Carrie Preston lives to make the man who helped create the role of a lifetime laugh. So when Robert King was directing the pilot for CBS' “Elsbeth,” the long-awaited spinoff that featured Elsbeth Tascioni, the idiosyncratic, Emmy-winning Preston lawyer on “The Good Wife,” front and center center as a brilliant and baffling murder detective, she wanted an eccentric entry into the crime scene. King set up a shot of a sidewalk, dramatically packed with uniformed officers, and Preston popped his head into the frame with the timing of a silent film comedian. She started King's laughter. “Victory of the day!” recalls Preston, who coined a name for the rapidly forming arsenal of eccentricities that includes the character's now-trademark emergent arrival: “I call them 'Els-bits.'”
Elsbeth came into our lives at the beginning of “The Good Wife” series. What do you remember about her origins?
When I was offered the role, Robert said, “We're thinking of her as a female Columbo.” He knew what she meant, that she would do things in an unconventional way and people would underestimate her. In that first script, they wrote the word “pause” in parentheses. And I thought, “I'm really interested in what happens in that pause. I’m going to fill that out and see if it’s something you find interesting.” So I started investigating and thought maybe she was thinking one thing, saying another, and her body was doing a third thing.
It's starting to feel like a big musical comedy, the timing of everything, the physicality and the words.
Oh thanks. I have a theater background and the classics have a lot to do with rhythm. There is a lot of exposition in our program and our job is to make the writing sound fantastic, new and fresh. So I plan for those things, because I have to know how your brain does all of these things and keep you grounded. So it's not just a woman who seems fickle, like there's something else going on.
Are writers attuned to the Elsbeth mode?
Everyone has discovered their rhythms and some people write more towards the comic and others towards the dramatic. And I like that, because that's life, right? Full of good things, bad things and neutral things.
As you embarked on “Elsbeth,” you must have been excited to see what else you would learn about her.
Absolutely. She had played her maybe once a year, and I had to try really hard to remember her character, because she had played several other people in between. Now I can breathe through the character all day long, and that's a gift. What is she like in a quiet moment? we didn't understand that [before]. What is she like with a girlfriend? When she talks about family? That's fun for me.
Is there an origin story for your attraction to fabrics worn by others?
I don't know an origin, but you can understand the tactile. She is so observant and receptive that, sensorially, she will respond to anything.
” However, you will notice that I have made the decision not to carry bags when I finally catch the criminal. Because I decided I don't need them! Carrie Preston says about the colorful handbags she has on the show.
(Elizabeth Fisher/CBS)
Do you share his boldness in choosing clothes?
I'm not afraid of color. I live in New York City, so I have black clothes; it is necessary. But I will mix a pattern like Elsbeth's. When she was a child, my mother called it “dressing humorously.” Crazy red parachute pants and funky sneakers, or an oversized dress. I say put things in your body that make you feel happy.
You were a guest for so long on “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight,” how does it feel to be the host now?
Sometimes it can be intimidating and lonely being the guest player. That's why I always make sure everyone feels welcome and as comfortable as possible. I give a bag to all the guest stars and made these little tags that say, “From the personal collection of Elsbeth Tascioni.”
Elsbeth's handbag, the subject of so much speculation on the Internet. What's in there?
I do not tell you! However, you will notice that I have made the decision not to carry bags when I finally catch the criminal. Because I decided I don't need them!
What is your opinion on why it is so popular among viewers?
She's funny and extremely bright, and the fact that she's so positive and allows herself to be vulnerable. I feel like that's what the public is craving right now. The old school structure [of the show] It is reconfortable. I really want to make people happy and Elsbeth looks for the good in things. She assumes positive intentions, makes friends and that is a great role model for all of us.
You mentioned that they underestimated Elsbeth. Has it happened to you?
As actors, most of us who have been doing this for a long time sometimes feel, “They don't understand that I could star in a TV show.” You hear, “Oh, they're going for a name.” I say, “Well, I've been doing this for 30 years. I'm not sure what else you want from me! But when you're a character actor, you get lost in the character. And then I realized, “Oh, I have a name. It's Elsbeth. This character gave me this incredible opportunity. It is not lost on me how important she is at this age and stage in my life and career.
