00:00I know you optioned Nevada Bar's book series nearly 10, 12 years ago, initially for yourself
00:06to maybe play the title role. After all the false starts, how surreal is it to finally see
00:11Anna Pidgeon on screen? It's so exciting because I had a vision when I first read the books of what
00:17Anna Pidgeon could be, and that's why I optioned the books. And it's been a long time, and I kept
00:24having to ask Nevada Bar, the author, for another year, another year, another year, and I had to
00:29say, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it. So when I finally did, I feel so good, and it's
00:36even better
00:36than I could have imagined. I think we really did. You know, we had to change a lot of things
00:41from the
00:41books just because of the constraints of shooting a show, but I think we really did the character
00:47proud, and especially because of this one here. How did you know Morwen Brebner was the right
00:52showrunner to help you see this dream project through, Leah? Well, it was really great when I
00:57first had a meeting. I had met with different writers, a lot of different writers through
01:01the, you know, 10, 12 years I've been doing this, and Morwen just had this incredible sensibility
01:06about nature being a character in the show, and she has this incredible experience doing,
01:14you know, procedurals too, which I didn't have, and I thought she just really, really understood
01:21the character and did such a beautiful job fleshing out the other characters too that
01:28weren't quite in the books. Like, she had to make kind of compilations of different characters
01:32for our show, and that was really beautiful, and it was such an extraordinary experience
01:38working hand-in-hand with her all the way through this process. She's a very beautiful, fair, smart,
01:44kind person, and we really agreed right away on Tracy, who was our number one and only pick
01:52for Anna Pidgeon. Well, I was going to say, Tracy, it feels like you were fated to play Anna.
01:58What drew you to the role? So, I actually, I wasn't familiar with the books when this project
02:04kind of came my way. I was, I read the pilot. My rep sent me the pilot, and I fell
02:10in love with it.
02:11I fell in love with Anna. I thought the writing was so fun. The character's really complicated,
02:18and there's edginess, but she's also, you know, grieving and super curious, and there's adventure
02:26in nature. So, anyways, the whole premise of it all, just, I was really excited by it, and then I
02:30got to meet these guys. I met Leah and Morwen, and we had a Zoom meeting, and I fell in
02:37love with them.
02:37I logged out of the Zoom, and I was sure they had more meetings, and I called my manager, Ann,
02:43and I was like, I want it! And I was, I really wanted to be a part of it. They
02:49were just also
02:50welcoming and really wanted to work together as a team. It was just a really lovely environment
02:56that I was really keen to be a part of. And she's such a great, having been a number one
03:01in several
03:01different series and movies. She's a great number one. Like, she inspired all the actors to
03:07bring their A-game. She inspired all of us to keep writing and doing her character proud,
03:13and she would always stick up for things that were really important in just a fair and loving way.
03:19And if we had to, if she had to do something she didn't quite want to do, you found a
03:23way.
03:24Just an amazing leader. Leah, you've had the opportunity to mentor women in front of and
03:30behind the camera. What makes Tracy so special? Well, that's what I love so much about being a
03:36director. I've been a director for 20 years. I've been a filmmaker for many, many years. And
03:41one thing I really love about it is that I can kind of give some of my knowledge that I've
03:45learned
03:46through a zillion years in this business to young women and try to hold them up and try to make
03:53them
03:54feel safe and protected in a way and, you know, do the best I can for that. And so that's
04:00a really
04:00beautiful feeling for me because if you, if you're not giving back, if you're not teaching by my age,
04:04you're just bitter. I have no interest in being bitter. And Tracy, what was it like working with Leah?
04:11I was going to say, I was like, I'm glad you asked because I wanted to take a moment to,
04:15she's so amazing. I mean, I'm sure you could tell that we love each other. I'm like continuously
04:19just touching her. Um, but it's just so supportive from the get go. You know, when I, when I first
04:24got on board, Leah was, was like, I want you to know I'm, I'm on your side. I'm on your
04:30team. I
04:30want you to feel supported in every way. And she really followed through with that. It wasn't just
04:34empty words, uh, with everything that, that we had to do, even just, you know, if we had a sex
04:39scene and
04:40it was, you know, you're kind of exposed, she would make sure that I was feeling comfortable. I felt good
04:44about
04:44everything. You know, everything was always with the utmost love and care, um, and continued so
04:50throughout the whole season. So, uh, I feel very, very, very fortunate to be guided by
04:57the legend that is Leah Thompson.
05:00We had so many women that worked, um, on the project and we really wanted it to be a strong,
05:06supportive women's environment. And then we're really lucky because we were nominated. We haven't
05:11even been on, we've been nominated for a win award, which is a woman's award show. And,
05:16uh, she was nominated for best actress with some amazing other actresses. And we were nominated
05:21for best drama. And also Morrowind was nominated for her screenplay, which is amazing. And I
05:28feel, it feels lovely to be embraced by, by women for our, our, you know, complicated portrayal
05:36of Anna Pidgeon. Yeah. Everything's coming up, Anna. Everything's coming up, Anna.
05:42I was going to say one thing the hair and makeup department had to get right was Anna's signature
05:48braid. Tracy, can you talk about that process? Yeah. So we actually, yeah, I mean, it was,
05:54it was, uh, it was a whole, we had a whole thing around it. Um, just wanting to make sure
05:59that it, that it represented the story the way that, that we wanted it to be. So we had
06:04some, put a little extra extension in there to make sure it had its fullness, uh, until
06:09my hair could kind of grow out and match. Don't cut that hair for season two. Um, but
06:16it was a little too short for when we had first started. And by the end of it, we would,
06:20you
06:20know, it, it, um, it found its way, but. It was one of the things that really drew me
06:25to her because you were on a big TV show and I looked at your hair and I was like,
06:29oh,
06:29that's my kind of actress. She, it wasn't, she, you weren't obsessed with your hair and
06:35your lip gloss, you know, you're so beautiful naturally. And I think women are beautifully,
06:40you know, can be so beautiful naturally. And she was just in it to win it in terms of really
06:46feeling like a real person who really worked in the great outdoors. And, you know, a lot of
06:51actresses aren't like that. Well, Ann, there are no sound stages in this. It's all filmed
06:59on location. Um, as an EP, as well as a director, Leah, was that one of your non-negotiables?
07:05Yes. When we were, uh, scouting for locations, um, they were, it's not a big budget show.
07:13So they were saying we'd have to be on the stage for five days and out two days. And I
07:18was
07:18like, how do we make this show? Like, we don't know how to make that show. So we found this
07:22incredible place where there was no soundstage, just a collection of cabins, the woods and, uh,
07:30and a river. And we really used all that river and all those cabins. And, um, they literally chopped
07:38down trees and skinned them and made our ranger station out of a Quonset hut, like, and did the most
07:46beautiful job. We had the most beautiful crew. And so I think that's why you can feel it and smell
07:53it
07:53and, you know, feel the wind and the water because we were there the whole time.
07:58Yeah. It was so beautiful. All of us, I mean, we would have our lunches and go sit on that
08:03little
08:03picnic bench outside and just sit by the Creek. It was such a beautiful environment.
08:07I never went swimming in that swimming hole. I'm very upset about that. It was too cold.
08:12It was quite cold.
08:13It was too cold.
08:14And Tracy, how important was it being out in nature to helping you craft the character of Anna?
08:21Um, I mean, I think it, it, it, it's almost its own character in the show that Anna interacts with
08:26in such a big way. Nature is something that really inspires Anna and it's something that helps her
08:31through her grieving process. And so getting to be there, it just all like locks in. I don't know
08:37how to explain. I don't know how the show, I don't know what the show would be if it was
08:42on a stage.
08:43Um, and it all really just comes to life being outside. Uh, Anna has these moments where she's
08:49even just taking a deep breath and, and, and breathing in the, the fresh air. And I think if we
08:54were in a stage, it's just, you know, it's just a different thing. It, it all just felt so natural.
08:59Yeah. It's nice to not have to act if you don't have to, you know, and we, uh, you know,
09:04with the real
09:04animals, with the real eagle and the cat, wolf, horseback riding, horseback riding. Yeah. Yeah.
09:12We had the best wranglers ever. Yeah, we did. And it seems like the overarching big bad of the season
09:17will be Kim Coates, Jeremiah Paulson. Can you tease how he and Anna are going to continue to clash
09:23the season? You love to tease, so I'll let you tease. I feel like I tease too much. Oh my
09:29gosh.
09:30Um, yes. Jeremiah is, well, Anna is the thorn in Jeremiah's side. He just can't quite get rid of
09:39her. Um, and Anna is such a curious person that she needs to know what the root of everything is.
09:46And so you will see them, uh, intersect in ways that you don't necessarily expect, but they
09:52are, she is continuously around him in some way or another. And he's such a delicious actor. I just,
10:00and I loved directing him. He's just like not sure what he's doing. He's not what I pictured,
10:06you know, cause I kind of pictured a cowboy hat kind of bad guy, but, uh, he's, he's different and
10:14he brings
10:15something that's really surprising to the, to the plate. And, uh, I just, I can't, he just makes
10:22crazy choices and they're so wonderful. He's a really, really good actor. Yeah, he is. He's
10:26awesome. And nice person too. Mm-hmm.
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