Carrie Preston has taken on many roles, but Elsbeth stands out as unique
In one of the first scenes of her new TV show, Carrie Preston stands on a Manhattan kerb as a taxi drives through a puddle and splashes her with a not-small amount of dirty street water.
Preston’s character is stunned, but not upset. She gleefully pulls a foam Statue of Liberty crown from her bag, smiling as she affixes it to her head and another car passes and soaks her again.
The joy, the confident dorkiness – that’s Elsbeth Tascioni, the beguiling, funny lawyer who stole scenes in 19 episodes of creators Robert and Michelle King’s hit legal dramas The Good Wife and The Good Fight over more than a decade, a role that earned Preston an Emmy Award in 2013.
At first glance, Elsbeth was a sweet, but scattered defence attorney who interrupts herself mid-thought to say something like, “These are beautiful bookcases”, or “Ooh, I like that brooch”. A minute later, she would casually eviscerate a witness on the stand or pull off a brilliant legal manoeuvre that left her opponent speechless.
Viewers clamoured for more Elsbeth, and at last they’re getting some: The crime-solving drama Elsbeth debuts on TVNZ 1 tonight (June 25), four months after it made its bow in the US.
Even as Elsbeth’s mind is clicking away on levels that others can’t fathom, her genuine sense of wonder shines through.
Preston read the script and knew exactly how to play the scene where she gets soaked by the car. Obviously, Elsbeth is a huge Sex and the City fan, and therefore thrilled to experience a Carrie Bradshaw moment in New York.
“I decided that Elsbeth would find that absolutely 100% delightful,” Preston says from the set of the show in Brooklyn.
In the series, Elsbeth has just moved from The Good Wife’s universe of Chicago to work as a court-mandated legal observer of the New York Police Department – and she is truly dazzled by all the Big Apple has to offer. “She’s like, ‘Yes, I’m here, I’ve been splashed … I’m a New Yorker!’”
Preston is also having a moment to shine and splash. At 57, she’s one of those actors you recognise, but have trouble placing because she has been in a long list of shows and movies. Strangers call her “Arlene” (her breakout role in True Blood) ,or “Polly Poll” (the con-artist manicurist from Claws). Or they just go with, “I loved you in that thing!”
Character actor – Preston doesn’t love the phrase, because every actor plays a character. She enjoyed when someone once referred to her as an “illusionist”.
“That’s what character actors do … they try to make you forget who they are,” she said. “There are a lot of people like that who have been doing it for decades, like myself, where people might not really know what our name is as an actor.”
Preston has had a few significant turning points in her career that led her in directions she never expected. One arrived in 1997 when she made her feature film debut in a Julia Roberts movie titled My Best Friend’s Wedding – now a rom-com classic that made nearly US$300 million. She played one of the flirty bridesmaids who was practically joined at the hip with her sister (played by Rachel Griffiths). The two provided enthusiastic vocals in the iconic scene where an entire restaurant breaks into Dionne Warwick’s I Say a Little Prayer.
“I feel grateful that I got to be part of something that was so revered,” says Preston, estimating that she had been through “hundreds” of auditions until that point. “It was a big deal for me to be in that movie. … It sort of gave other people permission to cast me.”
Casting directors saw her as a “a bit of chameleon”, she says, and while versatility meant she didn’t get typecast, it meant almost exclusively secondary roles where she would drop in to jazz up a scene or episode.
Two life-changing moments coincided when she became a series regular on the 2008 buzzy vampire series True Blood, where she played a human waitress in a bar filled with supernatural customers and co-workers. First, there was the success of being on a hit show. Then, a few seasons in, Preston – who was blonde and wore a red wig on camera – decided to dye her hair red. Suddenly, fans recognised her wherever she went.
“Going to those Comic-Cons and stuff, I guess it’s the closest that I’ll ever feel what it feels like to be a rock star,” Preston says.
She still can’t believe her once-recurring character is now the star of the show (“This is a dream that I dared not let myself have”), helmed by showrunner Jonathan Tolins. Assigned to watch NYPD personnel (including co-stars Wendell Pierce and Carra Patterson) work after the department has been hit with too many wrongful arrest lawsuits, Elsbeth demonstrates a knack for solving the crimes herself. Elsbeth may carry too many tote bags (Preston guesses they hold everything that Elsbeth thinks she might need in a typical day, such as a protractor, or a 1972 encyclopedia, or a cheese sandwich), but her naiveté masks a highly effective sleuth.
“It’s like Elsbeth has set off a colourful glitter bomb in the middle, a black, white and grey Law & Order-type scenario,” says Preston, who considers the show more of a comedy.
Online, fans sometimes wonder if Elsbeth is on the autism spectrum, or has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and say that they feel seen by Preston’s portrayal. The Kings and Preston avoid giving it a name.
“I don’t diagnose her. No one does. I mean, I think that’s good, because in that way, she’s not a representative of any one type of a thing. She just is who she is,” Preston says. “And I think that’s wonderful. It makes her very unique. And so if people relate to her, I like to think that they’re relating then to whatever is unique about themselves.”
Preston says she also hears a lot from lawyers who say that they relate to Elsbeth’s plight of being overlooked at work – because of the way they dress, the way they talk, how they multi-task – only to reveal themselves as very good at their jobs. Recently, a young law student on a train asked Preston to sign her textbook.
“There are a lot of women who are underestimated in the world, and so I think she kind of represents that,” Preston says. “Women who maybe on face value aren’t taken seriously because of just how they are, or maybe they don’t follow social norms or whatever it is – and then they end up being incredibly brilliant. And that’s their superpower.”
