Alfred University Trustee Bill Pullman to reprise role of detective Harry Ambrose in fourth season of 'The Sinner'

Alfred University Trustee Bill Pullman, whose work in the television detective series The Sinner has been celebrated with numerous acting accolades, will reprise his role as the emotionally haunted New York detective Harry Ambrose when production begins this spring for a fourth season.

Contacted at his home in Los Angeles, Pullman says shooting for the fourth season will begin in May and extend through August, with the production located in Nova Scotia, although the actual story takes place in a fictional small town in Maine, where Ambrose is assisting in the investigation of a crime.

What sort of crime?

Probably a grisly murder, in keeping with the plots of the first, second, and third seasons. However, Pullman was not asked to provide any spoiler information, so one can only speculate. Here are some guesses, based on the first three seasons: Harry is aging, with a bad case of sciatica. His clothes will look disheveled, his dress shirt will be unbuttoned behind his knotted tie. He will wear earth tones, which reflect his own somber psychological states, although the colors will also be consistent with a rural, woodsy setting, where Harry’s extensive knowledge of flora and fauna help him feel at home.

Pullman says he has enjoyed a productive collaborative relationship with Derek Simonds, the writer for The Sinner, providing Simonds with fresh ideas and insights into Harry’s character, even extracting details from his own childhood growing up in Hornell and providing visual details into Harry’s unsettled psychological past.

Born in Hornell in 1953, Pullman was the son of a local family physician, Dr. James Pullman, and his wife, Johanna. He received an MFA in acting from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and taught at Montana State University’s School of Film and Photography before dedicating himself to fulltime acting. He continues to maintain close relations with relatives and friends in the Hornell area. He has been married to the modern dancer Tamara Hurwitz.

In 2011, Alfred University awarded him an honorary doctorate, and he joined the University’s board of trustees.  He and his wife have three children: Lewis, Maesa and Jack. Pullman continues his work in movies, television and theater and recently finished production of a movie on the life of the late fashion designer Halston.