00:00Hi, I'm Sarah Shahi and I'm in studio with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:07Okay, City on a Hill. Just got picked up for season two. Yes. So congratulations.
00:13Thank you, thank you. Before we get to season two, I'm obviously gonna ask you
00:18if you know anything about season two, but let's start with season one. Okay. So
00:23what initially attracted you to this role? A lot of things. You know, I read
00:29the script and I was so taken by how raw the writing was. It was so real. It was
00:35so gritty. It was so, you know, conversational. I felt like this is the
00:41way people really speak to one another. It didn't feel like writing. So that was one.
00:47And then my character in particular, Rachel Benham is her name, and she has this sort
00:52of crisis of identity crisis throughout the show, which I felt like I kind of had
00:57growing up in Texas. She's this Persian-American woman, but she's
01:02pretending to be Italian because it's just much easier to pretend to be
01:06something other than Middle Eastern at this time in the 90s. And so I grew up in
01:11Texas, and I felt really similar to that. You know, it was growing up in the South. I
01:16had a very unusual name. I look different, and it was easier to pretend to be
01:21something other than what I was. How much did you know about what was going on in
01:26Boston in the 90s before you came on to the show?
01:31How much did I know what was going on? Pretty much anything that I learned from
01:35the town in Gone Baby Gone. That's like all I knew. But then after getting the
01:40role, you know, I did a deep dive on this thing called Google, and I kind of learned
01:49that this period of time, it was actually called the Boston Miracle, and, you know,
01:55it was one of the worst places in the world. Just strife with violence and racism
02:02and just incredibly dangerous was this, you know, period of history. And yeah, then
02:09after that, my eyes kind of opened up to how rich this time was in terms of its
02:14storytelling. Yes, and it's interesting that the Boston Miracle and the, what came
02:22out of it, Operation Cease Fire, I think it was called, which was like the way that
02:28the police kind of came together and started like analyzing and fighting the
02:35crime. And your character plays a big part of that because she's actually part of the
02:40people who are executing this kind of new way of tackling crime. Right. Well,
02:48Operation Cease Fire was interesting because it wasn't just, you know, the
02:52police. It was, you know, heads of state. It was the church. It was all of a sudden
02:55the whole community kind of gathered together to try and reduce the crime.
03:00And at one point it was so, you know, they had as many as I think over 300 homicides
03:05in one year just in this little, just in Boston itself. You know, it's just so crazy when you
03:11think about that. And so yeah, it was through the efforts of the church, the
03:15civilians, the police, that the numbers were able to come down. But what's so
03:22interesting about that, I don't know if I'm going ahead of you here, but I love, I
03:26love talking about this, is that, you know, with that said, another part the show
03:31really does well is the lines between good and bad really get crossed. And the
03:37good guys start doing bad things and then the bad guys are still doing bad
03:42things but possibly doing good things, you know, so those those moral lines get
03:46crossed all the time. Yes, and you also have an interesting verbal sparring
03:52partner in Kevin Bacon. Yes. What was it like to trade that kind of spicy dialogue with him?
03:58I loved it. Oh my god, it was amazing. Yeah, Kevin, you know, I didn't really know, I didn't know
04:07what to expect
04:08before I met him. And if anything, I definitely thought he would be like the
04:13typical Hollywood A-lister. I thought he would be egocentric. I thought he would be
04:20a bit full of himself and, and not really make room for anybody else. That's what I
04:27assumed, you know, having a career as long as he's had. But boy was I surprised. Yeah. He is
04:35the most unassuming person. Like when he comes onto set, you kind of don't even know
04:39that he's there. He's quiet. He's to himself. He's so collaborative. I remember he
04:45and I kind of improv'd something in the scene and, or I came up with the idea and I
04:51don't know how or why I was so bold as to even suggest it. I don't know what took me
04:55over. But not only did he love it, but then when the director complimented him
04:59on the thing I just told him about, he quickly was like, no, that was Sarah.
05:03That wasn't, that wasn't me. So he, like he did that and like people don't do that. You
05:07know, Hollywood is so cutthroat in a way. You know, like, it's like they don't give
05:10the credit where credit is due always. But he's great to work with and he's so
05:15giving. And I just, like I said, you know, and his character is so tough. You know,
05:21Jackie Rohr is such an over-the-top, almost like a mob boss more than he is
05:27anything, you know, an FBI agent. And he just, it just, he nails it in every which way.
05:34And of course you were familiar with the creative powerhouse that is Ben Affleck
05:40and Matt Damon. Yeah, I've heard of those guys. Yeah. I think they've done a few things.
05:45Yeah. What's your impression about how much they, they've kind of influenced this
05:50kind of world that you're in presently? Yeah. This character? Well, obviously, you know, I
05:56mean, these two are, they are Boston's finest, you know, those two boys born and bred. As
06:01far as the show goes, I personally did not have much interaction with them. I know
06:05that they came a few times. I wasn't working the days that they were there. But I
06:09know they're very hands on after the product is done, after we're done shooting. They're
06:15in there with the editing, before we even see the scripts. They're making script notes
06:20and, you know, suggesting things. You know, even down to wardrobe choices, they're having
06:25a say in. And again, I think it's, you know, during the editing process is when I've noticed
06:31that their hands really come in and they help shape things the way it needs to be, you know,
06:39someone to challenge because they really know this world inside and out.
06:43Right. When you have to tap into this, this role. Yeah.
06:47You're dealing with a lot of racism and sexism.
06:51You know, there's a reason little girls play house or little boys play cops and robins.
06:58Yeah. That's part of a lot of people's storylines in this show. Yeah.
07:04We're living in a world where people, you know, people don't talk the way they do on the show anymore.
07:13Is there a level of discomfort with the dialogue or is everybody kind of dialed into their characters
07:19and like committing to the time period that this plays in?
07:22I think everyone's kind of really dialed in and committed to this time. You know, for myself, you know, growing
07:30up in Texas,
07:32some of the things that I was referred to in the show were things I was kind of used to
07:37it, to be honest with you.
07:39And it kind of, you know, it kind of sucks because when we were filming the show,
07:44there were so many parallels between the 1990s and now, 2019. You know, so here we are almost 30 years
07:50later.
07:50It's like, have things changed that much? Because it doesn't seem like it.
07:55You also get to partake in some really good action scenes.
08:00Yeah, yeah.
08:01How is it to film something like a bank robbery?
08:05Yeah. And the big car explosion and all that stuff that just aired.
08:10It's really fun. We filmed it all over a course of four days.
08:15And, you know, it's all storyboarded and then you shoot different pieces of it a day.
08:22But then to watch it all come together and how flawlessly everything looks, like it's just incredible.
08:27I used to do a lot of action type stuff on a show called Person of Interest.
08:31But that was a lot of physical, that was a lot of fight scenes and, you know, that kind of
08:36stuff.
08:36And this was broader with cars and explosions and stuff.
08:42But no, it's always exciting to do that kind of stuff.
08:45I mean, that's the true definition of make-believe, you know.
08:48That's what it is, to play cops and robbers, you know.
08:51So we have arrived at season two. Season two has been greenlit.
08:55Do you know anything about what's happening in season two?
08:57I know absolutely nothing.
08:58Nothing.
08:59No, I know.
09:00Nothing.
09:00Zero.
09:01No.
09:01I hope Rachel has a juicy storyline.
09:08I wouldn't mind it if she and DeCourcy had a little thing.
09:13That would be kind of spicy.
09:18There'd be some fun drama there.
09:20Yeah.
09:21But it's interesting because I feel like the pipeline has been set for Rachel and DeCourcy in a way.
09:26Yeah.
09:27Because this whole season, it's like, you know, he comes in the office and asks me, you know, what's going
09:31on with the case.
09:32I'm like, you know, ah, my fucking mother, you know, she's bitching at me because I'm single.
09:36You know, like I'm always dropping little nuggets like that to him.
09:40So it's like, well, maybe.
09:42Why not?
09:43There's definitely some unfinished business there.
09:44There is.
09:45I think so.
09:46And his wife doesn't understand them the way I understand them.
09:48So who knows?
09:51Sarah Shahi, thank you so much for being here.
09:53City on a Hill.
09:54It's a lovely, well-crafted, well-acted show.
09:58We're so excited to see what happens.
09:59The season finale is on Sunday.
10:01Yes, that's right.
10:02That's right.
10:02Check it out on Showtime.
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