Bravo’s Imposters is set to return for a second season and after an insane season one finale, fans have a lot to look forward to when it comes to their favorite group of scammers.
ESSENCE caught up with Stephen Bishop, who plays Patrick on the hit show, a star FBI agent who falls in love with con artist Maddie (Inbar Lavi) after being assigned to her case. But, after Maddie’s betrayal in season one, Patrick isn’t going to let his feelings get in the way again.
ESSENCE: When season two kicks off, where is Patrick? What is he going through? He’s been conned. He’s kinda been played.
BISHOP: He’s in a weird head space. For a guy like him, who’s used to being in control of things, he’s been played, like you said. He’s been conned and his job is in jeopardy. His heart has gotten involved so he doesn’t know how to square that with his professionalism. There’s a lot going on with him when we pick this back up. We’re gonna see how he deals with all of these stressors.
ESSENCE: What could possibly happen between Patrick and Maddie? Like you said, his heart was involved, he fell in love with her. What do you imagine their meeting will be like when he finally confronts her?
BISHOP: I would think that it would be conflicted. He would be upset with the fact that she played him, but, at the same time, I guess he would have to understand that because he was going after her in the beginning. But, he thought they had a deal at the end and then she ended up not following through. With Maddie he’s gonna, I would assume, be very conflicted upon their first meeting.
ESSENCE: What do you hope to see as far as Patrick’s growth? He’s been a superstar agent for most of his career and now, the biggest moment of his career, he kind of lost. He kind of flubbed.
BISHOP: He can look at it like that or he can look at it as a challenge. I think that Patrick is the type of guy that would be the latter and really try to figure this out because this is more than likely the first time that he’s ever really taken a loss and definitely the first time he’s been toyed with like this. The revenge fire would burn and it would become an obsession. As far as his growth is concerned, I hope that he continues on this path and follows through and later down the road we get to learn more about who he is outside of the FBI and maybe who he was at the beginning.
ESSENCE: In real life, do you think you’d be a good FBI agent?
BISHOP: Yeah, I think. I mean, I pay a lot of attention to detail. I’m very organized and analytical. And, I can act a little bit, so I could go undercover. I’ve got that arrow in my quiver.
ESSENCE: True. You could also be a good con artist too with the acting skills.
BISHOP: See, there are two sides to that coin. You could use that for good or you could use it for evil.
ESSENCE: If you weren’t acting, what do you think you would be doing?
BISHOP: I would be coaching or managing in professional baseball
ESSENCE: That would be really cool.
BISHOP: I played professionally and then I scouted. I realized while I was a scout that my place in baseball is on the field. I didn’t enjoy being outside of the fence. I wanted to be in the dirt, in a uniform. I’ve been coaching little league baseball for the last [few] years and it’s something that I really love doing. I love teaching baseball. We’ve had some success recently, my team from Encino Little League All-Stars took third in regent Southern California.
ESSENCE: Congrats!
BISHOP: Thank you. We won our district, we won sectionals and then we went to what they call the state tournament and we took third.
ESSENCE: Does your little league team know that you act?
BISHOP: A lot of them probably don’t know. Some do because I’ve been there for so long that they’ve seen things. Like, they’ve seen Moneyball and they’re like, “That’s coach!” I’ve had several people come to me at the complex and say, “Hey man! I didn’t even know that you were an actor. I was watching Moneyball the other day and oh my God, there’s coach! I’m looking at you right there!” Recently, I had a film come out called ‘Til Death Do Us Part, there were billboards that were up for the film and they happened to have one in Encino, right on Ventura Boulevard. People are driving up and down the boulevard and there’s my face right there on the billboard, so people are coming to me saying “Hey man, I saw your billboard. So, some of the kids know but some of them are oblivious to it. I don’t really talk about it. That’s not why I’m there. They’re more aware of the fact that I used to play professional baseball than they are that I’m an actor.
ESSENCE: So, what’s coming up for you in 2018? Is there something on your bucket list that you have accomplished or want to accomplish?
BISHOP: I wanna play Augusta National Golf Course. That’s on my bucket list, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen this year. I co-wrote a film. I created and co-wrote a film project that I’m currently fine-tuning, polishing the package to get out and try to raise money to get the film made. It’s a comedy. I’m gonna keep everything close to my chest right now, but if it comes to pass let’s talk again. Then I’m coaching again this summer and hope to take the 10U from last year, who are now 11U back to the state tournament.
Imposters airs April 5 at 10pm ET on Bravo.