David Lim on How 'S.W.A.T.' Works to Keep It Real and Authentic

It’s not surprising that the S.W.A.T. set is a happy one. The show has been saved from cancelation twice, and if this season’s number holds up, there may even be a Season 9 pickup. The push to keep the series going came from series star Shemar Moore, who made a plea to fans to urge CBS to keep them going, and it worked.

There have been some trims of original cast members along the way with Kenny Johnson and Alex Russell, who played Officer Dominique Luca and Officer Jim Street, respectively, exiting following Season 7, but in addition to Moore, there are still three OGs: Jay Harrington as David “Deacon” Kay, Patrick St. Esprit as Commander Robert Hicks and David Lim as Victor Tan.

Lim tells Parade that the relationship between these original cast members is very tight.

“Everybody who’s there wants to be there, is passionate about the show,” he says. “We love being part of the show, we’re so proud to be part of it. So, the camaraderie that you see on the screen is very real. We have it on set, we hang out outside of set.”

In fact, they compare their time on S.W.A.T. to attending a four-year college together. The idea came from St. Esprit, but now that they are in Season 8, it’s more like graduate school.

“So, we went to college together, we went to grad school together, now we’re working on our PhDs together,” Lim continues. “We’re very tight and it’s nice to show up to work every day and everyone’s supporting each other, everyone’s rooting for each other.”

The exit of Johnson and Russell opened the door for two new members of 20 Squad, which has seen the addition of Annie Ilonzeh (Devin Gamble) and Niko Pepaj (Miguel Alfaro), and the longtime cast members are making sure they get the training they need to keep S.W.A.T. looking realistic with the help of tech advisor, Otie Gallop, who’s former Navy, former SWAT, former SDPD.

Related: Watch S.W.A.T. Star Shemar Moore's Heartwarming Video of His Real-Life Baby Girl

“Because the OGs are pretty well versed, we can get into it pretty easily, it gives Otie more time to work with the newer cast members who’ve only been here for a season or two who are still trying to figure it out and look the part and be as authentic as possible,” says Lim.

He adds, “I still have a million questions and it’s a constant every episode don’t get lazy, still try to do all the movements as tactically correct as we can be. For the fans watching you never want to watch and be taken out of the world because something isn’t tactically correct, or something just doesn’t look right. So, we still carry that sense of pride, and I think that’s a big reason of why we’ve been able to have the run that we’ve had.”

During our Zoom, Lim talked about how S.W.A.T has found the perfect balance between the emotional storylines and the running and gunning that is a part of their job, how Tan has grown over the years, and a side business he and his wife began during the strike, the Maya David jewelry line.

On the last episode before Thanksgiving, Tan thought he saw his girlfriend Olivia (Emily Alabi) being kidnapped and it made him really reexamine that relationship. Talk about his reluctance to make plans with her to go to New York. His ex-wife cheated on him and that ended his marriage, but that was a while back. Does he still have the scars?

I think he’s moved on, but he’s just very apprehensive because he knows how difficult that time was for him. He knows that he has found new love, that he is falling for this new girl. He’s just like any normal human being: Do I want to put it all on the line to potentially have it end up like it did before? And how it ended up before was heartbreaking. I think that’s where it had nothing to do with him being actually too busy at work. He could make it happen to go on a trip with her. I think it’s just that feeling of diving in again. It’s scary for anybody.

What was nice about that episode, at least for the characters, it was a more emotional episode. Normally it’s all guns and running around and chasing the bad guys, which that episode had, as well. Do you like it when that emotional stuff comes up?

We love it as actors. That’s the fun stuff to play with. Because our show is so action heavy, because it’s procedural, because there’s a big ensemble cast, you don’t get many of those moments. When you do, it’s a lot of fun to play with. Sometimes we do so much action and procedural stuff that I’m like, “Oh, I’ve got to remember how to tap into the emotional aspect of the character.”

For me, I love the show because it has such a balance of everything-- the personal, the team, the camaraderie, the action and the procedural, solving the case for the episode. I just think it’s such a wonderful balance that we have, just such a gift that we have on this show.

I talked to Shemar about the roller coaster ride of being canceled and picked up. What is that roller coaster like for you?

Equally as emotional. I would say for Shemar, it’s tough being the No. 1, being the guy on the poster. Everything falls on your shoulders. But for the rest of us, we’re equally as passionate about our work and the show and I know we’ve gone through so many ups and downs and emotions. When we first got cancelled, it was kind of out of left field. It really felt like someone ripped our hearts out of our chest after Season 6 because we thought we were going to continue on. Out of left field, I found out from a text or an article on Deadline that we were cancelled. It was just a big gut punch.

Then a few days later, we were uncancelled. So, it’s like going from having your heart ripped out to immense joy. And it being the seventh and final season where we’re like, “Okay, we’re going to give it everything we have, we’re going to go out with a bang, we’re going to tie up these storylines and if we do such a great job maybe there’s a chance we continue on.” That’s the mentality we all had going into Season 7.

Related: Shemar Moore on the 'Miracle' Renewal of S.W.A.T. for Season 8 and Why The Season 7 Finale Didn't Change

Every day we just showed up and we gave it everything we had. Everyone was motivated. In the end it worked out. I was getting ready to say my goodbyes after Season 7 and Shemar announced that we’re coming back for a Season 8 and 22 episodes. So, again, the emotions, there were a lot of tears in that room when he announced that. And not just the cast, but the 200 to 250 other people that our show employs, crew and accounting and production and everybody else.

Back when Deacon retired, Tan took over the training program from Deacon, which at first he was reluctant to do. But that’s growth for his character, right? I think he enjoys doing it. When Deacon came back, did he not want to give it back? Or did Deacon never ask? How did that work?

Deacon knew he was retiring, and he knew that Tan was the right guy for the job. But then just as we got uncancelled, he unretired. But he’s given SWAT Academy to Tan and Tan has kind of taken it and run with it and kind of implemented his own ways of how he wants to run it. Of course, I think there’s that part of Deacon that that was his thing for two decades, so that’s where I think a little of the friction comes in this season as we’ve seen SWAT Academy become a storyline. It will continue as a nice little arc throughout Season 8. It’s that I gave it to you but I kind of still miss it and I don’t necessarily agree with everything you’re doing. So, it’s a fine line. Jay and I have had some fun playing with that SWAT Academy storyline.

It adds a layer to Tan, as does the story with Devin Gamble.  At first, he was opposed to her when he found out that her father had killed a cop, but then he was one of the first to have her back. Talk about his change of mind and how she may still be a problem, as we saw at the end of the last episode, where she’s being used to threaten Hicks’ job.

We brought on this new team member and she was picked by Hondo. Of course we’re going to accept her, but then we find out this news that her father killed a cop. Tan was torn right away. How am I supposed to trust somebody to have my six whose father shot a cop, who comes from a family of crime? When you go out in the field it’s life or death and you have to trust everyone on the team to play their position or have your back.

I think for Annie Ilonzeh, who plays Gamble, it’s been a nice arc entering the show having to navigate that and then fit into the team. And for the rest of us it’s can we accept her, can we trust her? But we all did pretty early on. It’s like, “Okay, this is 20 Squad, we’re going to accept you no matter your faults and welcome to the family.”

You’re in your eighth season. Has playing the role of Victor Tan for that long had some influence on your real life?

Yeah. I walk my dog down the street, and I’ve got my head on a swivel.

Well, it could make you more aware. Not necessarily SWAT aware, but…

Absolutely. I think when you play a character for so long -- and I’ve loved playing the character and evolving with the character and watching the Tan character evolve on the show, but I go to work and then I separate my work life and my home life. But S.W.A.T. has been such a big part of my life -- a big part of all of our lives -- for almost a decade. We might make it to a decade. S.W.A.T. has changed my life and my career in many ways and given me such a beautiful opportunity to play a great character and a positive role model on network television. But, yeah, I’ve just loved the journey and I’m happy to play this character for seasons to come. Fingers crossed.

You came to acting late, you had a real job first. Is there a role that you still aspire to?

Definitely. Career-wise I think there’s still so much that I’d love to do. I’d love to do a romcom one day, I’d love to do a dramedy. Obviously, with my sports background I love action. It’s one of my favorite genres as a television fan and movie fan. I think that’s why I’ve enjoyed playing this character so much, because it’s action, it’s fun, it’s kicking down doors and car chases and fist fights. That’s what I dreamed of when I got into this industry, playing a role like that. So here it is. But, sure, there’s a lot of other things that I’d still aspire to do. And then, I think, as an actor you have to continue to challenge yourself and see what else is out there and see what makes you uncomfortable. But for now, it’s all S.W.A.T. I’m always like we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

I understand you have a side business as well. Tell me about your Maya David jewelry line.

My wife and I started a jewelry company called Maya David. We had a burglary about a year and a half ago at our home residence. All of our cherished and treasured jewelry was stolen. Just today, I got a new wedding band, but our original wedding band when we said our vows was taken. We lost so many things that meant so much to us. It was a very heartbreaking experience.

My wife, Marketa, and I decided that we weren’t going to replace the items, that we would design and create our own. We taught ourselves. This was over the strike, so we had some time to do these things. Now we have no time. But we had some time, so we taught ourselves how to handmake our own jewelry as a way to fill the void and be creative. We fell in love with it. We spent almost a year creating, making and honing our craft and doing all the things you have to do to launch a business.

We just launched about three months ago and we’re super proud. We’re excited to see where this adventure takes us. A lot of the designs reflect our own journeys and our own stories. We hope to pass that along to the people who wear and buy our creations. It’s been so much fun and we’ll see where it takes us.

Is there an online shop?

Yes, we have an online shop. It’s called shopmayadavid.com. All of our designs and our story is there. For us it’s a passion project. Obviously, we both have day jobs. It’s fun for us and it’s therapeutic. We get a lot of joy out of creating these pieces. We’re proud that we were able to turn the experience into something positive.

S.W.A.T. airs Friday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Streams next day on Paramount+. Beginning January 31, S.W.A.T. will return from its midseason hiatus with a new timeslot of 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Next, S.W.A.T. Shakes Up the Cast When It Returns for Season 8