On CBS’ “Elsbeth,” one of the title character’s defining quirks is the number of bags she carries around, usually to the scene of a crime. Star Carrie Preston tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast that it’s a bit of a heavy lift — pun intended. “Don’t ask any crew member to tell you what I really think about the bags at this point,” she says. “They are wonderful, and of course, they are part of the character. But logistically, carrying them around and taking them on and off my shoulders, we’ve had to really work on it — because I was starting to have some physical problems. Like, ‘got to go to physical therapy’ kind of issues. And so we had to figure out what we put in the bags to make them look like they have stuff in them — but be still light enough for me to have them on my shoulders all day long.”
It’s a fun touch to the character, and meant to convey how much the character of Elsbeth Tascioni has going on in her scattered but brilliant mind. But yeah, it comes with multiple issues: Besides Preston’s physical well-being, there’s also the issue of continuity. “If one bag goes off the shoulder, they can’t use that take,” Preston says. “So my on-set costumer, who’s amazing, will put top stick tape on the the bags to make them stick to my shoulders. She’ll safety pin them sometimes, and so they won’t fall off. But then it’s very hard between scenes for me to take them off. So, it’s like a whole thing! It’s a real production, those bags.”
Preston sat down with the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast recently to talk about “Elsbeth” (not just her character’s bags), her career and more. Listen below!
Preston can’t believe her luck with the kind of actors she gets to play with on “Elsbeth.” Virtually every week, the show boasts another high-profile guest star — and in the show’s upcoming Season 3 finale (airing May 21), it’s Broadway legend Patti LuPone — who’s playing a cabaret singer on the show.
“I got to sit across the table and have Patti LuPone sing to me,” Preston says. “Very few people can say that they got to do that. [Showrunner] Jonathan Tolins wrote it, and he put a lot of heart into it. It’s a great way to end the season.”
This year saw a bevy of guest stars including Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris (parodying late night TV), Dianne Wiest, Beanie Feldstein and Steve Buscemi.
“Steve Buscemi’s wife was watching ‘Elsbeth,’” Preston explains. “And he was watching it over her shoulder without the sound. And he was like, ‘what is that? What’s that show?’ She goes, ‘you’re gonna really like it.’ So he started watching it, and then it became this show that they watched together. And then he called his agents and said, ‘Can I be on “Elsbeth”?’ I thought that was just so extraordinary!”
As for Wiest, Preston says, “she’s one of my all -time top five. When I found out she was doing it, I sent her an email, telling her she’s my top of the top, as far as somebody I’ve admired my whole life. She would catch me just staring at her face and going, ‘I cannot believe we are sharing this space.’”
Preston says the ability to work with so many stars is “delicious. They get to do things that maybe they wouldn’t normally get to do. They get to come in, and the old traditional model, like ‘Colombo,’ they get to be with us for eight days, make a thing and go back to their busy lives. I want to yield the stage to them. I feel like that’s going to make the show better. And we haven’t had anybody that has gone off the rails. Knock on wood. I think it’s because we all have the same goal, to come together with the express desire to make something great.”
Variety Awards Circuit Podcast has been looking back at guests’ very first time in Variety and Daily Variety, and for Preston, it was on Wednesday, July 12, 1995, as part of her role in “The Tempest,” which was kicking off that season of Shakespeare in Central Park.
“I’ve been helping my mother in Georgia downsize, and she has that framed!” she says. “Patrick Stewart and I were Prospero and Miranda and it was George C. Wolfe’s first ever directed production of Shakespeare. Patrick and I really just totally bonded, like father/daughter, colleague/colleague. That was a huge moment for me, because I went to Juilliard, I studied classical theater. That’s what I wanted to do. To get out of Juilliard and go right into something like that that was so high profile, was pretty extraordinary.”
10 QUESTIONS WITH CARRIE PRESTON:
1. Childhood nickname: “’Boo.’ My mom, my grandmother, my brother still calls me ‘Boo.’”
2. Something you loved as a kid but can’t believe you were into it now: “The Leif Garrett, Scott Baio, all of the like boy pictures. I would always try to keep up with the other girls. And I would pin the those posters from Tiger Beat on my on my bulletin board.”
3. Go-to Karaoke or sing-in-the-shower song: “’Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’ by the Eurythmics. Fave song, probably all time. Fave band.”
4. Give me an alternate title for your show: (I didn’t ask this one)
5. What’s your secret talent?: “If you put on any music right now, I could do some kind of fun and funny little dance to it.”
6. Favorite ice cream flavor: Caramel cone from Haagen Dazs.
7. The one item you couldn’t live without: “The phone. That’s sad. I mean, I would have said my dog, but he died recently. But I couldn’t live without him. And we’re gonna get another one. [What was your dog’s name?] Chumley, and I won’t be able to live without the next one. I promise. He was a little chihuahua poodle mix, gorgeous little thing.”
8. What TV show in all of history do you wish you were a cast member of?: “The X-Files.”
9. Fictional character you most admire: “Probably somebody from Shakespeare, but I would say maybe not, because there’s such tragedies when you get to Shakespeare. I don’t know. I’m have to think about that. I’m gonna have to do a pass.”
10. Your favorite piece of advice: “You have to have a set of different multi-colored sippy cups with straws built in. And if you take little tiny sips from it all day long, it makes hydrating way more fun. And if you put water and then add a little bit of lemon juice and four drops of Stevia, you’re gonna be hydrated all day, because it’s delicious. And you get to pick a different color of sippy cup each day.”
Also on this episode: Comedian Ramy Youssef on his new HBO Max special. (Read here: Ramy Youssef on Making Fox News Melt Down After He Taught Elmo Some Arabic Words on ‘Sesame Street’: ‘You Feel This Ramp-Up of Islamophobia’)
Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, hosted by Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Emily Longeretta and Michael Schneider, who also produces, is your one-stop source for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each episode, “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives, discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines, and much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts.
