community now and try to help, but you’re not doing what you know how to do and love. I think he’s lost a little bit.”

Related: Shemar Moore Says in His Heart, Despite Being Canceled, He's Ready for More Seasons of S.W.A.T.

On this Zoom call to discuss the end of his S.W.A.T. role, Johnson also talks about his favorite moments from the series, working with his daughter Angelica on the series, and how he learned that he was only going to do two episodes this final season.

Do you have a favorite memory, a favorite episode? A while back you talked about how you loved the pilot, but maybe you have more favorite episodes since then?

I love the episode where I find my house and I go to East LA, and I want to be part of the community and Marcos and everyone doesn’t want me there. I have to deal with that. Again, that was a fun episode for me because on a very human level, it parallels what would happen in real life. I like it when things seem very real to me.

Doing The Shield for so many years, we spent so much time in Boyle Heights and East LA with all the 18th Street gang members that would always be out there that we were actually writing about, but at the same time they were out there watching us shoot. I don’t know, man, I really like that because it feels real. I liked that episode a lot.

I don’t love what the school shooting episode is about, but I know that was super potent and powerful because it happens, and it was addressing a very real thing. It was super emotional for me. I did so much research on that and that was a bold thing for those guys to address. That and to try to just bring awareness to that event and to people. I took that one really personal and wanted to do the best that we could to just bring awareness to make change or to reach out and to help people that might be in that situation and to speak.

The role of Kelly that your daughter Angelica plays was created with her in mind, and it was a one-time thing but then it became recurring. What was that like to be able to work with her over the years?

We had done three films prior to this. So, we had worked together on these indie films. She was very little when she started. It wasn’t like I wanted to get her into it, but she was like, “I want to be an actress.” I was, “Okay, you’re a little young, maybe when you’re older.” She demanded it. So, she ended up doing like 22 musicals since she was five and we did three films.

Then this role came up where [executive producer] Shawn Ryan knew that I had severe dyslexia when I was growing up. I had a second grade reading level. I thought I was dumb, but I had to do anything and everything just to get by, but I didn’t know why I couldn’t read and I didn’t understand why. Until I was tested at one point, and somebody brought it up to me because they realized I wasn’t able to read. What they were asking me to read and what I was saying, I was making up all this stuff. They were like, “Do you even know what that says?” I’m like, “No.”

Anyways, Shawn knew about that, so he created this role. He said, “I’m creating it with Angelica in mind, but she might be too young to do it. I want her to audition and I’m going to send her tape off to Sony and CBS without saying who she is because I want her to get the part on her own.”

Of course. So, she did, and we worked on it. We didn’t hear anything until the day before the episode. I kept telling her that it may or may not happen, and if it’s not meant to be that’s the way the universe is and it’s okay. But we continually worked on it literally up until the night before. I thought they booked somebody else because it’s the night before the episode and we haven’t heard a word. Then I got a call at 10 at night from casting like, “Your daughter got cast as Kelly.” I’m like, “Oh, my God.” I had to wake her up, I go, “Jelli, Jelli,” because her nickname’s Jelli, I go, “Jelli, you got the role.” She’s just like, “yay,” and then she’s back to sleep.

Then every year they wrote an episode for Kelly and the relationship with Luca and him wanting to help her learn how to read and then to get into a better school and then she gets into journalism, which is an awesome thing. She’s getting more confidence and then her mom yanks it and says, “I’m going to San Diego because this is good for me.” And then Kelly not wanting to leave the only safe haven, which is a school that has help for kids who can’t read or that have major dyslexia. That was a life choice and I can’t override her mom because she’s her mom. That was a tough one. Then she comes back in this episode, and I teach her how to drive, which is parallel to what we do in real life. Except for in this episode, she doesn’t do so well.

So, it’s been a great journey. Again, working with her, she’s just naturally very instinctive and really good, so I never tell her what to do ever or how to read something. I just support her. I’ll talk out scenes, like the stakes of what’s going on. Then she just does her own thing and I just completely support it. It’s been awesome.

Related: S.W.A.T. Star David Lim on How What You Don't Know Can Sometimes Lead to Success

This has been a crazy year for you at S.W.A.T. You were cancelled and then they brought you back. What was that emotional ride like for you?

It’s wild because when they say it’s canceled, I get in my head like, “Okay, this is it.” I always have a thing where whatever’s meant to be is meant to be. If the universe or whatever powers that be say, “it’s done, it’s over,” then I always accept it and let go.

Sometimes I might go, “It’s No. 1 in its spot every week on a Friday night and it’s a pretty popular show and the demo does pretty well.” So, sometimes you might wonder why [it was canceled]. But there’s a lot of times where successful shows will be canceled for whatever reason, and you have no control over that.

For that to happen on a Friday and then Monday they’re going, “Okay, we’re going to pick it back up again for 13.” Okay. You get that and then all of a sudden the strike happens.

And then you get a call, and someone says, “We have to lose two characters because of the financial thing in order to do the 13.” And then they say, “You and Alex.” You wrap your head around that. And then they’re like, “We want you to do two episodes and we’re going to give you a great out.” Then I wrapped my head around that and think like, “Okay.”

So that was it. I just thought, “Okay, it is what it is and I’m going to wrap my head around those last two episodes not knowing what they were going to write.” They asked my daughter to come back for one, so I was excited about that. And then I trusted [executive producer] Andy Dettmann that he was going to do something really cool as a sendoff. He goes, “It’s going to be bittersweet.” I’m like , “Okay, whatever you have in mind.”

I’m 100 percent behind the people that are the creative forces behind the show. I just had to let that ride and not take anything personal. And at the same time, when the episodes came, I was probably happier than I had ever been. You realize, “This is the end so enjoy this last bit of time that you have because this is it.”

Do you have plans of what you want to do next?

I started recurring on Mayor of Kingstown last season and they had me back this season. I’ve got to go to Pittsburgh and shoot that and then in a couple weeks again. So, that’s been an ongoing recurring thing. And then I have another film that I’ve worked with this same writer and director on a couple other movies, and they want me to do it. So, we’ll see, I don’t know.

S.W.A.T. airs Friday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and streams next day on Paramount+.

Next, Shemar Moore on the Importance of Tackling Everyday Issues on S.W.A.T.