Carrie Preston did not think that she would never be at the head of her first television series, even less as a character she played for 15 years. The experienced actress, whose curriculum vitae with a small screen is filled with memorable support pieces in “True Blood” and “Claws”, played Elsbeth Tascioni for the first time in 2010 in “The Good Wife”. She was an eccentric but shiny lawyer with unconventional methods to resolve difficult cases. The unique tics of the character, the dispersion jokes and the sunny arrangement made a favorite of the fans, winning Preston her first Emmy-invited Emmy Emmy-Actress in 2013. She resumed the role in the spin-off “The Good Fight”, where she produced two episodes.
When the creators Robert and Michelle King gave Preston his own star vehicle with the CBS police procedure “Elsbeth” – a “Howdunit” police procedure inspired by “Columbo” – the 57 -year -old actress was more than ready for the occasion.
“This is definitely my dream work,” Preston said about playing the titular heroine, who is now a consultant for the New York police department, where she worked with her best friend, Kaya (Carra Patterson). “This is something I wanted and hoped to get, but I never really dreamed that I would do it at this stage of my life. So, the fact that it happens now makes me more than it had happened in their twenties.”
Based on years of work in “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight” Preston led to be invigorated by his character. For more than a decade, Elsbeth was there “to serve another show” and “brought when the other characters needed someone to save the day, so to speak,” said the actress. Now there was room – and, more importantly, time – so that Preston injects more depth and dimension in Elsbeth.
“I am no longer the accompanying dish, I am the main dish,” she said.
The series immerses Elsbeth’s personal life, in particular its dynamics with his gay son, Teddy (Ben Levi Ross), who was referenced in “The Good Wife” And “the right fight” but never seen. “To make him an entirely expanded character and see what Elsbeth looks like as a mom, see his maternal instincts, to see their relationship flourish, the writers have not made the obvious choices,” said Preston. “There was just enough conflict but not enough for it to be stereotypical, like a dominant mother. These two people love each other and respect each other; they are similar but also very different.”
He also opened the door to a row of (literal) talents of the murderers who channeled in the show to play the ball, by Mary-Louise Parker as an unbolving guru and Tracey Ullman as a professional psychic at Stephen Moyer as the director of Homicide Theater and Preston’s husband, Michael Emerson, as an adversary judge. Preston, however, is partial for Eric McCormack’s scary tour as a charismatic founder of a holistic wellness center in episode 9 of season 2.
“It was a different world,” she said. “Pull outside [New York City]He added freshness to it. He had such a wonderful range of comedy and drama. When our show goes up this line, it is its best. »»
“Elsbeth” also wins points of originality when it becomes a little weird. Example: hallucinatory musical number of season 2 bringing together many memorable killers from the series. “It was certainly something that I did not think we could do, but at the same time, it is just in the tone of the series,” she said with a smile.
With two seasons of “Elsbeth” to her credit, Preston thinks that she only scrapes the surface of her character. She has a lot on her list of wishes for season 3.
“More relationships with people,” said Preston. “See how Elsbeth takes care of her best friend to go to another work – what will fill this void, if something? Deepens the relationship with Teddy and see if there could be more romance with Angus (played by Ioan Gruffudd). But above all, digging in work. This is what we are talking about – a woman reinstating through her work.”
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