Carrie Preston (Arlene Fowler) will be returning to the Good Wife this Sunday as Elsbeth Tascioni. The episode will mark her eighth appearance on the show and for the occasion, the actress talked with the Huffington Post about the deceptively scatterbrained character and of course True Blood season 6.
In this coming episode entitled “Red Team/Blue Team”, Carrie gets to share screen time with cast member Alan Cumming and actor Kyle McLachan. But up until last season, the show’s third, she wasn’t sure Elsbeth would return to screen. The character originated in season 1 but didn’t appear again leading her to think that it was a one time deal. But luckily she was asked to play the popular quirky character. So what makes her work so well?
“I think she’s so unusual, she’s just not like the other kids. I think it’s just maybe refreshing to come at that show from another angle. She’s kind of like a little cayenne pepper, you know? A spice into the show. I think that grabs people’s attention, but I also think the writing is quite interesting and different, rather unpredictable. I think anything that is unpredictable is usually something that people want to pay attention to.”
When she prepares to play Elsbeth, Carrie says that she has to think on two levels; about the logic on the page and then the crazy twists her mind takes. And while Carrie tries to stick to the script as much as possible, but she also tries to add a vulnerability to the character that might not always be apparent on the page. But since Elsbeth is so different, Preston admits that she does have a bit more license with the twists and dialog.
As for who she likes to work with, Carrie couldn’t really pick, especially given the caliber of the cast of the show:
“Oh gosh, I don’t have any favorites. They’re all amazing. Julianna and I did a play together many years ago on Broadway, so she’s a friend and that always makes you feel so much more comfortable. Over on that show, they really don’t treat you like a guest — they really just embrace you as part of the family, which is a nice thing and sets you at ease. When you’re a guest star, you’re a bit like a pinch hitter: You’re just suddenly up at bat and you have to hit a homerun and it can be a little bit unnerving. I don’t ever feel that way on that show. I like to be able to work with all the actors on it because I get to know them and get to watch their work. I did get to work more with Alan and he’s just so amazingly on top of his work and the 50 million other million things he has going in his life, it’s amazing. He’s just this incredibly vibrant person and that applies to his work on the show as well.”
And while Carrie hasn’t gotten to work with Chris Noth and Matt Czuchry she could see Elsbeth having fun with both of the characters. This Sunday however Elsbeth Tascioni might be getting a love interest in the form of Kyle McLachlan’s character. She says the two have a very nice partnership in the episode.
When asked about her favorite episode on the Good Wife, it would be Executive Order 13224 when she had to help the show’s leading lady deal with some government issues. This was where she was able to synthesize the character. It was really fun for her because the director’s help she was able to get to know the character again.
Since Carrie has appeared on the Good Wife and True Blood, she’s also appeared on her husband Michael Emerson’s show Person of Interest. So fans recognize her for being on “that show” a lot. She admits that she plays a little game with herself trying to figure out where they know her from. Sometimes she’s right but every once in awhile she gets it wrong.
Speaking of True Blood, Carrie and the rest of the cast and crew are back in production for season 6. Carrie didn’t say much but she did talk a little bit about all of the changes:
“I know you do. We have a new showrunner because Alan Ball is not running the show anymore. Mark Hudis, who is one of our writers, is our new showrunner. We also have a couple of new writers, so it’s interesting. It still has the flavor of “True Blood,” as it always will, but it does have something — a little spring in its step in an interesting way, I think. Everybody is finding the new chemistry between all of that and all those players. And of course, with “True Blood,” there’s always still a million new characters that are being introduced. I don’t know how they keep that many balls in the air and continue to juggle, but they do. ”
Carrie will also be returning in an episode of Person of Interest as her husband’s love interest which wasn’t an easy task considering that it all had to be shot before she went back to True Blood:
“I did a couple of episodes of “Person of Interest.” I play [Michael Emerson's character's] love interest, the love of his life. It was a very easy role to get into! [Editor's note: Emerson is Preston's real-life husband.] I have one more in the can that will air later in the season. It was fun. They were so accommodating of my schedule because they had to shoot everything I was in before I went back to work on “True Blood.” They shot scenes from an episode they hadn’t even finish writing yet because it’s going to be one of the later episodes. We had to shoot these scenes and I think it invigorated everybody to think that far ahead and start fleshing things out before they were maybe fully ready to. It was really fun.”
Will you be watching Carrie on the Good Wife on Sunday? Tell me all about it in the comments below!
Source: The Huffington Post.com- “Carrie Preston Talks ‘The Good Wife’ Return, ‘True Blood’ Changes And More”
Image Credit: HBO, Inc.
