- 14 minutes ago
Carrie Coon ('The Gilded Age'), Chase Infiniti ('The Testaments'), Claire Danes ('The Beast in Me'), Kerry Washington ('Imperfect Women'), Rhea Seehorn ('Pluribus') and Sarah Pidgeon ('Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette') join THR in our Drama Actress Roundtable.
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00:00:00Every time you play a role, you want it to be kind of a human just up a tree with
00:00:07wolves barking at them, you know, like an everyday person in an extraordinary circumstance.
00:00:13And, you know, maybe anxiety is a part of that, but, you know, there should be something magnified about it.
00:00:19I mean, you want it to be grounded, but yeah.
00:00:21There have to be stakes.
00:00:22Yeah.
00:01:03Welcome to the Hollywood Reporter Drama Actress Roundtable.
00:01:07I'm your host, Mikey O'Connell, and I am so excited for this group.
00:01:11Yay!
00:01:13Chase.
00:01:14Oh, God.
00:01:14You're starting with me.
00:01:16You very famously just endured a six-month audition for one battle after another.
00:01:22Oh, yes, yes, yes.
00:01:23Which got me thinking.
00:01:24It was a six-month audition?
00:01:26Yeah, it was.
00:01:27What is the longest and hardest anyone has ever worked to get a job, whether they booked it or not?
00:01:34Well, there's a Leo connection.
00:01:37I auditioned many times for Romeo and Juliet.
00:01:39You did?
00:01:40There was a pretty protracted waiting period before I heard that I didn't back at the job.
00:01:46And my mouth was full of canker sores.
00:01:50I still remember I had, like, ulcers.
00:01:52And my English husband calls them ulcers.
00:01:53But, yeah, like, I couldn't talk because I was so stressed from the anticipation.
00:01:58But, yeah, so I remember that's the first thing that comes to mind.
00:02:01But it might be because of the Leo thing.
00:02:03Leo just has a hard time choosing.
00:02:05He needs his time.
00:02:06No, no.
00:02:07Yeah, I don't know.
00:02:08Anyway, yeah.
00:02:08Have you had more canker sores?
00:02:10Is that something that happens often?
00:02:11That was the most extreme.
00:02:13That's the most extreme.
00:02:15Carrie's interesting.
00:02:15No, yes, when I'm running down, certain things happen.
00:02:18More about the old script.
00:02:19Can you speak to it?
00:02:20Anybody else?
00:02:20I mean, Better Call Saul was a long process.
00:02:23And it was multiple different sides, which is pretty normal now.
00:02:27But, like, the fake sides because they don't want to put the scripts out.
00:02:30But every time you had a callback, those were not the ones you had before and still not the real
00:02:34script.
00:02:34It was a new character.
00:02:36Oh, confusing.
00:02:37Which was actually kind of fun because it was Bialy Thomas casting.
00:02:39And they're lovely about, like, really letting you perform.
00:02:42But I just thought of it.
00:02:43I'm sure there are other better examples.
00:02:44Were you actually in the room when you auditioned?
00:02:47Because now everybody's, you know, just me.
00:02:49In the room with them, yes.
00:02:51But Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould were already scouting locations.
00:02:55So it wasn't until the final rounds that I was in the room with them.
00:02:59But the reason I thought of it, there was a long period of time before I found out if I
00:03:04got it.
00:03:04And I actually thought, I guess I didn't.
00:03:06It had come down to five for the screen test.
00:03:09And I didn't get canker swords.
00:03:10But I had tried to do my best to let it go.
00:03:13But secretly, you have not let it go.
00:03:16And my agent had called me while I was walking in Venice going somewhere.
00:03:20And I lost it.
00:03:21Like, just started bawling, crying in public.
00:03:24I'm so excited.
00:03:25Were you by yourself?
00:03:26No, I was with my partner, Graham.
00:03:28And we were going to my birthday dinner.
00:03:31It was, like, the day after my birthday.
00:03:32Happy birthday to you.
00:03:33What a gift!
00:03:35She was, like, really quickly.
00:03:37She goes, I just need to tell you something really fast.
00:03:38She's like, it's not public yet, so you can't tell anyone.
00:03:41I was like, well, my husband's here.
00:03:43He can hear you.
00:03:43And she's like, no, no, that's fine.
00:03:44I just mean, like, don't post it.
00:03:46They want to be the first people to post it.
00:03:48And also, when they post it, it's going to be a different name.
00:03:51And just go along with that.
00:03:53Obviously, she meant character name.
00:03:54I thought they meant, I needed to change my name.
00:03:58And I was like, oh, what's my name?
00:04:01And she was like, Beth.
00:04:02And I was like, okay, I'll be Beth.
00:04:05That's right.
00:04:05Graham was like, you're not changing your name.
00:04:07I was like, you don't understand show business.
00:04:09Shut up.
00:04:10I lost, but yeah.
00:04:12It took me a full 48 hours to find out that I didn't need to change my own name.
00:04:15Oh, my gosh.
00:04:17Wow, that's good.
00:04:18That's crazy.
00:04:18That's really good.
00:04:19Anybody else long audition?
00:04:20Well, I feel like if I'm not getting something, I usually find out pretty quickly.
00:04:24And I haven't really had this protracted, like, you know, if it goes on for a long time.
00:04:29I feel like I've been lucky, actually.
00:04:31I haven't had a six-month audition process.
00:04:34What do you even do for six months?
00:04:35Yeah, what were you?
00:04:35Other stuff.
00:04:36Other stuff.
00:04:37You stay busy.
00:04:37You have to.
00:04:39Because it kind of works.
00:04:40That's what you do.
00:04:40If you're really committed.
00:04:42If you're a real actor.
00:04:43It was like, at first it was once a month, and then it kind of started to be like once
00:04:47a week.
00:04:48And I would go in for like movement auditions or like karate ones or just more chemistry reads with Leo
00:04:53and Regina.
00:04:53Or camera tests and just testing out to see like what he also wanted for the film, too.
00:05:00Like it was kind of like a.
00:05:01Were there other actresses in that part, like doing the six-month process as well?
00:05:05Or do you know?
00:05:06I think so.
00:05:06Did they get you sequestered?
00:05:07You're not sure.
00:05:08I mean, I was.
00:05:09I had my specific times that I was supposed to go in.
00:05:12So I assume that there was other people.
00:05:14I don't know how many other.
00:05:16But I know that there was other people.
00:05:17Wow, wow, wow, wow.
00:05:19Yeah, I had a really long process for Scandal.
00:05:22Really?
00:05:22Yeah.
00:05:23And because it started out with a meeting.
00:05:25I was sort of at a place in my career where they thought it would be respectful if I met
00:05:28with Shonda first.
00:05:29And so we met.
00:05:31But then I had to read as well.
00:05:33And I mean, I think I had maybe four or five auditions until the screen test.
00:05:38And who else would it be when you were auditioning?
00:05:41Well, someone who you really know very well, Linda Lowy.
00:05:46Oh, yes, Linda.
00:05:47I mean, from the way.
00:05:48Who put you in my so-called life.
00:05:50She did all of Shonda's shows.
00:05:52She did Grey's and she did Scandal.
00:05:54So Linda Lowy was there and Betsy, who's Shonda's producing partner, and Shonda.
00:05:58So in my final, I think it also came down to four or five of us for the final screen
00:06:03test.
00:06:03But I think part of why it took so long was because there's been a lot of talk about this.
00:06:08But when Scandal aired, it had been almost 40 years since a black woman had led a network drama.
00:06:13And so everybody wanted to audition.
00:06:16And God bless Shonda.
00:06:17She was like, then everyone will audition.
00:06:19So she's like read everybody.
00:06:22So it was a really long process.
00:06:25And I was also with my partner in with my now husband, Namdi.
00:06:29We were in Manhattan Beach sitting at a, it's not a Mexican restaurant anymore, but we were, I remember eating
00:06:35tortillas at the table and my phone ringing and being terrified to pick it up.
00:06:39And then getting the call and being like, oh, my God.
00:06:42Some of those roles where you're like, they live in you and you want them so badly because you'd be
00:06:46like, oh.
00:06:47But you know other girls feel that way, too.
00:06:50Exactly.
00:06:50There's somebody else out there who knows that this is hers, too.
00:06:55When I was auditioning for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in Chicago, it was not a long process.
00:07:00But I will say that all the women who were called back, we all went out to lunch.
00:07:03And that's just the kind of community it was.
00:07:06And that's what I love about the theatrical community is it's super supportive.
00:07:09In Chicago, nobody was getting famous, you know.
00:07:11And I feel like I haven't had that experience in TV and film because I came to it so late.
00:07:15And I'm always just like getting called in at the last minute.
00:07:18You know what I mean?
00:07:19Because they need somebody to fill in something.
00:07:21And I wasn't actually in the first round of consideration because I just, my career started later.
00:07:25That's all.
00:07:25What I was going to say is that I remember when I was like a kid, you know, literally rollerblading
00:07:31from audition to audition.
00:07:33And I was just, the only reason I still knew my social security number is because I had to give
00:07:37it every time I went to an audition.
00:07:39But there was the same pool of actors, of girls, yes.
00:07:43And it was actually very comforting.
00:07:45Like, we were kind of pals.
00:07:47We'd be like, hey, what's up?
00:07:48There was something very, I don't know.
00:07:52It did not feel competitive.
00:07:54It actually felt kind of reassuring to see them.
00:07:57That was my experience.
00:07:58And it's real.
00:07:59Yes.
00:08:00Yeah.
00:08:01I do think about that in this new era of not going into audition because there was so much bonding
00:08:06that happened in those waiting rooms.
00:08:08There are relationships I have with actresses who I've never worked with, but just like Regina, both Reginas.
00:08:13Where, like, you know, you just see everybody through the years in those rooms.
00:08:18People used to bring their kids.
00:08:19They'd bring their kids to the castings in Chicago.
00:08:21We'd all watch people's kids when they went in, you know.
00:08:23I love that.
00:08:24And I miss that.
00:08:25And also, I miss the power of the casting director.
00:08:27Because now it's like a tape farm.
00:08:29I know.
00:08:29And these women, especially, I mean, there were men too, but in my life it was all women.
00:08:33I never, I wouldn't have a career without casting directors advocating for me, watching my tape.
00:08:37My, my getting cast in Gone Girl was a tape I made in Chicago.
00:08:42I was like, no one's going to watch this tape.
00:08:44And she watched my tape.
00:08:45You're so good in Gone Girl.
00:08:46You're so good.
00:08:47I was not fishing, but I'll take it.
00:08:51But I was like, no one's going to see this tape.
00:08:52You know what I mean?
00:08:53Yeah.
00:08:53And so, like, that, the power they have to, like, go see theater and discover young actors and bring them
00:08:58into that process, I just, like, it breaks my heart that we don't have the same.
00:09:01And yet we're honoring them now, too.
00:09:03Claire, a critic recently referred to you as, and this was in a very praising piece, as our cultural avatar
00:09:10for anxiety.
00:09:13Given the through line of My So-Called Life and Homeland and Fleischman and Now the Beast of Me.
00:09:18What did you, what did you think of that take?
00:09:21Like, I mean, it feels like a pretty dominant feeling in general for humans.
00:09:27So, but, yeah, I mean, I hope that I've offered other feelings along the way.
00:09:39You have.
00:09:41I do think that we're living in a kind of acutely anxious time.
00:09:46So, maybe he was inclined to see it through that particular lens of this particular moment.
00:09:54I mean, beyond that, I don't know.
00:09:57I mean, I want performances to feel alive.
00:10:00And maybe that means a little stressful, too.
00:10:03Has anyone else ever had a sort of, like, avatar or label hoisted on them?
00:10:10I really like that one because I think there is something, as you mentioned, so human about anxiety.
00:10:18And I think it's really tapping into your ability to always bring so much humanity to the roles that you
00:10:25play.
00:10:25Thanks, mom.
00:10:26Yeah.
00:10:26So, it's really special.
00:10:27I'm actually with your ear buddy.
00:10:28It's really special.
00:10:29My husband said that somebody told him that every time you play a role, you want it to be kind
00:10:35of a human just up a tree with wolves barking at them, you know?
00:10:41Like, an everyday person in an extraordinary circumstance.
00:10:46And, you know, maybe anxiety is part of that.
00:10:49But, you know, there should be something magnified about it.
00:10:52I mean, you want it to be grounded.
00:10:53Yeah.
00:10:54There have to be stakes.
00:10:55Yeah.
00:10:55Yes, that's right.
00:10:56I mean, we're so lucky that we get to step into, once you're able to take on roles like these,
00:11:02you're stepping into someone's life at a moment that really matters to them.
00:11:06And so, we get to play them, to be them in the most important moments in their lives when the
00:11:13world is transforming and they're transforming.
00:11:15And that's a privilege.
00:11:18It's almost, I sometimes feel like it can be, like, living through reincarnation in this lifetime.
00:11:23Because we get to learn these lessons from people at their, when the stakes are highest in their life.
00:11:27And then we learn those lessons and we embody that journey and then we put them down and we take
00:11:31on another one.
00:11:32Like, most people get that once in their lifetime.
00:11:34But we get to do that again and again.
00:11:36I have to say the few times, very few times where I have been in a role where you were
00:11:40asked to play, and it usually was where you're being asked to play the girlfriend of someone interesting.
00:11:46But you're not interesting.
00:11:48Playing just utter peace and contentment is super hard.
00:11:51It's like the worst.
00:11:53Just doing nothing, like, it sucks.
00:11:55I was kind of like, yeah.
00:11:56I used to get a lot of notes from the director.
00:11:58Like, so there's this thing you're doing which is making me wonder about the character.
00:12:01Can you not do that?
00:12:02And I was like, sorry, could you just sit?
00:12:05Can you just be an accessory?
00:12:07Yeah.
00:12:07Yeah.
00:12:08We're going to change your dress so it matches the drapes.
00:12:10Yeah, exactly.
00:12:11You just blend in.
00:12:13Wow.
00:12:13I used to get annoyed, they were not reviews about me, although I'm sure some of them were, but it's
00:12:18changed some.
00:12:20But it bugs me when there'll be a male and female actor in something and they're both brilliant and they
00:12:25will use qualitative, like, subjective personality descriptions for the female's performance sometimes of, like, she just has something.
00:12:34She's just effervescent.
00:12:35She's just quirky.
00:12:36And then the males will be craft-based compliments of their actual talent.
00:12:42And that used to bug me.
00:12:43That's a really powerful observation.
00:12:45I'm going to start looking for that.
00:12:47Yeah, do you think it's changed?
00:12:48I think it has changed some.
00:12:49Yeah.
00:12:50And there's also, and she's really attractive, don't worry.
00:12:53Yes.
00:12:54She's cute.
00:12:55She's really pretty.
00:12:56She's brilliant, but also, yeah.
00:12:58So you'll want to make out with us.
00:12:59So you'll want to watch.
00:13:00You'll want to watch.
00:13:02Pretty without knowing it.
00:13:03Yeah.
00:13:03That's in a lot of times.
00:13:05Effortless.
00:13:06Ray, you did sitcoms for a long time.
00:13:08I did, yeah.
00:13:08And I'm going to read this verbatim because it really tickled me.
00:13:11You were describing the kind of roles that you played.
00:13:14And you likened it to being the tuba in an otherwise very high-note symphony.
00:13:18I walk across the back of the stage going oompa-doompa, give a deadpan look, and exit.
00:13:26That's very vivid.
00:13:28When did you realize that that is how you'd been typecast?
00:13:33First of all, I just kept trying to base any role I could on Bea Arthur.
00:13:38Sure.
00:13:39Because she really was brilliant.
00:13:41But when I was doing theater, I did comedy and drama and a lot of different types of roles
00:13:49within that.
00:13:50But the first cast from a videotape, well, brought out for the screen test, but yes, it was from
00:13:54videotape that some casting director watched.
00:13:56Thank God.
00:13:58The register of my voice, the fact that even in like when you just meet me in a room that
00:14:04I take up space and have some gravity to me made people constantly cast me as the sort
00:14:09of sarcastic, more cynical, negative person.
00:14:13And so I was constantly in these roles where there's a lot of, I also look at stuff a lot
00:14:19thinking about the music, what the rhythm is of the person I'm playing versus the rhythm
00:14:24of the thing they're in and do those match or not.
00:14:27And so, yeah, it would be a lot of like flutes and very funny, very funny pitter-patter.
00:14:31And my character would just have like, like Maude, like Bea Arthur, she would just have
00:14:35like a deadpan look, just take all the air out of the room and like that would be the
00:14:39joke.
00:14:40And so, yeah, I was the tuba often, but I loved it.
00:14:42Carrie, earlier in your career, you adopted a persona called Red Carpet Carrie.
00:14:48Red Carpet Carrie.
00:14:49Can you join me with us today?
00:14:50Carrie, it's helpful.
00:14:50Can you join me with us?
00:14:52No, I feel like this is an important lesson.
00:14:54Well, it came about because there was a particular project that I was auditioning for that it
00:15:00was one of those like, oh, I want this so badly.
00:15:03It lives inside me.
00:15:04I love this character.
00:15:05And in the end, it wound up going to another actress.
00:15:08And when I was talking about it with my team and sort of other people that I respect in
00:15:12the business, there was this idea.
00:15:16I don't even want to reinforce this idea and put it out there.
00:15:18But there was an idea that like she was more of an it girl.
00:15:22She was like utilizing her personal marketing in a way that gave her more leverage in this
00:15:29moment for this project.
00:15:31And I started to ask myself if I didn't want to, I didn't want to prioritize marketing over
00:15:39craft, but I started asking myself if I was hiding and if I needed to challenge myself to
00:15:46step forward into hair and makeup and fashion in a different way, if that could benefit me.
00:15:51And if there's a way I could do it where I could still feel authentic and true to myself.
00:15:56And so I would be in these situations sometimes on a carpet and feel like, ah, like terrified
00:16:02of it.
00:16:03And I just thought like, okay, there has to be some other version of me that's not exactly
00:16:07me, but like an elevated me.
00:16:09I think it's like my daughter, how she wakes up in the morning.
00:16:12But like a confident version of me that I could just put on on a red carpet and not have
00:16:18to be so vulnerable.
00:16:21So like still me, but I don't want to say elevated.
00:16:24But yeah, like to give myself a version of myself that wasn't entirely vulnerable and
00:16:29naked so that I could step into and show up in a different way.
00:16:33So that was kind of how I started thinking about it.
00:16:36You know what I do?
00:16:37And then I discovered that Robert De Niro does this too, because I was saying, I hum.
00:16:43And Hugh makes fun of me all the time because I go, because you naturally smile.
00:16:48And it's like, I hum, but yes, but I think, but it's, but it's true.
00:16:56If you go in, you have to, I mean, I was going to say disassociate, but that's, there's a
00:17:01nicer way.
00:17:01It's a different mindset.
00:17:02There is like, it's almost like a game day.
00:17:04Like I think my husband was a professional athlete for a very long time and I would watch
00:17:08him, he was a football player, an American football player.
00:17:10And I would watch him on Saturday nights, like start to transform into this different
00:17:15person who was like a gladiator on the field.
00:17:19And he would play in that game.
00:17:21And I remember when we were first dating, I would say like, do you get terrified when
00:17:25you're out there and these huge men are running toward you?
00:17:27And he was like, in those moments, I can't get scared.
00:17:29I have to get smart.
00:17:30First of all, I was like, I want to have your baby, but I was like, I was like, okay,
00:17:35how
00:17:36do I get smart about this battle?
00:17:38You know, because I want to, I want to show up and I don't want to hide.
00:17:41Cause also I thought there's something for me to learn in here as an actor as well.
00:17:45Like I don't want to hide.
00:17:47So much of this work where we do is about being willing to reveal ourselves.
00:17:51And I was like, if I'm scared to be pretty, if I'm scared of people looking at me, that
00:17:55could impact my work globally.
00:17:57Right.
00:17:57And I don't mean like internationally, but I mean like the holistic version of me as
00:18:01an actor.
00:18:02So it just became an exercise of like, how do I play?
00:18:05I had a similar conversation with my agent when I was in my first junket.
00:18:10I was so nervous.
00:18:11And she, yeah, she told me, you know, you look at all of these amazing actors and they
00:18:15have this red carpet personality, you know, it's like an extension of themselves.
00:18:19But I think something that I am trying to wrap my head around is wanting to feel like
00:18:23that.
00:18:23But I struggle with this understanding that I'm perceived as like, you know, I want to
00:18:29be able to get lost in a role and transform.
00:18:32Yes.
00:18:33But part of this industry, especially in today is about presenting yourself.
00:18:40As a brand.
00:18:41As a brand and authenticity.
00:18:42Yeah.
00:18:42And I think trying, I'm still figuring out like what that line is that I want to walk
00:18:48where, you know, I don't want to be crippled with anxiousness or fear of, you know, having
00:18:53to be public in these, these settings, but, um, also not hiding, but also wanting to keep
00:18:58things for myself as well.
00:18:59So I, yeah, it's an interesting, uh, thought experiment.
00:19:03I guess.
00:19:04Glenn Close has this way of thinking about it that I love.
00:19:06I learned this when I was working with her last year.
00:19:08There's a way that she, um, she thinks about royalty.
00:19:13Like she thinks about being like a kind queen and sort of coming out on the carpet where
00:19:19you feel like all of these people are here.
00:19:21They're part of your court.
00:19:23So that they're like, they don't have the power.
00:19:25You have the power and you show up with like a, a sense of sort of elegance and generosity
00:19:30and graciousness.
00:19:31Um, but you still get to hold what's yours and individually yours.
00:19:35And I, I love that way of thinking about it.
00:19:38Yeah.
00:19:39She's such a goddess.
00:19:41Or you could hum.
00:19:43Or you could hum.
00:19:44All of the above.
00:19:45By the way, queens might hum.
00:19:47Yeah.
00:19:48I love the humming.
00:19:49I'm totally going to try to hum.
00:19:51Sarah, speaking to that, like, divide between reality.
00:19:55And perception, like your role in love story.
00:19:57You're.
00:19:58I think that's why it's on my mind.
00:19:59Yeah.
00:19:59I mean, you're playing this enigmatic woman who the culture is fetishized, but little
00:20:07to nothing about.
00:20:08And you're filming it on set and the paparazzi is hounding you the way that they hounded
00:20:14her when she was like, like, how, when was that overwhelming and how did you cope with
00:20:20it?
00:20:20What was, what did you do?
00:20:22I mean, so much of this experience was new for me.
00:20:25I certainly haven't yet to be on a set before this where there was so much interest from
00:20:31the public and then the paparazzi and the press.
00:20:33But I think it was, you know, there wasn't a moment that was lost.
00:20:36I mean, if this was so similar to an experience that, that Carolyn would have felt and recognizing
00:20:41that I was playing, you know, in a TV show and she was trying to exist in her normal life.
00:20:47So I guess that was a way that helped me sort of feel a bit more control over it of
00:20:53understanding
00:20:54that I was having a physiological response that she would have had and there's a kinship
00:20:58in that.
00:21:00But I think once I got the role and even auditioning for it, when I got it, I thought, oh,
00:21:06now I
00:21:06like have to do it.
00:21:07And I recognize how big it is.
00:21:09You know, it's like, you know, it's a big deal to play a real person.
00:21:13And there's so much interest and people hold her in such high regard.
00:21:17And throughout this process, she became so incredibly, you know, dear to me and meaningful
00:21:22to me.
00:21:22And I think it's still sort of a constant sort of equation that I'm trying to balance.
00:21:31Like sometimes it makes me feel a little frozen and other times I have no worries about it.
00:21:38But I think the moments where I was able to recognize that there was a shared experience
00:21:42with Carolyn that felt me like I, it made me feel like I could sort of embody her a little
00:21:47bit more in those moments.
00:21:48And speaking of embodiment, you worked with the movement coach.
00:21:51And I'm so interested to know what that process is like.
00:21:53I'm desperate to ask you about it because I love body work.
00:21:56I'm interested in what you did.
00:21:57Julia Crockett.
00:21:57I mean, she's just incredible.
00:22:00I want to work with her on everything I do.
00:22:02It was, it reminded me of being back in theater school.
00:22:04If anyone saw what these sessions looked like, I mean, they'd think I was crazy.
00:22:10What was the raw material she used for Carolyn?
00:22:14Like was she, was she filmed or like where was she getting her information from?
00:22:18Or was it specific to her?
00:22:19Well, it was, we all, we sort of like had the shared document back and forth.
00:22:22And obviously there's a lot of photographs of Carolyn, but so much of it is after she gained
00:22:27public recognition when she was outed for being in a relationship with JFK Jr.
00:22:32And you're, and you're photographed and you hold yourself in a very different way.
00:22:36As I'm sure you all know, when someone's taking your photo and you know, you're trying
00:22:40to go to the grocery store and there were far less photos of when Carolyn was, yeah,
00:22:46just candid of like the photos that her friends take.
00:22:48And there was some videography, very little in terms of her vocal expression.
00:22:55So I took books and, and all the information and interviews that I could gather from other
00:23:01people talking about her and then all the photos and found the through line and worked with
00:23:06Julia and, you know, taking these still photos and imagining how that 32 year old version of
00:23:12Carolyn who's being hunted by the paparazzi, how would she move as a 26 year old when she
00:23:17was described by her friends as like a bowling ball down the streets of New York.
00:23:20And, and I, that was what was exciting about the role.
00:23:24I think of finding, understanding her reality and what were these touchstones and then also
00:23:30having that freedom while it was also intimidating, you know, cause there wasn't, I wish I would
00:23:35like curse, you know, why can't I just have two and a half minutes of like her candidly
00:23:39speaking.
00:23:40I remember her, I knew her.
00:23:42Yeah.
00:23:42I had no idea.
00:23:43Yeah, cause Narcissa Rodriguez is a good friend of mine and I, you know, I, yeah, I met her
00:23:49through him a number of times.
00:23:51I remember her pretty vividly.
00:23:53You did a great job.
00:23:54Oh, thank you.
00:23:56Yeah.
00:23:57Yeah.
00:23:57That's so special.
00:23:59Chase, you've been on a rocket ship essentially since August.
00:24:04It's, it's insane that like global press tour, this wild award season run.
00:24:08Um, what do you wish you knew, uh, a year ago, um, that you, you learned on your own
00:24:17throughout this?
00:24:18Um, probably to pace myself.
00:24:23And it was something that, that I remember before starting the one battle press that like
00:24:29Paula told me and Leo had told me like, just, you know, this is a marathon.
00:24:33Like you've got to make sure that you, you energetically pace yourself.
00:24:36And that was something that I was like, Oh yeah, sure.
00:24:39Yeah, I get it.
00:24:40Makes sense.
00:24:40And then we actually started the junket days and we started all the traveling and I was
00:24:45like, Oh, this is really, really exhausting in a way that I had never experienced before.
00:24:51And I think that cause I also right before we started that whole press tour, I was shooting
00:24:55the testaments and I think I had like two weeks off to go home, move and then fly to start
00:25:01promoting the movie, which I was obviously so excited to do.
00:25:05But I think like pacing myself energetically was something that I wish I could instill in
00:25:11my mind while I was shooting the testaments kind of, I guess, giving myself a moment to
00:25:16be like, okay, this is going to be chaotic for the next however long.
00:25:21Granted, I also had no idea what an award season would look like because I had never done
00:25:26it before.
00:25:27I never promoted anything.
00:25:28So I was like, okay, yeah.
00:25:30A beast too.
00:25:31And in some ways they're more enervating than, they're more exhausting than the actual work
00:25:38itself, you know, which kind of feeds you.
00:25:40This is just, it just feels like a one, it's just very, it's one direction.
00:25:46But it's also partially what Sarah's been talking about.
00:25:48It's the, it's figuring out who your authentic self is in it.
00:25:51But if your authentic self doesn't feel like doing the 53rd interview, your authentic self
00:25:55needs to get the F off.
00:25:57That's not an option right now, you know?
00:25:59That's for me is why there has to sometimes be this other character that I can click into.
00:26:04But I'm, I'm super curious to talk about process with more of you.
00:26:08Like, if you'd be like, do you all still work with coaches?
00:26:11Who have been the people who've supported you in unlocking characters?
00:26:14There's, I am, so I still continue to work with coaches on everything that I do.
00:26:20Coaches plural?
00:26:21I have two that I work with.
00:26:23One of my best girlfriends from college, actually Colleen Berry, coached me for my scandal audition.
00:26:29And she's somebody who I continue to work with.
00:26:32She's incredible.
00:26:34And then I work a lot with Kim Gillingham.
00:26:36Dreamwork, right?
00:26:37Yes.
00:26:38Who's really fantastic.
00:26:39And so there, there are a couple of different people, but I, I find it really helpful to
00:26:45have other people outside of the production that I'm in the lab.
00:26:51I, I would say I, my best friend is a therapist.
00:26:54I have another dear, dear friend who's a really great therapist.
00:26:58And I do tend to talk to them before I start projects.
00:27:02And it's not.
00:27:02And they're not your therapist.
00:27:03They're not my therapist.
00:27:04No, they're just my, my, my friends.
00:27:06My friends are our therapist.
00:27:07That happened to me.
00:27:08Do they, do they read the material?
00:27:10Sometimes.
00:27:11Yeah.
00:27:11Usually, usually I just describe the character.
00:27:14And it's not formalized.
00:27:16But I have to say, I think with every single role, I've broken them down with Ariel and
00:27:23Ken.
00:27:24Interesting.
00:27:25Sometimes like a role just, there is more of an overt like pathology.
00:27:31That I have to.
00:27:32Yes.
00:27:32Wrap your head around.
00:27:33Understanding of.
00:27:34So, and then I'll, I'll get references through that, you know.
00:27:38I'll find people to talk to other therapists who specialize in that or people who have that
00:27:44condition or benefit that particular life experience, you know.
00:27:49That's really important.
00:27:51And that's very, very helpful.
00:27:52Not every character requires it, but I'm playing a neurosurgeon right now.
00:27:59So, I, I spent a few months shadowing neurosurgeons.
00:28:06How do you get to do that?
00:28:07Like, how do you get into.
00:28:08You know what?
00:28:09It's more casual than you would think.
00:28:11Really?
00:28:11People really want to help you.
00:28:12Do you want to help?
00:28:13And they're excited.
00:28:14And it's like, you know, it's a little like exchange program.
00:28:18They'll come to set and they're like really dazzled.
00:28:20Yeah.
00:28:21Really?
00:28:21Yeah.
00:28:22Yeah.
00:28:22But, but also the, the, the boundaries are pretty porous.
00:28:27It was surprisingly so.
00:28:28Like, I just get to be here.
00:28:30Like, I don't need the credential.
00:28:31Like, I just.
00:28:32Here I, it does.
00:28:33This person.
00:28:34Well, your clarity.
00:28:34No, no, no.
00:28:35They had no idea.
00:28:36They don't really.
00:28:37They're not, their, their permission is not like requested or, you know.
00:28:41Did you scrub in?
00:28:43Uh, no.
00:28:44I'm not allowed to touch anything.
00:28:45And I'm, I'm in scrubs, you know.
00:28:48She's like, I'm in the room.
00:28:50It's fine.
00:28:51In the room.
00:28:51I did my homework.
00:28:53But, but that's a different, that's a different kind of work than what you're talking about.
00:28:56But, but equally fascinating and important.
00:28:59But, you know, that it's, it is, it is helpful to have a hook.
00:29:03If you have like a, a way to enter.
00:29:06To apply yourself to, um, where you, you know, you have to make a concerted effort.
00:29:11To, like, actively imagine the person.
00:29:14And not just kind of casually drop in.
00:29:15Because the opportunities are missed when you do that, I think.
00:29:18I fall into a trap, though, at this point in my career.
00:29:21That I used to think, like, you're not acting hard enough.
00:29:24If, if anything the character does is like how I would do it in real life.
00:29:27But it's like, well, I can't just exclude this whole list of things.
00:29:31Right, right, that's right.
00:29:31Just because I do this.
00:29:32You're also human.
00:29:32What if she laughs like that?
00:29:34What if she talks like that?
00:29:35I don't use a coach, but, um, so many of my favorite actresses do.
00:29:40So I'm very curious about it.
00:29:42I feel the same way.
00:29:42I feel curious, too.
00:29:44I tend to, uh, when possible, have deep, deep conversations and collaboration with my director and or writer.
00:29:51Yes.
00:29:52And now, uh, because Pluribus has a lot of the same people as Better Call Saul, I have a, you
00:29:57know, a 12-year working relationship with Vince.
00:29:58So that, that's where I'm collaborating.
00:30:00And then my scene partners, um, but Carolina Widra, my brilliant co-star in Pluribus, does dream, dream work and
00:30:06swears by it.
00:30:07So I'm very, I'm very curious about these things.
00:30:09I feel like both you and Carrie have been, like, a part of our lives for a long time, but
00:30:14have recently gotten, like, a lot.
00:30:16And we can't believe we've never met.
00:30:17We have so many crossovers.
00:30:19He once talked about you crying in The Leftovers for, like, I think, like, five minutes.
00:30:23I talk about The Leftovers incessantly on all red carpet.
00:30:26You're so young.
00:30:26No, you didn't.
00:30:28Not at all.
00:30:29You've done dream work since then.
00:30:30You're still peaking.
00:30:31But what I'm trying to say is that the White Lotus seems to have this effect on careers.
00:30:36Right.
00:30:37Where your profile, like, really elevates.
00:30:40So when that happens, is your reaction one of gratitude or, like, where the hell have you all been?
00:30:47I've been, I've been doing this.
00:30:49Yeah, I mean, it's so funny.
00:30:50I always feel like that part, which is the public discourse about you and your life, has always felt so
00:30:57far from me.
00:30:58I mean, don't get me wrong.
00:30:59I read reviews.
00:31:01I'll haunt Reddit.
00:31:02I always know how the work is landing in the world.
00:31:04I feel like it's important to take in the good and the bad because then you know that it's all
00:31:10subjective and actually has nothing to do with you.
00:31:11I think that's a good exercise, not just punishment.
00:31:14And so the slow and steady rise of Carrie Coon has happened entirely outside of my life.
00:31:22And even now, with After the White Lotus, I was at a restaurant last night in Newport, and this sweet
00:31:28young thing who was serving me said, do you play guitar?
00:31:31And I was like, I don't.
00:31:32And she said, you just, you're giving off musician vibes.
00:31:35Maybe you're a musician.
00:31:37You just seem like a musician.
00:31:38I was like, no, I'm not.
00:31:38That's lovely.
00:31:39And she's like, maybe in another life.
00:31:40I was like, maybe.
00:31:41So I'm still moving through the world with this, like, people vaguely kind of maybe thinking they know me from
00:31:47their high school.
00:31:48And it's great.
00:31:49And I still don't want to change that.
00:31:51And as far as, like, what the White Lotus does for careers, there were a lot of think pieces written
00:31:55about the show and about the women.
00:31:56And maybe people started watching Gilded Age and brought some attention to that show.
00:32:00And we got more fans, blah, blah, blah, yada, yada.
00:32:02I haven't seen the material results of that yet.
00:32:05We always fly off the screen.
00:32:07Like, in Conquer, we're like, holy shit.
00:32:09Thank you, me.
00:32:10Thank you, me.
00:32:11Fargo.
00:32:11No, no, I feel like it was, you know, yes, it happens every time you do a thing.
00:32:17And it's true.
00:32:18And I'm glad I'm still doing it.
00:32:20And I'll do it as long as they let me.
00:32:22And when they're done with me, I'll do something else.
00:32:24You did a great piece in the New York Times on an interview that I think was after your season
00:32:28of Fargo where they asked a similar question.
00:32:31And you said it's very helpful, you know, career-wise to have access to more material and material that you
00:32:37wish you could green light and earlier and all of that.
00:32:39And you said, but you're just on a new list.
00:32:41And you were like, I'm still on a list of many people that are ahead of me to get offers.
00:32:46I'm like, I think I'm, like, top of the B list now.
00:32:48And so I'm probably, like, instead of, like, the seventh person you come to, I'm, like, fourth.
00:32:51I roll.
00:32:52I'm, like, fourth.
00:32:53Okay.
00:32:53Because here's the thing.
00:32:54I still have to fight.
00:32:56Like, I'm going to have to fight for big movies and stuff still.
00:32:58I'm still getting, what am I getting?
00:33:00I'm getting unfinanced indie scripts.
00:33:02That's what I'm getting.
00:33:03And it's probable that if the Gilded Age were to go away, I would probably get another television job.
00:33:08That's probable because of my career, right?
00:33:10But, like, it's not like I've, for me, I haven't, like, leveled up in the way that you think of
00:33:14when you think of, like, what you're going through.
00:33:17Or I think what you're about to go through, honestly.
00:33:20Do you think anyone ever feels like they've, because I think that's also sort of part of our history.
00:33:24Yeah.
00:33:24And I think it's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very,
00:33:31very, very, very few.
00:33:32We either know we're on a list.
00:33:33Yeah.
00:33:34Or we've got to be the ones creating the project.
00:33:37That's right.
00:33:37Like, for me, that's why producing has become such a huge part of what I do is because I was,
00:33:44like, I cannot spend my life sitting at home waiting to be invited to the party.
00:33:48Right.
00:33:48I have got to start throwing these parties.
00:33:50Absolutely.
00:33:50And then there'll be the kind of parties I want to be at with the people I want to party
00:33:53with.
00:33:54And I'll get to do what I want to do with them.
00:33:56Absolutely.
00:33:56And not that that's easy.
00:33:58Still, it's still a fight and scrappy and all the things.
00:34:01Absolutely.
00:34:01But, I mean, we're all dealing with the list thing because as soon as you – by the way, because
00:34:07also the lists level up, right?
00:34:09Like, at first, you're just happy that anybody –
00:34:11I'm on the list.
00:34:12Yes.
00:34:13You're happy.
00:34:13You're on a list.
00:34:14Well, and a lot of women are producing now.
00:34:16A lot of actresses are producing.
00:34:17And we have seen the fruits of that labor.
00:34:19There's more interesting work being made, not only for women, but for everyone.
00:34:23And I think we have to continue to get creative about how we finance those things.
00:34:26And it's the Wild West right now.
00:34:27People are coming up with new models of how to finance film.
00:34:30And we're going to have to keep getting really creative about how we get the work out there because it's
00:34:34really changing a lot.
00:34:35And in Europe, they have, you know, financial support from their governments.
00:34:38And you see these amazing films coming out of Europe about men and women and everybody you can imagine, everybody
00:34:42in between.
00:34:43And we just – we don't have that robust, you know, industry right now.
00:34:47And we're going to have to get really, really savvy about how we cobble together these projects and how we
00:34:51finance them and how we get paid.
00:34:53And it's just – it's a different time.
00:34:55So it'll be really – I'm excited to be in a transition time, like have a career, A, that I
00:34:59was in a time when women my age were still acting, because here we all are now.
00:35:04And that the projects were interesting and that I could transition from TV to film, which was also an obstacle
00:35:09back in the day.
00:35:10And now, you know, I feel like we're in a new era of trying to figure out how we make
00:35:14things again.
00:35:14And I think there's going to be a lot of creativity around that.
00:35:16And I'm excited about what's possible.
00:35:20Claire, in – I believe it was 1994, you made Little Women.
00:35:25And you had to reshoot your character Beth's death scene because you were told at the time that someone had
00:35:33spilled a Coca-Cola on the reel.
00:35:34Yes.
00:35:35And very recently you found out that was not the reason.
00:35:37That was – no, like last year.
00:35:39Wait, what?
00:35:40What happened?
00:35:40So I just believed – Jillian Anderson was the director.
00:35:45And, yes, she told me that Coke spilled on the negatives, which I was like, sure.
00:35:50I had no idea what any of that meant.
00:35:52Of course, now I realize, like, absolutely nothing.
00:35:56But, yes, so I was dying and was really excited about it.
00:36:01And I had a death rattle that I had researched.
00:36:06And it just got a little too guttural, I think.
00:36:10Like, I really – admitted.
00:36:12And it really was a little – yeah.
00:36:16Maybe too authentic.
00:36:18Let's call it that.
00:36:19Wow.
00:36:19As opposed to, you know, clownish.
00:36:22But, yeah.
00:36:23So we –
00:36:24Oh, the reshoot was for them to change that for one?
00:36:24So we redid it and it was a slightly more muted expression of –
00:36:29The Hollywood version of dying.
00:36:30But I told Matthew Rhys that story when we were filming.
00:36:34And then he started calling me Death Rattle Dane.
00:36:38Which is stuck.
00:36:39That's very Matthew.
00:36:40That's good.
00:36:41Yeah.
00:36:42How do you research a death rattle?
00:36:44Oh, I read Five Steps of Dying.
00:36:46Like, oh, and I forget which – I forget now what she had.
00:36:50But it was some bronchial thing.
00:36:52Yeah, it was –
00:36:54And, oh, yeah.
00:36:56Yeah, she was consumed.
00:36:57She was – yes, that's right.
00:36:57Yeah, thank you.
00:36:58So – and, yeah, and I – and there was – her lungs were full of fluid.
00:37:03And I was excited about the sound that that would produce.
00:37:07You have my full support.
00:37:09I mean, I'm in the – I'm in the brass part of the orchestra.
00:37:13Yeah.
00:37:14The Death Rattle – the Death Rattle was fun.
00:37:17So fun.
00:37:17I love the Death Rattle.
00:37:18I played Emily Bronte on stage and that – I looked forward to that death every night.
00:37:21So fun.
00:37:22And that Death Rattle was spot on.
00:37:24So – the play might have been terrible, but the Death Rattle was memorable.
00:37:28Yeah.
00:37:28And mine was a little too extra.
00:37:30So I love that.
00:37:30I love you being extra.
00:37:31I love it.
00:37:32Has anyone else ever found out in hindsight that a filmmaker, a showrunner, a collaborator
00:37:37wasn't really vibing with what you were putting out at the time in a scene?
00:37:41Did you get any, like, criticism before it was too late?
00:37:44No, but I did find out during – you know, Leftovers was my first television job.
00:37:47And when we got to the end, they were like, you never ask any questions.
00:37:51You never called us.
00:37:52You never wrote emails.
00:37:53You never questioned anything.
00:37:54You just did it.
00:37:55And I was like, what's everybody else doing?
00:37:58And they were getting, you know, reams of emails from actors and, like, late-night phone
00:38:02calls.
00:38:02But I came from the theater.
00:38:03They hand you the text, and that is the text.
00:38:05That's the text.
00:38:06And so you do the text.
00:38:07You go out there.
00:38:08You do the text every now and then.
00:38:09I'd be like, why do I have a gun in my purse?
00:38:10They're like, we don't know.
00:38:11I'm like, okay.
00:38:12Well, let's do it.
00:38:13Here we go.
00:38:13So I came to find out that all the other actors were always, like, making appeals and,
00:38:17like, advocating for changes and just didn't even know you could do that.
00:38:20Do you do more of that now?
00:38:21I do.
00:38:22I do do more of that now, yeah.
00:38:23I got really lucky because I worked.
00:38:25Before doing Scandal, I worked with David Mamet, originating a Mamet role on Broadway
00:38:30with him that he directed.
00:38:31And so that commitment to text and just say the words and get out of the way.
00:38:36And then I went to Shondaland, where she was like, I don't care how you say it, but
00:38:41this is what you say.
00:38:43And I was like, okay, let's go.
00:38:44So you got to sort of really take ownership of the language.
00:38:47And that's where I started to really experience the friction of, like, I don't want to say
00:38:50that, but what can I learn by saying that?
00:38:52Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:38:52What if that's the thing that needs to be said?
00:38:54What does that tell me about who I am?
00:38:55But if you're working with, like, David Mamet and Shonda Rhimes, you know?
00:38:58The words are great.
00:38:59You know you can shift the text.
00:39:00We all know it's easier.
00:39:01The words are writers who are...
00:39:02That's right.
00:39:03That's right.
00:39:03And that was helpful, too, that after years on that show and working with Mamet, and
00:39:07then I can go to another project now and advocate for myself when I do feel like the words need
00:39:12to be different and try to follow that compass.
00:39:15I've done projects where they want you to improv or they want you to, like, find the dialogue.
00:39:21And that's all fine.
00:39:22We're, you know, not talking about that.
00:39:24I'm just talking about, like, if you have a great script, try that script.
00:39:28I actually told Rufus Sewell this because I was at a table with him, and I remember doing
00:39:32some read-through when I was, like, 13, and I was struggling.
00:39:35There was a break in the middle, and he said to me, you know, sometimes it is the writing's
00:39:40fault.
00:39:41Yeah.
00:39:41And it was a revelation.
00:39:43I was like, really?
00:39:45That you're real.
00:39:46But, you know, you're always negotiating that.
00:39:48That's right.
00:39:48Like, what's my, you know, what's laziness, what's hubris, or what's...
00:39:54What's curiosity and commitment to what's that?
00:39:56It's been true.
00:39:58So...
00:39:58But I do find that if you've tried your hardest and your damnedest to make what is their work,
00:40:04and you're not constantly appealing for a different line or a change, that then when
00:40:08you do have a question of, like, this, that, and that, and that, you've respected their
00:40:13craft so much that you get the respect in return.
00:40:15And I had a speech recently, and it was at the end.
00:40:18I had two weeks of nights.
00:40:19I was just really exhausted, and I had this gnarly speech.
00:40:22It was really technical, and I was really struggling with it.
00:40:24And the next morning, I, like, realized there were two kinks in the writing.
00:40:29Then I, like, fixed them, and then it was unlocked.
00:40:33Freedom.
00:40:33Yep.
00:40:33And I was like, I got it!
00:40:34I got it!
00:40:35Weirdo.
00:40:36Yes.
00:40:37Isn't that the best feeling when it's unlocked?
00:40:39Well, it's not the best feeling when...
00:40:41No, when you find it.
00:40:42When you find it.
00:40:43After the fact, which happens a lot.
00:40:44Oh, yeah.
00:40:45But, yeah.
00:40:45I was like, ugh.
00:40:46That's what's so great about theater.
00:40:48It's because in the theater, you're at home, like, brushing your teeth, and you're like,
00:40:51oh, that's what that line means?
00:40:53Yes.
00:40:53And you get to do it again.
00:40:54Right, right, right.
00:40:55That's the day, which, when I film, you're brushing your teeth, and you're like, oh.
00:40:58Yeah.
00:40:58I never did a single play that, like, closing night, you weren't so like, oh, that's what
00:41:01that line means.
00:41:02Right.
00:41:02Right, right.
00:41:03It's so true.
00:41:04It's so true.
00:41:04That's what that scene is.
00:41:05Okay.
00:41:05I'm so inspired by your story of the actresses in Chicago all going out to eat lunch, and
00:41:10I just, I think there's so much power in partnership, and I feel like some of the projects that have
00:41:17been the most rewarding for me in my most recent career have been kind of really strong
00:41:23partnerships with other women, and so I just, I really love you telling that story, and it
00:41:28makes me think about, like, how we expand that idea, but, like, partnering with Reese on
00:41:31Little Fires, or partnering now with Lizzie Moss on Imperfect, like, it is so powerful
00:41:37to not fall into the limited beliefs of a small pie, and if I eat, you don't eat, but,
00:41:45like, how do we create something together and be there for each other?
00:41:49And I have had that support throughout.
00:41:51I have to say, I haven't had a lot of negative experiences, particularly with other women,
00:41:56and it's thrilling, because I have to say, I grew up, I grew up in, I didn't have, I
00:42:01wasn't, I wasn't a good friend, like, I wasn't a good girlfriend.
00:42:04I had to, that's something I had to learn.
00:42:05It was something I wasn't taught, and so I have found this incredible satisfaction in
00:42:10cultivating female friendship late in my life, and the careers we're having are now putting
00:42:15women together in a way it used to be just one of us, and now I go on the White
00:42:18Lotus,
00:42:18and it's, you know, three women my age, you know, it's, it's really thrilling to be
00:42:22exposed to other women now in such a way that we can have these conversations, and that
00:42:26wasn't always the case, and I feel so fortunate to come up in a time where that's true,
00:42:29and that is the lattice work we have to build under us to keep creating the things we want
00:42:33to make.
00:42:33Yeah.
00:42:34For those of you who watch your own work, what is that, like, brushing your teeth scene
00:42:41where you were like, oh, I really wish I could redo that?
00:42:44Well, I'm afraid I just shot it a couple days ago.
00:42:47I was like, it's time for me to quit the business, yeah?
00:42:49Everyone was like, probably.
00:42:52You got to watch something you shot just a few years ago?
00:42:54No, no, I was doing it.
00:42:56Did you have a morning after, oh, I figured it out?
00:42:58Oh, no, it was happening in the moment.
00:43:00In the moment you knew you didn't have it.
00:43:01The director and I were just like, nope.
00:43:03That's not it.
00:43:04Did you ever, did you ever, no.
00:43:05No, I don't think so.
00:43:06I think they'll cut around it.
00:43:07Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:43:08I have, there's always at least one scene on a project, I come home and am devastated.
00:43:15I'm horrified by my limitations.
00:43:17Yeah, by your limitations.
00:43:18No, no, no, no, yes.
00:43:19No, oh, and I, and I, and I, I'm crippled by it.
00:43:22I mean, I, like, in tears, like, with my husband or, like, I call her, like, I really, it's, I,
00:43:28it's, it's predictable at this point.
00:43:30That it's going to happen at some point.
00:43:32Yes, at least once.
00:43:33When you watch it, do you ever feel like, oh, it actually should have been that?
00:43:39Or do you feel like it should have been the thing that you imagined in your head?
00:43:44Because sometimes I feel like I want it to be something and then it turns out to be something else
00:43:47and I'm like, oh, that actually works.
00:43:49I say both, but sometimes I.
00:43:50Actually both.
00:43:51You know, there are times where you're like, yeah, no, I fell short of what I wanted that to be.
00:43:55Or for some, whatever reason, you know, the, the, the collaborate, you know, the stars weren't aligning or we were,
00:44:04we were, I don't know, failing collectively or maybe it was just my fault.
00:44:09It's all true.
00:44:09It's all true.
00:44:10That's right.
00:44:11But, but, you know, it's just, ah, sometimes it flies out of you.
00:44:16Yeah.
00:44:16And, and it's exhilarating, you know, and that's why we're bobbing around in the ocean just like begging for that
00:44:23wave to come.
00:44:24You know, there's something inherently mysterious about it.
00:44:26We all have craft, we all have technique, we all have experience, you know, that, and, you know, we can
00:44:31rely on that to a certain extent.
00:44:34And then there's some X fact, there's some, some other element that we can never fully understand.
00:44:41And that's why it's remains thrilling and risky and terrifying.
00:44:46Do you guys watch your work?
00:44:48Yeah, I do.
00:44:49I find it to be fun.
00:44:50And like, I think the first time I watch it, I kind of am like, oh, I'm very aware that
00:44:55that's me on screen.
00:44:56But then after like the first 20 minutes, you have that like buffer of like, okay, no, I know that's
00:45:01me.
00:45:01Let's actually like get into it.
00:45:02Then I'll go back, start it again.
00:45:04And then I can kind of watch it without the idea of being like, oh, that's me on screen.
00:45:10And thinking back to like what I did and where I was on the day and being like, oh, I
00:45:14wish I did this.
00:45:15But like, I'm glad that I didn't do that.
00:45:17But I don't know.
00:45:18I like to watch my stuff.
00:45:20What about you?
00:45:20I don't think I particularly enjoy the experience of watching myself.
00:45:26And I remember, I feel like I remember each take that I do.
00:45:31And I know the takes that I have and I think they better not use that.
00:45:35Yeah.
00:45:35I just really don't.
00:45:36Do you ever communicate with the script supervisor or the director about the takes you like or don't like?
00:45:42No, you can't.
00:45:43I'll remember that.
00:45:44You know, when all the ones, all the takes that I don't like, they always end up in the show.
00:45:49Oh, then maybe you shouldn't.
00:45:50Don't talk to them.
00:45:51Maybe you don't know.
00:45:53Because what's in the show is amazing.
00:45:55So maybe stay out of it.
00:45:56But I wonder if it is that friction of the line, you know, of what is, I've been trying to
00:46:01think about, is there something, did I go to a vulnerable place?
00:46:04Did I go somewhere where Sarah doesn't necessarily like to go?
00:46:06And that's why it felt uncomfortable.
00:46:08And that's why I didn't like it.
00:46:09Out of your control.
00:46:10Yeah.
00:46:10Something I wasn't, I wasn't wanting someone to see.
00:46:14But I also think that's what's so, what I like about, why I don't like watching myself all the time.
00:46:19But I think it's also very helpful.
00:46:20I've also watched scenes where that's not, I remember the takes I was doing and that is not a take
00:46:26that I actually felt the most authentic and true and doing what I was trying to commit to.
00:46:31But I see why they chose it.
00:46:33And it works better in the arc of the story.
00:46:36Because, you know, you're a showrunner, you're a director, whatever, it doesn't matter how truthful you're being in that moment.
00:46:41If it is the wrong plot point for the bigger pictures you're looking at, it might not be the right
00:46:46take to have there.
00:46:48You know, and you have to trust that, too.
00:46:50I excruciatingly watch my own work to learn from it.
00:46:53You've got to know what your habits are.
00:46:55You've got to know your bad habits or you can't make a choice.
00:46:57But I know people they can't stand to.
00:46:59I do, too.
00:47:00And I respect it.
00:47:01I totally respect it.
00:47:01Also, get old and have kids and then you won't remember your takes anymore.
00:47:04You know, okay.
00:47:06It's so fun to finally see what it is that you've been making because, you know, it's being imagined by
00:47:13the director and the cinematographer.
00:47:14I mean, you'd like to know what it is in its totality.
00:47:17But what's fun about having kids now is that looping is more tolerable because I see now my children in
00:47:24my face.
00:47:25Oh, my God.
00:47:25And so it mitigates the torture a little bit.
00:47:28Oh, that's cool.
00:47:29Like, oh, there's Ro.
00:47:31You know, I don't know.
00:47:32I hope they're my kids.
00:47:33I just, they just had a 25th year anniversary showing of my very first film, which I was like, how's
00:47:40that possible?
00:47:40Which was what?
00:47:41Aren't I 25?
00:47:42It was called Our Song.
00:47:45And it was a tiny little independent film that was nominated for the Cassavetes Award in the spirit.
00:47:49And very, like, my first film went to Sundance.
00:47:52It was like, changed my life.
00:47:53And I went to go to this screening 25 years later.
00:47:56And I just felt like I was watching my daughter the whole time.
00:48:01I was so, like, struck by even, like, the behavioral things that she does that I was like, I don't
00:48:10do that.
00:48:11It just was such a trip.
00:48:12Right, and you can, and, like, don't you experience a different kind of forgiveness and, you know, grace and love?
00:48:17Yes, because I love her no matter what my kids, I always thought, like, there's nothing you can do that
00:48:21would make me not love you.
00:48:22Right.
00:48:23And so to be able to see my performance a little bit through that lens, because it was, like, little
00:48:27Carrie.
00:48:28And it's so different.
00:48:30That's sweet.
00:48:31I'm going to look for them.
00:48:31Yeah.
00:48:32It's really, it's really sweet.
00:48:34They're there.
00:48:34I'm going to look for your kids.
00:48:35Yeah, look for my kids.
00:48:37Is that weird?
00:48:40We're going to get very close.
00:48:41One of the things I really love about producing is being part of the edit, is being part of post.
00:48:46Because I actually, it's the final rewrite.
00:48:48And I have had moments where I have said, that is not the right take.
00:48:53I was in the room.
00:48:55My performance and other people's performance.
00:48:57Right, right, right.
00:48:57I was in the room.
00:48:58There is a stronger version of this.
00:49:00Yeah, yeah.
00:49:01Like, go back.
00:49:02And it's shocking what people, like, don't see.
00:49:04It seems so obvious to you.
00:49:06And they, like, yeah, they missed it somehow.
00:49:09Or the feeling makes them uncomfortable.
00:49:12Yeah, and that's what I have found.
00:49:14Oh, that's interesting.
00:49:15That happens a lot.
00:49:16Yes, where there's a heightened level.
00:49:17There have been versions of my scenes where I've been more emotional.
00:49:20And they're like, it's just so emotional.
00:49:22Yeah.
00:49:22Let's try it.
00:49:24Let's try it.
00:49:24Right.
00:49:25That's really interesting.
00:49:26I've gotten pissier by seeing a cut that messed up my comic timing.
00:49:30Oh.
00:49:31Not at all.
00:49:31When an editor changes where the pauses are, and that was part of your timing.
00:49:36Right, right, right.
00:49:36And a lot of them were live shows.
00:49:39And I'm like, I know I got a laugh that night.
00:49:41Yeah.
00:49:41And you are messing it up.
00:49:44Especially, like, if you do it off the line.
00:49:46I remember Andy Ackerman, a great comedy director, he came to me one time and he said, you're
00:49:51often doing the joke that's the line, but the secondary joke that's also off the line.
00:49:56That's something happening right before the line or something happening right after the
00:49:59line.
00:49:59Either it's silence or pause or a deadpan look.
00:50:02And he said, just make sure your director knows what you're doing.
00:50:07Because in an editing room, if they're just looking to cut time, they won't always pick
00:50:11up a...
00:50:11I mean, great comedy editors, and I've worked with many, do.
00:50:13This is why the communication with director and sometimes script supervisor is crucial.
00:50:18Sometimes.
00:50:19You know, and again, like, they're going to do what they're going to do, but I've just
00:50:22learned...
00:50:22Oh, yeah.
00:50:22And you don't even say, don't use that take, but you can say, I just wanted to make a notation
00:50:26of this one that I love and I'm really upset about this one.
00:50:29Or I'll just say, like...
00:50:29But I don't even know if I'm necessarily the best judge of my parents.
00:50:32Apparently not.
00:50:33Apparently not.
00:50:34That's what you've displayed.
00:50:36But just know that that's a tool in your toolbox down the road at some point if you feel that
00:50:41way.
00:50:41That at the end of the day, you can say, like, you know that third take?
00:50:44I noticed this about it.
00:50:45Well, hearing you all speak about it, I think something that I've been feeling is knowing
00:50:51that right now my limitations as an actor, my sense of taste and opinion ends when a director
00:50:56calls cut.
00:50:57And that, like you're all saying, you know, there's so much shaping that happens.
00:51:02After everyone leaves the set.
00:51:04And I feel so lucky of all the people that I've worked with and to be proud of the projects
00:51:09that I've made.
00:51:10But knowing that there is that extra step that a performer can take in the edit and in
00:51:15these conversations that, you know, go beyond the set is fascinating to me.
00:51:20But it's also what makes returning to the theater so satisfying because you are the
00:51:23arbiter of taste in the theater.
00:51:25And you are responsible for telling the story.
00:51:27And that's where you have that power.
00:51:29If I'm not first seen up, if there's any way that I'm allowed to go to set, I watch
00:51:34the shooting before it's myself because I want to see how many takes they do.
00:51:38I want to see if they're allowing questions.
00:51:40Right.
00:51:40You know, I did one where they literally only, because of financing, they only had time to
00:51:44do one or two takes.
00:51:45And it's that fast and very little coverage.
00:51:47Yeah, it's good to know that.
00:51:48So what I needed to know is like, my experimentation needs to get condensed.
00:51:52Yes.
00:51:52Because there might not be easy.
00:51:54Yeah, yeah.
00:51:55Whatever.
00:51:55Yeah.
00:51:56Or maybe I need to do something that I know works for the story, but it's not my biggest
00:52:02risk.
00:52:02But it is a polished thing that services the story.
00:52:05And then one risk.
00:52:06Yeah.
00:52:06But I can't be fun in the character.
00:52:08Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:52:09Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:52:10No time for that.
00:52:11That's so smart.
00:52:12Did you find a difference between how you were able to take up space on one battle versus
00:52:16the Testaments of like, that's, I mean, you're working with such huge, huge, I mean, it was
00:52:21one battle after another, big, big names and how, yeah, how did that trans, did it feel
00:52:28like a transition?
00:52:29Did it feel like, did you feel different in how you approached the work or how you felt
00:52:33on set?
00:52:34I think it was more how I felt on set as opposed to the work, because with one battle
00:52:39and then Presumed Innocent, both of those, I was always the youngest.
00:52:42Oh, you're so good at night.
00:52:43Thanks.
00:52:43You're so good at night.
00:52:45But I was like always the youngest person on set.
00:52:47And so when I got to do the Testaments, I was kind of like, like the big kid.
00:52:51And I could be the one that like, because there's a bunch of, a bunch of younger girls
00:52:55who are on that show.
00:52:56And since coming from one battle, I could like piecemeal stuff that like Leo taught
00:53:01me, Paula taught me, Regina, Tiana, like everybody on that set taught me, even the whole crew,
00:53:06because I would always ask every single question that I could.
00:53:08And going from that to the Testaments, I was like, the one thing that Paul and Leo and
00:53:17everybody across the board, just in general on that set, same with Presumed Innocent taught
00:53:21me, is to be there for everybody and kind of be a listening ear.
00:53:28And so I really wanted to make myself available to all of the other girls who were there, because
00:53:33some of them like, this was, this is their biggest show that they've done, or this is
00:53:38the biggest part that they've had, or the most lines that they've had.
00:53:40And let alone like, you're a part of like a Hulu TV show.
00:53:45And so I just wanted to make sure that I could be there to support them in the same ways
00:53:48that
00:53:49everybody before me had supported me on my past projects.
00:53:52And so a lot of it was like me being like, if you ever need anything, I'm here to listen.
00:53:56If it's something in the scene, I'm here to help you.
00:53:58And kind of like, if you need an ear to bounce things off of, I'll be there.
00:54:02If you need somebody to just confide in after a take, or if you just want to like, have
00:54:06a laugh between like, lunch, I was like, I will be that for you.
00:54:10And I will also kind of teach you that you can take up space, because it's scary to take
00:54:15up space in something when you're new at it.
00:54:18And I just wanted to make sure that that's something that I was taught.
00:54:22So I wanted to kind of tell them that you can take up space, even though you're younger,
00:54:26even though you're 19, 20 in this big show, you can take up the space, because you shouldn't
00:54:33have to ask to do so, I guess.
00:54:37Like, you deserve to be here.
00:54:38You got the job, you did the work, and now you can fly while performing.
00:54:43And I think that was something that I wanted to kind of teach them.
00:54:46Did they take you up on that?
00:54:47Did anybody?
00:54:48Yeah, they did.
00:54:49And I like, it was something that I found to be so special.
00:54:51And I think it honestly made like, our bond closer too, because the days where I was like,
00:54:56I really, I just need somebody there.
00:54:59Like, the girls were immediately, would kind of shower me with love in the same way that
00:55:04we all did.
00:55:05It was amazing.
00:55:05And I was like, I was like, I love this.
00:55:08I never worked with a group of girls before.
00:55:11And it was amazing.
00:55:12That's very impressive that that's what you took away from your experience.
00:55:15Yeah.
00:55:15And not all young people would take that, take that lesson from that experience.
00:55:20I think that's very impressive.
00:55:21Yeah.
00:55:22Yeah.
00:55:22Before we part, I have a couple, not yet.
00:55:25We could do this for hours.
00:55:27I have so many things.
00:55:28I have some questions I've labeled fun stuff.
00:55:31Tell me about the wildest interaction you've ever had with a fan.
00:55:34I play on, on, on Whitney on the sitcom, Roxanne, there were constant jokes that she was drinking,
00:55:42but like in her Sprite can was vodka and all of this because it's a sitcom.
00:55:45It didn't go like super dark about it, but definitely a thing.
00:55:48And I had been given fan mail that was sent to my agent and I was like, I'll just read
00:55:55one or two for fun.
00:55:57So a woman had sent me multiple pamphlets from AA, legitimately believe that this character
00:56:05is real and is an alcoholic and needed help.
00:56:08But it also came with pictures of her.
00:56:09She's a soccer mom and her kids.
00:56:11She has a job.
00:56:12And I was like, how is this person functioning in the real world if she believes people in
00:56:16the TV are real characters?
00:56:19Yeah, that was a long, long letter about how she wanted to help me.
00:56:24God bless her.
00:56:25Claire, anything surprising over the years?
00:56:27No, it's funny.
00:56:28Most of the time, people are really nice.
00:56:32I remember my son, who was like four, he said, why do people always say, I like your work?
00:56:39But that's mostly what people say.
00:56:43And I've played some extra characters, right?
00:56:46And I thought it might attract some colorful comments and attachments.
00:56:51I have met people who are bipolar and they were, they found some company in what I was doing
00:57:04as Carrie Matheson.
00:57:06That's very moving.
00:57:08Like that kind of thing is really, really meaningful.
00:57:11And yeah, I mean, I would say mostly people are just appreciative and respectful.
00:57:20Looking at the body of your work and also your public appearances, what is your favorite
00:57:24meme of yourself?
00:57:27Well, me sprinting away from the gunshots and White Lotus became, I'm deeply gratified
00:57:33when my physical life is lauded because I was an athlete.
00:57:37And so I love physical stuff on set.
00:57:39I love hanging out of a window.
00:57:41I love running.
00:57:42And I also just felt like, yeah, that's a very American response.
00:57:45You hear a gunshot, you're out of there.
00:57:47That felt very real to me.
00:57:48So that's a fun one.
00:57:49There's also one from the leftovers where I'm hosing off the guilty remnant, and that's
00:57:53a good one too, I'm like, or just my really ugly cry face, which I know you and I both
00:57:56share that.
00:57:57Ugly cry faces, we have that.
00:57:59And I will say too, as for fans, because it's always leftovers fans that recognize me,
00:58:03I always hear about people's grief and it's the same thing.
00:58:05It's very moving.
00:58:06And it's quite, and there's like such deep sharing that happens and it's not trite.
00:58:10And I'm very grateful for it.
00:58:12There's some from the wilds and covered in blood and dirt and like kind of losing it
00:58:16and pacing back and forth on this GH1.
00:58:20It's just a few frames of me looking pretty run down and crazy.
00:58:27That comes up on my feelings in a while.
00:58:30Those are fun for your family.
00:58:31Yeah.
00:58:31It's fun for your family.
00:58:32Yeah, good for the group chat.
00:58:33Yeah.
00:58:34I think I make a face of like disgust during the DNA test in one battle.
00:58:39And my friends love to use that one.
00:58:46Usually my character from Little Fires, there's a scene where I'm smoking a joint and people
00:58:51love to send me that on 420.
00:58:53Yeah, of course.
00:58:54Oh, really?
00:58:55Yeah.
00:58:55Of course.
00:58:56I'm so deeply terrified about what is going to be said about me online that even though
00:59:00I can't escape it, I have read certain things, but I don't know a bunch of them.
00:59:05And then my friends, yes, will send them to me if they're particularly unattractive.
00:59:09Apparently my listening face when I believe the other person is an idiot is very useful
00:59:14to a lot of people.
00:59:15And so there's quite a few of them.
00:59:17Yes, that's true.
00:59:18Well, I can't thank you enough for being here.
00:59:21Thank you for having us.
00:59:22Oh, thanks for having us.
00:59:24Cheers.
00:59:25Cheers.
00:59:27What a pleasure.
00:59:27I can't see you guys.
00:59:51Cheers.
00:59:53Cheers.
00:59:56Cheers.
01:00:05Cheers.
01:00:07Cheers.