Carrie Preston didn’t think she would ever join her first TV series, much less as a character she has been playing on and on for 15 years. The experienced actress, whose small screen CV is filled with memorable support parts in “True Blood” and “Claws”, first played Elsbeth Tascioni 2010 in “The Good Wife.” She was an eccentric but brilliant lawyer with unconventional methods to solve tough cases. The character’s unique tics, scattered quips and sunny disposition made her a fan favorite and won Preston her first guest actress Emmy 2013. She recalled the role in Spinoff “The Good Fight”, where she directed two episodes.
When creators Robert and Michelle King, Preston gave their own star vehicle with CBS “Elsbeth” -a “Columbo”-Inspired “Howdunit”-Police Procedure-Be the 57-year-old actress more than ready for the opportunity.
“This is definitely my dream job,” Preston said to play the titular hero, 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 have wanted and hoped to get, but never really dreamed that I would do at this stage in my life. So the fact that it happens now makes me appreciate it maybe more than it had happened in the 20th century.”
Build on many years of guest work in “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight” LED Preston would be revived by her character. For more than a decade, Elsbeth was “to serve another show” and “led when the other characters needed someone to save the day, so to speak,” the actress said. Now there was room – and even more important time – for Preston to inject more depth and dimension into Elsbeth.
“I’m not the side course anymore, I’m the main course,” she said.
The series enters Elsbeth’s personal life, especially her dynamics with her gay son, Teddy (Ben Levi Ross), who was referred to in “The Good Wife” And “The Good Fight” but never seen. “To make him a completely fleshy character and see how Elsbeth is like a mother, to see her modern instincts, to see their relationship flower, the authors did not make the obvious elections,” Preston said. “There was just enough conflict but not enough for it to be stereotype, like a strenuous mother. These two people love and respect each other; they are similar but also very different.”
It also opened the door to a (literal) murderer’s row of talent who has funnel through the show to play ball, from Mary-Louise Parker as a declutting Guru and Tracey Ullman as a professional mental to Stephen Moyer as a murderous theater director and Preston’s husband, Michael Emerson, as an opponent. However, Preston is partly to Eric McCormack’s chilly turn as the charismatic founder of a holistic center in section 9 of Season 2.
“It was another world,” she said. “Shooting outside (New York City), it added a freshness to it. It had such a wonderful selection of comedy and drama. When our show rides that line it is best.”
“Elsbeth” also serves originality points when it gets a bit strange. Example: Season 2 Finales hallucinatory musical numbers that reunite many of the series’ memorable murderers. “It was really something I didn’t think we could ever do, but at the same time it fits right into the tone of the show,” she said with a smile.
With two seasons of “Elsbeth” under her belt, Preston believes she just scratches the surface of her character. She has plenty of her wish list for season 3.
“More relationships with people,” Preston said. “Seeing how Elsbeth manages his best friend who goes to another job – what will fill that void, if anything? To deepen the relationship with Teddy and see if there may be more a romance with Angus (played by ioan Gruffudd). But mostly, dig in work. That’s what this show is about – a woman who resumes with her work.”
This story first ran in the drama issue of Thewrap’s Awards Magazine. Read more from the question here.
