There’s a guide the size of a metropolitan phone directory in “The Bondsman,†a new Prime Video series.
Inside, actress Jolene Purdy says, are “all the secrets.â€
All the secrets of the devil, that is. Since she’s an employee, she must know the tricks of the trade and be willing to pass them along to employees — like Kevin Bacon, who plays a bondsman hired to do the dirty work.

Jolene Purdy, right, gives Kevin Bacon assignments in "The Bondsman."Â
“When you sign up to work for the devil, he does offer good vision and dental,†Purdy offers with a smile.
When she was offered the role, the “Donnie Darko†actress wondered how she could play it.
“She’s stronger than I am, so it’s actually made me stronger as a person,†Purdy says. “The twist I took on it is a lot of times I will choose kindness, right? And that, sometimes, is a manipulation tactic, something that may come from the devil.â€
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Bruce Miller, Sioux City Journal entertainment reporter talks with Maxwell Jenkins, star of Amazon Prime Video's "The Bondsman."
Digging in, Purdy realized Midge was the strongest character she has played — “even more than the ones in ‘White Lotus’ and ‘Orange is the New Black.’â€
Nuance, she says, is key.
That plays well with Beth Grant, who often gets scenes with Purdy. She plays Bacon’s mother, Kitty, a gun-toting defender who isn’t afraid to level the playing field.

Beth Grant plays the mother of Kevin Bacon in the new thriller, "The Bondsman."Â
“I liked killing that pastor with that sawed-off shotgun, but he wasn’t the pastor anymore,†Grant says. “I was convinced he was a demon. I tried with the cross, but it didn’t work.â€
Like Purdy, Grant has had ample opportunity to play folks on the fringes. Both starred in “Donnie Darko,†both sing the praises of Bacon.
“I’ve played a lot of mothers, each one different,†Grant says. “Certain actresses don’t want to play moms, but I’ve loved it. Of all my sons, Kevin Bacon wins it all because his work is just extraordinary. He’s a kid from Philadelphia, but a country boy at heart.â€

Beth Grant has played countless mothers in television series. Now, she's Kevin Bacon's mom in "The Bondsman."
During filming, Grant says, she became shy around the show’s lead — “I was seeing the level of work he was doing and the transformation. It’s an unusual role for him, so it’s very exciting.â€
Playing his mother — who dances with the devil as well — she got to expand her repertoire with the kind of things Kitty is asked to do. “Do you see this finger?†she says, flexing her trigger finger. It’s primed.
So, too, is Purdy’s guidebook. Does it include a pension? “There is,†she says, playing along. “There’s a little bit of a pension just to draw you in.â€
“The Bondsman†now airs on Prime Video.
 Bruce Miller is editor of the Sioux City Journal.Â