Ramón Rodríguez on playing the “underdog,” working with a “diva” dog in ABC’s ‘Will Trent’

Ramón Rodríguez stars in the title role of ABC’s new crime drama Will Trent. Based on the bestselling book series from Karin Slaughter, Trent is an investigator with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations.

The actor tells ABC Audio, “He’s been able to sort of look at the world and look at a crime scene very uniquely, you know, his own perspective of how he can sort of put his story together on a crime scene that other people might not pick up.”

Rodríguez explains, “He’s a really resilient soul, someone that you know is an underdog, which I love. You know, [he] went through a really tough childhood in the foster care system in Atlanta, dealt with some really traumatic childhood experiences.” Despite that, Rodríguez says, Trent uses what he’s been through to try to do the right thing.

In the pilot, Trent adopts a Chihuahua, which Rodríguez says is “a great sign of, you know, he wasn’t going to let another underdog, another someone else be abandoned because he knows that feeling.”

Now, W.C. Fields famously said, “Never work with children or animals.” Rodríguez has done both, saying it can be a challenge, but not with his canine co-star, Belle, who plays little Betty.

“Belle’s a diva,” the actor says with a laugh. “I’ve been saying, you know, she’s got a trailer for herself and a trailer for her Chihuahua entourage.”

He adds, “You know, I’m having fun with it because … she’s adorable. She’s the cutest thing. And she’s been awesome. I mean, honestly, she hits her marks, all the commands that she needs to do. It’s impressive.”

Will Trent airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. Eastern on ABC.