Eric Dane on filming new show ‘Countdown’: ‘It’s not a marathon, it is a sprint’

Eric Dane and Jensen Ackles star in the new Prime Video series Countdown.

The show, which debuts on Wednesday, follows a secret task force that comes together to investigate the murder of an officer with the Department of Homeland Security.

Ackles leads as LAPD Detective Mark Meachum, while Dane plays his commanding officer, Nathan Blythe. The characters butt heads at times, but they’re ultimately on the same team.

“There’s this beautiful dance that happens between a commanding officer and the guy who is effectively a bit of a maverick and a loose cannon and has problems with superiority,” Ackles said.

Dane is “the one swinging the hammer and I’m the hammer,” Ackles said.

His co-star agreed with his assessment. “That’s a really great analogy,” Dane said. “We butt heads but it doesn’t matter because at the end of the day I get what I want out of him.”

Ackles said working with Dane was both fun and intimidating.

“Right off the bat Eric and I had quick chemistry,” Ackles said. “I just knew it was going to be a lot of fun to be in scenes with him, and it was and it continues to be.”

“I sometimes turn to a bit of a wallflower watching him and forget I have a line because there’s just this quiet reverence that he portrays and that he delivers on set,” Ackles continued. “It’s quite fun to watch. And it’s sometimes a little intimidating to be in scenes with.”

Dane opened up about his ALS diagnosis in an interview that aired on Good Morning America June 16. He told ABC Audio the hardest thing about filming Countdown was the pace of which the show was filmed.

“It’s challenging shooting this show at the pace in which we shoot this show. It’s not a marathon, it is a sprint,” Dane said.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.