John Hoogenakker Talks Dopesick, Perils of Big Pharma, and Bringing the Opioid Crisis to a New Audience

The opioid crisis has ravaged many American communities, and small-town America, for sure, never saw it coming.

John Hoogenakker is playing Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer on Hulu's series, Dopesick, based on the book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy.

Randy was instrumental in bringing the crisis to light and is one of the most sympathetic characters on the show. We had a chance to chat with John about being a part of such an essential piece of work.

John called from Western North Carolina, where he has moved his family and enjoys spending time with his kids while they're still of an age to find hanging with dad to be a cool pastime.

That also places him in an area that is still greatly affected by the opioid crisis, so it's no wonder that Beth's book so moves John.

"I always had a sense that there was more to the story than what we were reading in the paper because, like so many other Americans, you read about the opioid crisis going back to the mid-nineties.

"If we're not directly affected by it, it becomes very easy to ignore. And I think the reality is that more people in this country are dealing with low-grade pill addiction than we actually like to talk about.

"And of course, the big danger here is that it easily spirals out of control, especially if you have an injury that's just bad enough to keep you clinging to the medication."

It hasn't been too long since the Sackler family, responsible for greedily creating the crisis with Oxycontin through Purdue Pharmaceuticals, were legally absolved through bankruptcy court. It's aggravating, and as John says, they're just "traveling off into the sunset."

After walking in Randy's shoes, John has a healthy appreciation for the wins, even if they don't always feel like enough justice has been served.

"And the judgments that came down as a result of that work were all wins, especially when you look at the wonky way that the situation was weighted with everything in the favor of this multi-billion dollar privately held corporation. They could just throw lawyers at problems all day long."

He notes that the "scrappy little duo" of assistant U.S. Attorneys Randy and Rick Mountcastle (Peter Sarsgaard) managed to spark the fire that brought down the billionaires from their office in a strip mall in Abington, Virginia.

"Up to that point, there were like 60 attempts or more to find something that would stick against these guys. And they were too well funded. So I think we want a nice satisfying end to that. And I guess depending on who you ask and who has been directly affected by this, you'll probably get different answers."

In the series, Randy finds himself in the hospital with a doctor who prescribes him Oxycontin. Randy chooses against the recommendation with the wealth of knowledge he has on the addictive qualities of the drug.

In John's real life, his sister just found herself at the ER, where she was also prescribed Oxy, and life imitated art (and Randy's real-life experience) by allowing her to make an informed choice to stay away from the drug, as well.

John met Randy and Rick's wife, Stephanie, and he received some valuable knowledge about the true story he's portraying.

Not only did Randy really get sick and face the Oxy dilemma himself, but Randy and Rick and their families grew close while the attorneys looked for their in against Purdue. John and Peter followed that same path.

"I really feel like, certainly by the end of the eight episodes, you see that relationship between Rick and Randy grow. Peter and I had so much fun working together and just becoming friends on this project.

"He's an actor whose work I've admired for years and years. And so to just get to walk in and play these scenes together and hit it off was really cool."

As you watch the large and talented cast, they're often in different scenes, and many are never seen in the same scenes together. Spending time with Peter visiting parks to shake off the dark story and talk about their families made the material palatable.

"I think as actors, the more intense the subject matter, the more sort of goofing around you do to try and find balance off-camera."

During a premiere event, John had an opportunity to hear from some of the people affected by the crisis, including a woman who worked for one of the family practice doctors who got swindled by the too-good-to-be-true promises that Oxycontin failed to deliver.

"It became the sort of a practice that was always dispensing opioid prescriptions. And she just like wept through this sort of statement that she gave the crowd that she carries this guilt.

"And of course, those doctors didn't know when the sales reps were hammering on the doors; they thought that this was literally going to be a wonder drug.

"And it was, whenever you first start taking it. And then they got stuck. I can't even imagine being in those offices and feeling like you're just in some kind of vicious cycle because now your patients are addicted, and you helped them get there. How do you even wrap your head around that?"

Thankfully, Dopesick does a good job showing how doctors believed the Purdue shtick, eagerly dispensing the miracle drug that wasn't.

With Beth working on the series with creator Danny Strong, John feels the content showed everyone in the most compassionate light when others could mock their situations.

"I feel that would've been a real danger with Betsy (Kaitlyn Dever). And Kaitlyn just does such beautiful work, and it's true. And it's real. And yet, she's not playing some caricature depiction of a girl who grew up in the mountains.

"I feel like, any time we're able to humanize one another, we need to do that. And I think even the depictions of the Sacklers are engaging to me, too, because it's, at its core, it's a family dynamic and a guy who wants approval from his family.

"It would've been the opposite of interesting to just have a guy [Richard Sackler] standing in the corner, curling his mustache. And I don't think that's what Michael [Stuhlbarg] did. I thought it was his work, in fact, was wonderful."

For now, John is happy to have played a part in Dopesick to help bring awareness of the epidemic to those who may not have had a handle on its realities.

He's even happier to have gone home again, where he and his family can live with other "hippy-dippy" folks like themselves.

He says it's "like a dream" to "wake up and smell the mountain air every day and hike every day" and share memories of his childhood with his children, spending time with the people who matter to him most.

Dopesick is currently airing on Hulu, with new episodes dropping weekly on Wednesdays.

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.