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Justin Hartley of ‘Tracker’ – Season 3

By NEO Magazine on March 27, 2026

by Markos Papadatos

Emmy-nominated actor Justin Hartley chatted with Markos Papadatos about starring in “Tracker” on CBS, where he plays Colter Shaw, and serves as an executive producer.

Byron Pulsifer once said: “Imagine, dream, and believe in yourself. With determination and belief, you will be surprised at what you accomplish.” This quote applies to Justin Hartley. On Sunday, March 1st, “Tracker” Season 3 returned on CBS following a winter hiatus, where it will continue where it left off with Episode 10 titled “The Fallout” with additional weekly episodes still to come to complete its 22-episode season.

Hartley is looking forward to the new episodes on March 1st. “The show has been good! It keeps me busy, that’s for sure,” he exclaimed. “I’m looking forward to them very much. We’ve been off the air for a few months because we have to catch up… it takes us a lot longer to shoot these episodes than a week. So, when we do one episode a week for nine weeks in a row, we fall a bit behind and then we are all sitting there going, ‘we don’t have any more inventory’,” he explained. “So, we need to take a little time off and build that inventory back up. While we were off the air, of course, we were working the whole entire time. Now, we have plenty of inventory so we can keep going,” he added.

PHOTO: LINDSAY SIU, CBS

“Fans can dive back in on March 1st, and we will give them new episodes week after week after week for the final 13 episodes that we have left for this season,” he elaborated.

In a recent episode of “Tracker,” titled “To the Bone,”that aired on March 8th, Hartley’s character (Colter) is in Queens, New York, where he visits Stepho’s Souvlaki Greek Taverna, a local Greek restaurant owned by Stath (Joshua Bitton) and Antonia Pateras (Sarah Strange), where he investigates the sudden disappearance of their son Ben Pateras (played by Ben Krieger).

Hartley is drawn to playing Colter Shaw for several reasons. “I am drawn to the ever evolving and ever-changing world that he rubs around in,” he said. “I have to read these scripts, and they keep me interested in how different they all are, and the challenges that they bring, and all the exciting things that Colter goes through.”

On starring in the No. 1 show (non-sports) on primetime TV, Hartley expressed, “It feels good! It’s also a bit humbling. It’s also a big responsibility to make something that is very interesting. I’ve been on shows that a ton of people watch… and that are loved, beloved, and zeitgeisty,” he noted.

“I’ve also been on one show that no one watched. You don’t work harder on the ones that people watch vs. the shows that people don’t watch. The work is the same intensity-wise,” he acknowledged. It is such a luxury,” he admitted. “It’s a wonderful thing. Also, it is such a pleasure to be on a hit show that everybody is watching, so we want to make sure it’s perfect because a lot of people are watching it.”

“People really care about ‘Tracker,’ and they tune in and they spend time watching us. It’s a real honor and a pleasure to know that people are watching what you are doing,” he said, effusively. “So, we think about that quite a bit.”

PHOTO: LINDSAY SIU, CBS

On the lessons learned from the “Tracker” screenplay, he remarked, “I guess I learn things every week when we film a new episode. One of the things I learned is that I have an Energizer Bunny battery inside of me. I don’t know what it is.” “I love work,” Hartley exclaimed. “I tend to work a lot of hours, and I don’t really seem to get tired or sick of it. I enjoy it and I get motivated by my work. I am enthused to go to work, and I am motivated by the challenge. This reinforced that I have really chosen the right line of work for my life,” he noted. “Acting is what makes me really happy.”

On having Hudson Williams as a guest star on “Tracker” (where he appeared on Hartley’s show prior to his breakout role on “Heated Rivalry”), Hartley said, “Hudson was so great! We are so lucky. We’ve had a ton of great guest stars that are very gifted.”

“A lot of really talented actors that have come through in the past three (almost) years now,” he said. “They bring a lot of heat and a lot of talent. When they come on set, they all deliver! So, we’ve been really lucky.”

Hartley complimented his wife, actress Sofia Pernas for her portrayal of Billie Matalon in the show. “Sofia is pretty remarkable,” he admitted. “She is a wonderful actor, and of course, the love of my life. So, any time that I get to spend with her is a pleasure.”

“These hours that I pull are so demanding,” he noted. “A lot of times we’re apart a lot because I’m at work a lot, but when she comes to work and we get to spend time together, that’s always fun. Sofia is such a talent, and I think her character, Billie, is really evolving,” he said. “What the writers have done with the character lately, presenting her as someone that Colter can really trust and as a person he really cares about, has been pretty awesome as well. Sofia is just fantastic,” he elaborated.

Hartley praised veteran Canadian actress Wendy Crewson for being “awesome” as his on-screen mother Mary Dove Shaw on “Tracker.” On being a part of the action comedy “Bride Hard,” he said, “It was good! I had a lot of fun working with Rebel Wilson. I love Rebel!”

On the current stage of his life, Hartley responded, “I take things day by day. I live by a code, an ethical code, and I sort of go by that. I just attack every day the exact same way. I try to be kind to other people, I try to be patient, I try to be understanding, and I try to have as much grace as I possibly can. That’s all you can do as a human,” he acknowledged. “I try to understand where people are coming from, and I always try to be mindful,” he added.

Hartley had great words about Eric Martsolf and The Day Players Band. “The Day Players are great. They’re an amazing band. Eric Martsolf is one of my best friends,” he said. “Eric and I have been friends for a very, very long time. We got to know each other many years ago when we played brothers on the television show ‘Passions.’ Eric cracks me up. He is one of the funniest human beings I know,” he elaborated.

“I learn from Eric all the time, the way he conducts his business and his personal life. People have a lot of respect for Eric and his whole family, his wife Lisa and the boys. When they walk into a room, it just makes the energy go up and it’s a better place when they’re all around,” Hartley explained.

“That’s a really wonderful family, and I love hanging out with them,” he added.

On his definition of the word success, Hartley said, “At this point in my life, to be honest, success is looking at the people around me and doing the best that I can to make sure that they’re happy.”

“I am so fulfilled when I see people that I love and care about just really enjoying and having a good time in their lives,” he admitted.

“My daughter means everything to me, and so does my wife. I still have my parents, which is really wonderful. They’re doing well and they are thriving. Also, I value my siblings and my friends,” he noted.

“Just making sure that, as busy as life gets with work and everything, you always find time to carve out time for your friends, and make sure that everyone is okay,” he said.

“While I’m on set, I like looking around. I would look at our crew, and I would see people laughing and having fun, and that’s a good mark to leave. I feel good about that,” he added.

For his fans, Hartley expressed, “I talk to the fans all the time. I talk to them whenever they come up to me and whenever they have anything to say. I am always happy to hear from them. I am the luckiest guy.”

“I have people that have watched me in daytime, superhero projects, I have people that love comedy, drama, and suspense. I have the ‘Tracker’ fans, the ‘Smallville ‘fans, the ‘Revenge’ fans and I am just the luckiest man in the world,” he acknowledged.

“I get to talk to people on a daily basis that love to talk about TV shows, movies, and their experiences. They all come up to me with a smile on their faces. Honestly, I think I have the greatest fans that you can possibly imagine,” he elaborated.

Hartley remarked about these new episodes of “Tracker,” “I think we nailed them! I think we built this story and there’s a really great payoff at our mid-season premiere.”

“Also, there is a payoff in the final three or four episodes this season,” he foreshadowed. “I think this is the strongest 12-to-15-episode arc that we’ve ever had on the show, which I’m pretty proud of.”

“So, hopefully, we can just keep this momentum going for the future,” Hartley concluded.

To learn more about actor and producer Justin Hartley, you can follow him on Instagram.

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