Carrie Preston (Arlene Fowler) has had a banner year thus far. Coming out of 2012, she released her film That’s What She Said which was also accepted into Sundance and finished a stellar run on True Blood’s fifth season. To cap it all off, she also reprised her role on the Good Wife, Elsbeth Tascioni. But her work with the character didn’t end there. Carrie also made several more appearances in 2013 and recently appeared at the 2013 NewNowNext Awards as a presenter. Recently, Carrie chatted with ET Online’s Jarett Wieselman to discuss all of these accomplishments and inquire about True Blood season 6.
Wieselman got right to the point by opening the interview with a question about what things have been like behind the scenes of the production. True Blood has been through quite a bit in the past year with showrunner and creator Alan Ball’s departure from the series from day to day, season 6 having only 10 episodes instead of 12, and Brian Buckner becoming showrunner after chosen successor Mark Hudis left the show after production began on the new season. But Preston says that the season will be tighter and there will be continuity in storytelling:
“There’s a different energy without Alan, but the showrunner now has been with usfrom the beginning, so there’s a solid continuity to the storytelling. But I do think both of those things have given us a new spring in our step. All the actors are reinvesting in the show. As for the 10 episodes, I think it makes everything tighter. They still have to get everything they wanted to do into two less episodes, so it’s got a real breakneck speed this season.”
As for Arlene Fowler, one of the few humans left in Bon Temps, she has seen quite a bit of action in the past two seasons between her infant son being possessed by a ghost in season 4 and dealing with a cursed husband, a murder, and serving as a fairy doola last season. All of these things have helped Arlene see the world around her a little more clearly and be more open minded. But Preston also points out that Arlene represents the small town mindset which is also important because it puts all of the supernatural elements in a context and makes being a human a bit more rare.
With season 6 fast approaching the actress revealed that we will pick up right from the end of season 5 and that murder I just mentioned will have consequences:
“We pick up right where we left off, and then a million other storylines get introduced. Every time I come to the table read there are 15 people I’ve never seen before … and will never work with [laughs]. But I’ll see them at the wrap party… [And,] yes there are major emotional ramifications for what went down. I mean, we killed somebody.”
The interview then closed with some discussion about Carrie’s role on the Good Wife. Elsbeth Tascioni won’t be making anymore appearances this season. But Carrie is hopeful that she will be able to return next year. The character has garnered an overwhelmingly positive response with fans calling for Elsbeth’s own spin-off. Preston loves the idea of it and for her part is amazed at how much people love the role that started off as just a few guest spots in one season:
“I want a spin-off! Make it happen. Write about it, start a petition, I’m totally in…Oh my gosh, I was lucky in that I didn’t even audition for the part, so it’s all been such an amazing gift. When I read the role, I got so excited and nervous because I knew it had the potential to be something special, so I have been thrilled to be the person to take it there.”
We’ll find out what happened to Arlene on June 16th, 2013 at 9PM on HBO.
Source: ET Online.com- “Carrie Preston’s Bloody Good Year”
Image Credit: Getty Images
