Interview | Eliza Taylor (Hannah Carson - "Quantum Leap")

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hello, fellow travelers. Welcome to fate's Wide wheel. I am your host, Sam Feyne, and I am not going to talk very long at all because I want to get straight to this interview with Eliza Taylor. She's delightful. And I think this is probably one of my favorite interviews that I've ever had the chance to do, which has a lot because I have adored the chance that I've had to speak to so many awesome people over the last year or so. But this one was just such a joy. And Eliza's great. I adore the character she plays, Hannah Carson on Quantum Leap. If you're coming here because you are a fan of Eliza's and you are not necessarily watching quantum Leap, watch Quantum Leap. It's awesome. And there's just been so many great stories told over the course of this season in particular. You can catch it on Peacock. And of course, if you want more content, check out the page. There's lots of great interviews with some wonderful actors and writers and producers and directors of Quantum Leap as well. Of course, other things. And stick around, especially now, because over the next few weeks, during the break between the midseason finale and when the show picks back up again, hopefully late February or, excuse me, late January, early February, there will be a lot of really cool content that has nothing to do, really with quantum Leap. That allows fateswide wheel to sort of just stretch its legs. And I'm really looking forward to that a great deal because fateswide wheel, its film, tv, pop culture, of course, quantum leap. So check that out. I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for joining along. Make sure you hit that like and subscribe button. Leave a comment below if you have anything you want to add. Any questions, please do. I love the dialogue and the conversation. I've been really busy lately, so I haven't been able to respond to all of the comments, but certainly I see them. I like them. I love them. Thank you so much. And yeah, take part, be a part of the community and the fandom because it's a really great place to be. You course can find fates wide wheel over on Instagram and Twitter x. That's where most of the social media engagement is right now for the show. And there is a patreon as well to help support the show. But I'm going to ask you a favor before you go over to the Patreon. This time of year especially, all year round, but this time of year especially, I think it is so important to try to help others out. So take a look around your community, see if there are any wrongs that you can set right. If you can donate your time, if you can donate your money, whatever you can do to help out. I think that is one of the most important things that we can do as human beings all year round. But again, especially this time of year, and if you're looking maybe at the world at large, I will always recommend the charities of the Trevor project and Doctors Without Borders. I think both of those charities are incredible life saving organizations, and they are very near and dear to me, and I support them personally. So anything, any way that you can help out, any way that you can be a Dr. Sam Beckett or a Dr. Ben song, go for it. All right. Let's make the world a better place, and let's do it because it's the right thing to do. If after all of that, you still want to support this show, then by all means head over to patreon.com slash fateswide wheel. You can sign up for any dollar amount, and you will get access to everything over there, including some awesome behind the scenes videos charting JJ Lindell's process for creating the amazing art that he has done. And there'll be a lot of other really cool things in the coming weeks and months ahead. So stay tuned. Patrons, thank you so much for all of your support. I really, truly appreciate it. I am humbled by it, and it helps to make this show possible. I'm a stay at home parent and a struggling actor, so it's definitely you that are keeping the lights on as far as fates wide wheel goes right now. And I really, really, genuinely appreciate it. That's enough for me. Let's get this going. All right? Eliza Taylor is amazing, and I want to share this with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It was just such a wonderful time, and we covered a variety of subjects in some interesting ways, I hope, and some ways that I hope that you find just as engaging as I did while we were having this conversation. So thanks for being here and enjoy. Eliza Taylor. Hello, fellow travelers. Welcome to Fateswide Wheel. I'm your host, Sam Feyne, and I have the privilege of being joined by Eliza Taylor, who plays Hannah on Quantum Leap. Once again, eliza, thank you so much for being here. [00:04:26] Speaker B: Thank you for having me. [00:04:28] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. My pleasure. Last time was so much fun, and I had a thrill getting to speak to you about the casting process and, of course, about secret history in particular. And you should know that that is the most watched episode that I have on my YouTube channel from the past year. A lot of people wanted to check that one out, and I'm thrilled that they did because I thought it was a really wonderful conversation and people are obviously responding to the character and people clearly have an appreciation for you as well. So I'll just start off by asking, how does it feel to have that kind of love directed your way by the fan base? [00:05:15] Speaker B: It's a big relief. You always get a little bit nervous coming into an already established cast and you wonder how your character is going to be received. But I've been really lucky and it's been nothing but love, and I'm just like, thank you. [00:05:37] Speaker A: Yeah. One of the things that I've said repeatedly on the show, in the few interactions that I've been lucky enough to have with the people that work on the show, cast as well as producers and writers, is everyone genuinely just seems really lovely, really generous. And it certainly seems like, based off of some of your social media posts, like on Instagram of photos, that you're having a lot of fun with other cast members. How has that been? Especially coming off of a show that you were on for how long did the hundred go? [00:06:08] Speaker B: We shot for eight years, but it. [00:06:10] Speaker A: Was like nine seasons or something like that. So, yeah, coming off of a show where you're clearly kind of embedded with a group of people and then coming into a situation like this and making new friends, how has that been? [00:06:21] Speaker B: It's been awesome, honestly. Yeah. I don't know what I was expecting, but I think I was pleasantly surprised by how much of a warm welcome I received. And there's something really special about being on that set, like Quantum leap. Everybody who's there really wants to be there, and that's actually quite rare. I think it's just a really positive set and everyone's genuinely excited about what they're doing, and it's infectious. [00:06:59] Speaker A: I love hearing that. And again, it's definitely the vibe that I've gotten from the conversations that I've had with folks. But of course, I do have to ask. Speaking directly about Nomad, was there any jealousy over the fact that you got to go to Egypt and some people did not? [00:07:19] Speaker B: I don't sure. I'm sure there was, because, hello. It's not every day you get to go to one of the, what is it? Seven wonders of the world. I feel like it was insane and I felt so lucky and also kind of like I was in a dream. It was only five days that we were there, and when I got back, I went, did that actually happen? [00:07:59] Speaker A: Well, actually that leads me into a great question. What was the schedule like for you? Because I imagine, obviously, travel time, know there had to be some sort of jet lag involved with all of that, but at the same time, you had work to do. So what did that schedule look like once you got to Egypt? [00:08:15] Speaker B: I was really lucky. I had a full day when everyone else had to go to set the next morning, after the long flight, I had the day to kind of recalibrate and relax and prepare. So for me, my work was a little bit lighter. But for everybody else, man, the crew for Ray and Caitlin, they were in it. They were just 12 hours a day, maybe more for the whole time we were there. [00:08:49] Speaker A: Now, I think Dean had mentioned that it was a fairly small group that went over there and that there were a lot of local crew that were used. How did that work as far as integrating the people that were already there and coming in with this small team from quantum leap to get this job done? [00:09:10] Speaker B: It was actually fascinating. It was really interesting to see how the locals do it. It's a very different vibe because there are so many external factors, like there's a million people racing by on mopeds and camels and so much foot traffic. Because especially when we were shooting in the ancient markets, that, hello, the crew. Words are hard. The crew that were local to Cairo were just. They were so quick and so loud and so passionate and just, like, getting everything locked down so we could get a take done. I think we were all kind of blown away. It was just a really, like, it wasn't anything we'd ever seen or experienced before. [00:10:08] Speaker A: That's so fascinating to me. It's so funny. I just finished reading a biography on Bruce Lee, actually, and at one point in the book, they talk about the film crew for inner the dragon was kind of made up of a majority of Hong Kong locals, but there were a lot of Hollywood folks that were brought in as well, and just kind of the way that that interaction occurred and how it was a little difficult at first, and it's different, obviously, with the movie, it's a longer shoot, but it was really fascinating the way that the group kind of meshed together and appreciated some of the really, as soon as Dean mentioned that, we didn't have time to really talk about it. And obviously, unfortunately, he couldn't be there because of the writer's strike. But I was very curious just to get an idea of what that would be like, because it is really interesting to mix these two teams that haven't necessarily worked together before in an environment that is wholly different from the environment that you're used to shooting in. So any kind of interesting stories or anything that stands out to you that happened. I know it's been a while now, unfortunately, but anything that stands out to you as far as any interesting or funny stories on the set. [00:11:18] Speaker B: I think it was just for me, and it does feel like a lifetime ago now, but it was just a sensory overload for all of us. And one thing that was interesting is I found it really hard to retain my dialogue, to remember my lines, really. The hustle and bustle, the heat, the new smells, all these factors kind of. I was like, do I still know how to act? Like, what's going on? I'm sure Jet lag had a lot to do with that as well. [00:11:56] Speaker A: As someone who's seen the episode, I can certainly say, yes, you did remember how to act. [00:12:04] Speaker B: Thanks. I appreciate that. But, yeah, it was just. Oh, my goodness. It was like a fever dream. Just wild. [00:12:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Had you ever been to Egypt before? [00:12:17] Speaker B: No, it was on my list. Absolutely. But I never thought that I would go in this capacity and being able to stand at the foot of the sphinx was just insane. I wasn't shooting that day, but I asked production if I could just tag along so I could see it, and I wasn't. [00:12:42] Speaker A: That's so cool. Yeah, my wife's been. I've never been, but she went when she was a teenager. Did you get to do any, I mean, I obviously mentioned, like, tagging along, but did you get to do anything fun while you were there apart from shooting the episode or was it pretty much just work and sleep? [00:12:59] Speaker B: It was work and sleep up until the last night when we wrapped, we all had dinner together, which was really lovely. And I think everybody needed to blow off some steam and relax a little bit. So we had a beautiful dinner on the rooftop of the hotel and that was really special. [00:13:24] Speaker A: That sounds fantastic. When you first got the. Well, actually, let me go back just a second. When did you first know that you were going to be going to Egypt for the episode? Is that something you knew right away, Sam? [00:13:36] Speaker B: I thought it was a joke. I didn't think it was real. I was like, oh, you mean green screen, right, doing a whole lot of VFX and. Yeah, it wasn't until my agents called me about a week beforehand that they said, yes, you're going. They're booking your flights and we need to make sure that you've got all know safety and travel information. I was like, what? [00:14:07] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. That's wild. It's funny because Dean had mentioned when Martin first kind of threw the idea at him about doing an episode on location, internationally that Dean was at first kind of like hedging a little bit and looking at locations that were easy or cheap to shoot in. And then all of a sudden, Martin was, no, no, think big. And so Dean was like, okay, let's go to Egypt. That's fantastic, though. I can imagine being told that and not thinking it was quite real. [00:14:39] Speaker B: Yeah, they were having me on. [00:14:41] Speaker A: I was like, surely not when you first got the script and we talked a little bit about this during secret history, just because there are those time jumps for Hannah in between the episodes we've seen her thus far, was there any information that you kind of immediately drew from the script that allowed you to kind of even just in your head, even if you didn't get too specific, hyper specific with it, to sort of fill in the blank of the time that had passed from secret history to the time that Nomad is set? Because I think it's about. Was it six years again? Five or six years from like 55. [00:15:21] Speaker B: To 61, something like that? Yeah, I think six years. Do you mean for what Hannah's been up to in that? Well, I mean, there wasn't anything in mean. I know that from secret history and from Ben making that discovery about her boss that she would have gone on to do some pretty incredible things that she wouldn't have otherwise. But I just always assume, like, the particulars. I don't know, but I always assume that she's just kicking goals. Like, just kicking, really? [00:16:03] Speaker A: For sure. Absolutely. [00:16:06] Speaker B: Just like the first female to do this and this and this and this in her field. [00:16:13] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, I think that that is something that seems to come across, especially with the fact mean now, Dr. Hannah Carson and being here for this conference in Cairo, it does seem like a big deal. I mean, contextualizing it in the 60s. It's not like, unfortunately, we don't have a long list of women that were that notable and that active in that field. So I kind of mentioned this question, and I got somewhat of a fun, playful, coy response from Dean and Drew when I asked it. So I don't expect any spoilers whatsoever. But do you have a desire to explore some of that lost time, that time that we don't see Hannah, whether on screen or are there any questions that you've asked along the way to kind of help to fill in those gaps and even thinking about the future of know as we go forward in the rest of the. [00:17:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it's funny because at the beginning of shooting, when I got the role, Dean and Martin were very gracious and gave me a lot of information about sort of Hannah's overall arc throughout the season. And so I thought I had a really good idea of what she was up to, how Ben has impacted her life and her thing. Well, I can't say much, but things have changed a little bit. And now I'm reading the scripts and going, oh, okay. They've obviously made some little diversions from that original plan, and it's really cool for the better, I think. But, yeah, I think it's given me a lot more insight into what she's been up to. [00:18:16] Speaker A: Very cool. That was something that I've been thinking a lot about over the past couple of weeks, honestly, because there's definitely a story there to be told and I think it's wonderful. Not everything has to be shown on screen. I think that helps to engage the viewer even more. But there is kind of this potential, just richness to what has happened to Hannah in that in between time. One of the things over the course of Nomad, obviously, is that it becomes very clear know Hannah and Ben aren't just attracted to one another. They're in, you know, it's done really mean. I think Dean's script is know. You and Ray are wonderful. The direction, I mean, some of the cinematography, in particular, the scene where the two of you are kind of like on the. I don't want to say balcony. It's not really a balcony, but standing at the window, there's this really beautiful quality to it. Yeah, the lighting is so wonderful. Can you talk a little bit about the challenges, perhaps, of sort of building that relationship in the context of knowing that you get this finite amount of time, especially really focusing on secret history because enclosure encounters, sure, there's a little bit of that meat cute quality or whatever, but there's not much else there. And then in secret history, it starts to ramp up. But then coming into Nomad, it's is, this is a big story. It's not just this little romance like this is. [00:19:54] Speaker B: I mean, I think last time we chatted, Dean said it really, actually, what he said during this podcast really helped my process with Hannah. He said that we've all had that romance, that whirlwind swept off our feet, romance that we know isn't going to last forever or that we know we only have a finite amount of time in. And when I think about that, it's actually a really relatable story between Hannah and Ben, even though it's in this Sci-Fi world. [00:20:38] Speaker A: Right, right. [00:20:40] Speaker B: It's still a tale as old as, know, star crossed lovers, all of that. And it's beautiful. So, yeah, I think in a lot of ways that actually really helped me go, okay, there's this beautiful. They're in this beautiful romance. They completely, fully accept that it's not going to be. And like Hannah says, I'll be lucky if I get to spend a week with you over the course of my life. It's just beautiful. Like, how romantic. And they're just making most of it. [00:21:21] Speaker A: Yeah, well, and I love that line, too, because, Tim, what you just said, I'd be lucky. The notion that she is considering this a gift and not looking at it as some sort of tragedy. I only have this amount of time, and there's something inspiring and hopeful about that, that I think the message is to appreciate things a little bit more. [00:21:48] Speaker B: Be present. [00:21:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, and over the course of the episode, of course, there's this idea right from the beginning that, okay, we've only got a finite amount of know, let's spend it together. Hannah's going to help out. We'll talk about that a little bit. But. But then things kind of take this turn and it looks like Ben might be staying. [00:22:16] Speaker B: I forgot about that for a second. [00:22:19] Speaker A: So I'm curious as to, especially for you and just putting yourself in Hannah's headspace for a moment, that small window of time when it looks like Ben might be sticking around, what do you think that that's like in. And, you know, is she able to start to create a future or is it still kind of that. Appreciate the moment, take this as it comes, and we'll figure it out as we go along. [00:22:45] Speaker B: Yeah. I think deep down, Hannah intuitively knows that it's not his destiny, and she says that, but it was actually written that. She's trying to fathom it. She's trying to imagine him staying forever, and it's wonderful, but she just has this feeling that he's got to go, he's got to continue on his cosmic mission. And she was right. [00:23:17] Speaker A: Right. Well, yeah, I think that when the phone rings, there's this really wonderful moment. And even before you pick it up, the viewer can. I mean, I certainly could tell Hannah knows what's coming. [00:23:35] Speaker B: I'm glad that came across because I wasn't sure because I knew it was there. It was in the script where she just has a beat and goes, something's about to happen. I don't know what? But. And then when I watched it, I was like, I hope that the viewers will get that moment. So I'm very happy to hear that it came across. [00:23:57] Speaker A: Yeah, I certainly thought that it did. I loved kind of, there was this moment of hesitation not to get too like actor speak or whatever, but it's kind of like when the director is like, oh, don't play the end. Just try and play the moment or whatever. It didn't feel like you're playing the end. It didn't feel like you were like, oh, I'm going to pick up the phone and know exactly what's happening. But like you were saying, there's a little bit of hesitation, a little bit of doubt, a little bit of question of like, what could this be? I thought it was a really wonderful moment. And then there's like this when you hand the phone off to was. I think the thing that really pulled at my heart even more was that there wasn't any hesitation. That there wasn't any. And it fed into those earlier lines about Ben's destiny. So. Well, because it was a moment of just sort of, this is. This is who he. And like I took away from that. That's who he is. And that's why Hannah is in love with. So those. Those moments of being able to kind of know there's. There's stuff that's left to the imagination as far as the nature of all of the conversations that are taking place. But there is this wonderful idea that Ben and Hannah get a few uninterrupted hours together as opposed know an observer always around or having to focus on a mission or being split up for this or that. Did you and Ray have an opportunity to kind of talk about what Ben and Hannah were doing or talking about or whatnot during that time? [00:25:41] Speaker B: Yeah, we actually shot it. [00:25:43] Speaker A: Oh, really? [00:25:45] Speaker B: A lot of what? There was this beautiful montage that. I mean, that probably given needing to cut down on time, didn't make it, but of them just having really deep, beautiful conversations and kind of cutting in and out of them, holding hands and sitting with each other and holding space for each other. And it was really beautiful when we shot it. I don't know how it turned out. I didn't make it. But there was a lot of Ben discussing his relationship with Addison and Hannah, talking about how she first fell in love with know. It was really fun to explore that. And there was a lot of sort of improvising as well in there that we laughed a lot as well as got to have these really beautiful emotional beats. [00:26:50] Speaker A: Yeah, that's fantastic. That's the type of stuff that I yearn for in a physical release of the show on Blu ray or something, is like, give us some of that stuff. Because the first season was fairly bare bones, but, yeah, give us the deleted scenes. Let us see some of that stuff. One of the things that's interesting, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say this, I don't know if I'm supposed to, but in the script, the final line of the episode, Ben says, I love you, too, back to Hannah. But in the finished episode, he doesn't say, maybe. Maybe I'm wrong, but I didn't actually hear him say it in the final scene because I was waiting for it. Maybe I'm completely wrong. Maybe I'm going to have to go. [00:27:41] Speaker B: Back and rewatch it when I watch this out because that's how we did it on the day. That's so funny. [00:27:47] Speaker A: Right? Yeah. I don't know. And sometimes very rarely, but sometimes the screener that we get is a little different from what's aired, so perhaps it's in the air version. I don't know. Yeah, right. But no, that was a moment where, again, even if it is unsaid, and I could be completely wrong and be made to look a fool, but even going unsaid, I mean, it's so palpable, so building. That moment in particular, that final scene, at first, Addison is there, and then she leaves to kind of give Ben and Hannah some time. And what's your process like for a moment? Like, I mean, there's this level of intimacy and vulnerability. Know, it's just a really beautiful, tender moment. How do you approach a scene like that? [00:28:44] Speaker B: They're my favorite scenes for sure. That's my jam. I don't know. I love that. Like you said, there's intimacy, there's vulnerability. There's something really bittersweet about it. And my process is pretty. I mean, when it's written so well for you, it's very just, you know, good scripts are. Yeah, it was all there. And also having Ray as such an incredible scene partner, we didn't really need to do all that much to make it feel. [00:29:32] Speaker A: I love. I love hearing that. I've told this story a couple of times recently, some of the work that I'm involved in right now, but that's either nor there. But there's this wonderful story about Jack Lemon working with Billy Wilder for the first time. And Jack Lemon comes on the set, he's got this scene he does the scene, Billy Wilder yells, cut. And looks at him and says, okay, that was great. Next time less. They do it again. Cut. Next time less. And this goes on like nine or ten takes. And then finally Jack Lemon looks at him and says, if I do any less, I'm not going to be doing anything at all. And Billy Wilder goes, now you're getting it. And I just love that because I think it's true. It's so easy to find yourself in those moments to want to do something and push for something. And the truth is, you just have to be. [00:30:21] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:30:23] Speaker A: I love hearing that. Yeah, I love that story so much. [00:30:27] Speaker B: I'm going to that one. [00:30:32] Speaker A: What's your favorite part about being an actor? [00:30:36] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh, I love it so much. I don't know. It's funny because I've been doing it for nearly 23 years and now. So I've been doing it since I was eleven. And I have the same feeling on set now that I did when I was eleven. My first day on set, it was like I was home. And there's something about the collaboration, all these incredible, incredibly talented people working together to make something great. There's just this amazing sense of camaraderie. There's so much skill, there's so much talent. It's like this hive of energy and everybody working towards a common goal. So I think if I had to boil it down, my favorite thing is being in that environment. It's being on set and being a part of that. [00:31:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. I understand. I understand. It's hard. I mean, sometimes questions like this, you just sort of feel like. I don't know how to answer that. But I am curious. Do you feel like there's one or maybe two really valuable lessons you've learned along the way, especially having done this for two decades? Do you feel like there's something along the way that you feel like that helped me become a better actor? [00:32:20] Speaker B: I think for me, yes, there's been many moments, but the hardest part for me is being in the public eye. That's really tricky. And when I started, there wasn't social media, there wasn't this direct line of communication, good or bad. So when I started on the hundred, that was really tricky. And what people were saying really affected the way that I was performing because I was taking it all on like, okay, I'm not good enough like this. They don't like it when I frown, when I have these lines here. So all of these things that I was trying to change about myself actually was really detrimental to my acting. The biggest lesson for me has been to just to get offline. Don't read comments, don't. And it sounds like, I don't know if it sounds silly, but as soon as I did that, my sense of self came back. The real world that I was interacting with on a day to day basis became much more important than what was on this. And I was present again, and I hadn't felt that since I was a kid. And that for me, is just the most important thing. Like what's going on on the Internet is not real. I mean, it might be if I look at it, but when I'm interacting with my day to day life, that doesn't actually matter. [00:34:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. And I think it's very difficult these days to really kind of live by that because it is so ever present and we are so connected. I think that sometimes with all of the technology and all of the ways that we can now be connected, we don't always focus on the right things. And to me, when I get to experience the way that people are sharing with one another in these really positive, sometimes very vulnerable, honest, genuine ways that I look at that and I say, oh, that's what this is for. And then when you see the other side of it and the echo chambers and the anger and the fear and everything else, it's just sort of like, oh, this is what we should have stopped and had to talk about 15 years ago before we ever got to this point. But I completely understand that. And I think it's very difficult, I would imagine, especially because for me, I look at acting and obviously there are inherent differences in what I do doing, like storefront theater in Chicago and that sort of stuff and what you're doing on a larger scale. But to me, the wonderful thing is that ultimately you're getting the opportunity to share, to share a story, to share a piece of yourself with an audience. And I think that there are things that can get in the way of that. And you mentioned online comments, and I know for stage actors it's the reviews. Obviously, if you're on Broadway, you'll get online comments, too. But yeah, I mean, the reviews. And it's so hard to be backstage and know that somebody put the review up on the board and I'm just like, I'm not going to read it. I don't want to read. Exactly. Exactly. And it's like somebody will walk by and it's so funny. I remember I was like, fresh out of college and there was a review and somebody was reading the review, and I just kind of, like, walked by. They go like, hey, this reviewer compared you to Marlon Brando. And I was like, what? I was like, that's amazing. And then I go read the review, and they were comparing my physical appearance to Marlon Brando at Apocalypse now. And I was like, oh, no, it's like, that's not the comparison that I was looking. [00:36:53] Speaker B: Really. [00:36:54] Speaker A: It's really hard because, you know, there's like, you have this desire to, like, you do, right. But you do have to kind of tune it all out to work in an honest manner. I mean, is that what you found? [00:37:10] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I went through the whole, like, I got Botox because I thought people didn't like looking at my face anymore. I tried to lose a bunch of weight and I just ended up actually gaining more because I'd be starving myself and then binge eating. And it was just like, all these little comments. And you can read. The problem is you can read so many positive ones and it's just these little negative ones dotted throughout that you pick up on and latch onto and go, oh, gosh, I went through all that in my twenty s, and I'm so grateful to have come out of that, come out the other side and just realize that all of that stuff is just chatter and it really doesn't apply to my real life. [00:38:12] Speaker A: Right. [00:38:13] Speaker B: Yeah. And I love my body now and I love my face. [00:38:19] Speaker A: I'm glad to hear that. [00:38:21] Speaker B: Whatever comes out on screen is performative. It's the way it's meant to be. It's the character. [00:38:31] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:38:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:34] Speaker A: Well, I think one of the neat things about quantum leap, we talked a little bit about this in secret history is that you get to have so many different looks. The look in Nomad, obviously, is a big difference from what we've seen. What did you think about that? You have kind of the buffant kind of hair. Obviously, it's period appropriate and you see it. And how did that feel? Like, again, the growth of this character and some of the stuff that we don't get to see, but then it's manifesting itself in this way that not only is telling us something about Hannah, but it's also telling us about when we are as well. So what did that feel like when you're getting that hair? Was that a wig or was it your real hair? [00:39:18] Speaker B: That was businesses that were not my hair at all. And then there was some of my real hair. But it was amazing. I mean, it's been my dream since I was a kid to do something period like either forty s, fifty s or sixty s. And now I've done all three in the space of a year. And it's so much fun. It's everything that I thought it would be. I love it. And every new period that we do, I'm just like, bring it on. I do a lot of research on hair, makeup, nails. I always try to look at the nails of that era and that year in particular and perfumes, and I just really try to load up on all that stuff so that I can go in and feel and look the part. [00:40:21] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. It's funny sometimes the little things that you can pick up on that affect you. And it's the reason why I think it's important, right. To kind of explore as much of it as you can because you never know what's going to feel like that little key that unlocks a new pathway and your new way into whatever experience that you have. Was there anything on this particular episode that really kind of felt like that. [00:40:45] Speaker B: Sort of, like, turnkey moment, aesthetically speaking? [00:40:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Or even if it. Even if it wasn't even it was something else. [00:40:55] Speaker B: For me. I think the costume and the beehive has got to be what really got me there. [00:41:04] Speaker A: Yeah, totally. [00:41:06] Speaker B: But, I mean, there was something on this episode that I was kind of grappling with, which was, do I age her up vocally a little bit? Because Hannah's like, she speaks up here a lot of the time. I was like, do I bring her voice down to my sort of register for her late 30s or. I think that's what she is in the 60s. So I played with it a little bit. I did lower it a little bit. And I think there's one scene in particular where you really hear it. And then I got scared and I went back up to, hi, Hannah. I was like, that doesn't sound like Hannah anymore. It was really interesting, and I think I overthought it and ultimately just went, no, that's actually, I've reeled it back in. I went, it takes away a lot of her charm. So it was interesting to learn that over the course of this episode. [00:42:22] Speaker A: Oh, I love that. Yeah, that is fascinating. Do you find in the dialect work? Because obviously one of the humorous moments of the episode is that Hannah affects, like, a southern accent at one point when she's helping, you know, in kind of doing that sort of dialect work. Is there any particular method that you use, like IPA or anything like that? Or is it just working with a dialect coach? Is it more of an auditory thing where you've listened and you picked certain things up. What kind of is your process for getting that dialect? And I find it really interesting that you said kind of pitching things down a little bit almost took you away from the character. So at what point do you kind of maybe say, okay, maybe this is right, that her voice would sound a little different, but it takes me too far away. And I. And I want to, you know, maintain that, you know, that connection with the character. So I'm kind of curious as to what your approach to that type of work is. [00:43:20] Speaker B: Like trial and error, baby. I, you know, I thought when I was preparing for the episode, I did work with my dialect coach, but you can work on things to a certain point and then you kind of have to throw it all away so you can be in the moment and not just thinking about words, which definitely happened with my southern accent because I completely forgot how to do it. But I think that it works for the character anyway, that she's obviously not southern. But, yeah, it's interesting. I've never played a character over the course of her life before. So to play her several years apart and getting older and it's something that, like I said, I think I overthought, and now I'm just kind of going with the flow. I found, like, in the next few episodes, I think I've found a more mature Hannah without messing with this too. [00:44:50] Speaker A: Mean. That makes sense to me. And I think know, seeing the way that the characters run it and, like, you mean, you can attribute a lot of this to the writing, but seeing the way that the character has grown over the course of these episodes, we see someone who, obviously, enclosure encounters, has some agency she's willing to kind of help out. Right. I'm here. I'm going to help out. I'm an engaging human. And then, of course, in secret history, again, we see someone who is partnering up with Ben, but not necessarily on equal footing, especially because for part of the episode, she doesn't necessarily know for certain that it's Ben. I think that there's a hint that we get that Hannah knows something's different about this guy. But in this episode, I feel like we get even more agency from Hannah, that we see a Hannah that is now on equal footing with Ben in almost every way to the point where she kind of instigates some of the action that's pivotal to the episode, in particular with changing the place of the bug and that sort of stuff. What's it feel like to kind of have gone on this journey so far and find this character that now really, again, is on equal footing with Ben with our lead character as opposed to being know the partner. I don't want to use this as a pejorative, but the sidekick, enclosure encounter, and now is really just like. Yeah. I mean, is just as much of the hero of the piece in some ways as Ben is. [00:46:23] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, I love that. I love the evolution of Hannah in that regard. We first meet her in her early twenty? S, and she's clearly brilliant, but still finding her footing. And then you see her again, and she's really kind of a woman now and come into her own in the 1950s, and now she's caught up in age to Ben by the. So she's really come into her own, and she's quite fearless. Sometimes I read the script and go, jeez, she's going to. I would be like, I'm going to hide over here. You do all the work. Bye. That's me, though. She's fearless, and it's just awesome. There's much more of that to come. [00:47:25] Speaker A: Do you, without spoiling anything, where do you think that comes from, that fearlessness in Hannah? [00:47:32] Speaker B: I don't know. I have to attribute it to just her unique view on the world, and it's almost like she doesn't see life as. She doesn't see this as her only life or something. It's like she's been here before and she'll be back, and so she's enjoying it with all the danger and adventures that come with it. You know what mean. [00:48:04] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's interesting because I know that the relationship between Ben and Hannah, and Hannah's existence in Quantum Leap has been compared to time traveler's wife or to river song and doctor who, but those never sat right with me. And I'm a huge doctor who fan, and I appreciate that storyline a great deal. But for me, I kind of hit on something recently that I thought, like, this makes a little bit more sense to me, and I appreciate it in a way, even though it obviously has its differences, but it almost reminds me a little bit of, like, Peggy Carter and Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic universe, because it's okay, I'll give you a capsule. But the wonderful thing that happens is when Captain America disappears, is know, Peggy continues on as this heroic know, doing these heroic things. And one of the things that's got me so interested in what Hannah's doing kind of in the off time, if you will, is because I feel like there's got to be this pull for don't. I don't necessarily see the only adventures that Hannah is having are with Ben. Do you feel similarly to. [00:49:24] Speaker B: I don't. I like that she's not waiting around. And it's very clear from the get go, she hasn't been waiting around. The next time we see her, she's achieved a lot. And again in Nomad, of course, she would love to spend endless time with Ben, but she's not wasting any time. She appreciates the time she has with him and then she's off on her own adventures. I believe. [00:50:03] Speaker A: At the risk of getting too spoilery, there's some stuff that I really want to ask, but I won't. But one thing that I'm interested in just because kind of like what Dean was saying about love and talking about those whirlwind romances and what you just said about Hannah living her life. Do you think that because of the way that the relationship with Ben works, are you, at least in your mind, regardless of what happens on the show, open to the possibility that Hannah could still have other relationships in the absence of Ben? Or do you see it as being like she's in love with Ben and that's all there is to it? Can you answer that? If you can't answer it? [00:50:43] Speaker B: I understand in my know, I think in the way that she continues to live her life to the fullest that, yes, it's definitely a possibility that, sure, I don't see her waiting around, but I also don't see that as changing her deep, deep love for Ben. I think that will always be, and she knows it, but obviously she doesn't know when she's going to see him again. [00:51:16] Speaker A: Right. Yeah, I appreciate that. I think that it's a wonderful. I mean, even if it's just subtext, even if it's something that most people don't think twice about or whatever. But I do think that there is this wonderful commentary just on kind know, to borrow a phrase from David Bowie, modern love. Because so often there are these traditional structures that are set up of like, this has to be what it is or it's not love. And I just think that's are people are different. And I don't think that if Hannah were to know relationships in the intervening years, she's not seeing Ben, that doesn't diminish her love for. So, yeah, I like that. I like the idea of. [00:52:07] Speaker B: That's why. One of the reasons I love this character, I think she's so well written and there's a maturity about her and the way she approaches life and love, that is really beautiful. [00:52:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, it's one of the things, too, in the course of this episode, because I want to talk about Addison, because you and Caitlin get to share the screen in a very interesting way. But one of the things I love about the episode is that Addison, Ben, both say I love you to one another. And obviously, the context is different from the way that they said that in season one. But again, it's that reminder that Dean said this in the interview that I had with him just a couple of days ago that's going to air kind of in conjunction with this one, that love is infinite, that there's no reason why we shouldn't look at love as being infinite. And so I love this idea that we can have love for more than one person. Right. It doesn't have to be just, like, that narrow view. [00:53:06] Speaker B: And isn't that just the truest thing? We've all been in relationships that have changed us for the better, some for the worse. Yep. But, you know, you wouldn't go back and change even if it was painful or even if there was loss, because it's made you who you are today. I think that's very true of Ben and Addison's love. I think it's very true of Ben and Addison's budding love. [00:53:43] Speaker A: Oh, clearly. But I think that that's one of the things I say this frequently about artists. I think that the freedom to fail is so incredibly important, and I don't think that's just for artists. I think that that's true in life. We have to just have the freedom to fail, and it's okay to fail. And I know that in a lot of societies across the globe, failure does not seem like an option, just culturally, and it's not approved by society. But I think that it is important to experience that because, like you said, it makes you who you are, and it gives you the opportunity to grow. Speaking of growth, as you mentioned, there's clearly something going on here with Addison and just, it's so wonderful, and it's something that obviously is fairly new to the show in a lot of ways, even going back to the original series, the opportunity to know our Leaper, Ben, interact with someone he's on the leap with as well as the hologram, and then they get to kind of interact as well, but in a unique way. Can you talk about playing those scenes? Because I think that there's got to be a temptation to maybe go a little, like, towards slapstick. Right. [00:55:02] Speaker B: Or whatever, watching the episode, I think I bordered on slapstick. I lent into it a little too much like Addison, but it's really tricky. It's tricky when beautiful Caitlin is standing right there and you can't look at her and you just want to look at. There's. I think there's a fine line. And I was finding it in that episode, and it's evolved a lot more since then, which I can't talk about, but it was something different for all of us. And, yeah, I think we were finding it in this episode. [00:55:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I really enjoyed it, honestly, because, again, it's something new. And I appreciate anytime we get the opportunity to kind of just explore something different and go to a new place that makes sense, especially in the context of this episode. There is obviously a lot of humor to those scenes and in particular, kind of the game of telephone that gets played from, like, Addison saying something to Ben saying it to you. There's the beautiful. Yeah. The beautiful woman was what was like filming that. And in general, I guess you could talk about filming those scenes, but that specific scene with the idea you can't see or hear know, she could see and hear you. Ben stuck in the middle. What's that like? [00:56:36] Speaker B: It was really fun. It was really fun. And we really got to play on the humor of that because it's so awkward for Ben. It is just so clearly incredibly uncomfortable. [00:56:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:56:52] Speaker B: His two worlds colliding, and he did it beautifully. It was really fun. [00:57:01] Speaker A: Nice. Yeah, it comes across, and I think that that's one of the things that's so interesting about this episode. In mean, it feels, visually, there's this really wonderful cinematic quality to it. I think the location shooting, Chris Grismr as director, and, I mean, there's just some wonderful stuff going on in that respect. But tonally, I love that the episode gets to go to a lot of different places. It doesn't just play. [00:57:25] Speaker B: It doesn't. Honestly, this is like. I mean, I haven't seen all of Ray's work, obviously, but there was something so raw about his performance in this. Just when he thinks that he's failed, he was incredible. There was something that I hadn't seen before, that he was so raw and vulnerable and angry, and it was just a new layer that I hadn't seen and I thought was really incredible. His performance was brilliant. [00:58:07] Speaker A: Yeah. There is something very kind of stripped down and bare, almost especially in that final scene between the two of you. And when he walks away, the look on his face is unlike any look on his face I have seen in the past 26 episodes, or however many it's been since the start of the series. And it was a really incredible moment, and it does. It feels like the Ben who's walking away at that particular moment and getting ready to leap has changed in a lot of. [00:58:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I think it's really special. And Chris did a great job as well of capturing that and just letting him. [00:58:55] Speaker A: Did you. We talked a little bit about on secret history, the opportunity that you and Ray had to rehearse some of those scenes, almost like a play. And in this episode, especially, having to be on location, traveling, I imagine it made time feel compressed. Okay, that's what I was going to. [00:59:08] Speaker B: Yeah. Which was its own kind know, really fun challenge. It was so run and gun. We were just, like, chasing the daylight, trying to get everything done for the finite amount of time we were there. And that brought a different energy, again to what we had in episode six, where we were really dialed in and had all this time to explore. So I like both. I really kind of enjoyed both of these very different exercises. [00:59:51] Speaker A: Right? Sure. Yes. I totally understand that. Again, doing Shakespeare in front of 1500 people is awesome, but being in, like, a black box with 80 people is awesome. It's like, give me either one. But I think you're right. There's something about the way that the episode moves and the overall tension of the episode and just having that kind of spy story and time being of the essence, it really does lend itself. I would imagine that kind of shooting schedule lends itself to kind of getting that across. Did you ever feel like that there were moments in the episode or during filming when you were sort of like, oh, I want one more pass at this, but there's just no time for it. [01:00:36] Speaker B: 100%. [01:00:40] Speaker A: How do you let go of that? How do you just kind of say, that's all right. It is what it is? [01:00:46] Speaker B: I think trusting your director plays a big part in that. I know that Chris isn't going to make us look unrehearsed or bad. There's just no way he wants this to be as good as it can be, same as us. And you don't necessarily get that with every director. But I feel like I'm in really good hands on this show. Like every director I've had. Well, it's actually only two so far. Where we're at in the airing of this season, it was Chris and Pamela, and both of them were just. I felt very safe. And even if I wanted to go again, if Chris says we got it, then we got know, let's move. [01:01:36] Speaker A: Yeah. Trust is such an important piece of the know. You talked earlier about being able to kind of come into this project and just feel welcomed and feel like a part of things and feel everybody was generous in there. When it comes to kind of giving that trust, is that something that comes easy to you when you walk into a project or is it something that you're always a little nervous about and like, okay, this is a part of the job. I got to do it. Do you have to kind of push yourself towards it? [01:02:09] Speaker B: Yeah. My answer changed while you were asking that question. I just trust instantly. And I went, no, I don't. I'm definitely dubious. I'm a bit, like, sussing everybody out. [01:02:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:02:31] Speaker B: Is this a good space? And I only say that because I have had some experiences where we weren't in particularly good. Yeah. I think I can be a little bit nervous going in, and then once I settle. [01:02:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Obviously this is a more general question, but mentioning where sometimes you're not necessarily, you don't feel you're in the best of hands or whatnot. What do you do in that situation? Is it a situation for you that you feel like, I'm going to do the best that I can, but I don't know if it's going to be my best. [01:03:15] Speaker B: No, sorry, what was the orc? [01:03:18] Speaker A: Or do you find yourself kind of maybe working to establish a trust or establish a better way of doing things? Is there a way to kind of finesse the situation to get it so that it's more comfortable, or do you just kind of have to live with it as it is? [01:03:36] Speaker B: I think it depends on the situation, because you can go in with the best of intentions. I always do. And then if I feel like something's not going right, maybe technically, maybe we're not vibing thing or whatever it is, I'll always try to work it out before we shoot go, can we just pause for a second and rework this? Or just how about this? You don't want to go into a situation with problems and no answers. You want to go in and say, well, here's how we could maybe make this better. Because if you go in and you just complain and just say, fix it, then that's not a collaboration. So I'll try to go in with solutions, and then if they're not received, then you just got to kind of make do and you'll know pretty quickly if they're not open to it. [01:04:43] Speaker A: Right. Yeah. To kind of start to wrap things up here. I'm so grateful for the time that you've given. I really appreciate it, but I do want to. Not that I'm trying to be all actors studio on you or whatever, but what inspires you? [01:05:09] Speaker B: That's such a broad question. What inspires me? People inspire me. My son inspires me. My husband inspires me. My mum inspires me. The core people in my life and also the people I work with. I draw a lot of inspiration from others and myself. I'm starting to feel really comfortable with who I am, and that's a great feeling. And, I don't know, it just encourages me to keep going, keep growing. [01:06:02] Speaker A: Absolutely. What's next? Yeah. My kids, my spouse. Yeah. As longtime listeners of this show will know, I did not have great role models growing up. And I've had a lot of struggles. It's such a fine line because you don't want it to sound egotistical, but I agree with you. I think you kind of have to inspire yourself sometimes. My sobriety inspires me. My decision to. Yeah. Congratulations. [01:06:44] Speaker B: Thank you. [01:06:46] Speaker A: Thank you. I think that question genuinely, what's next? Is so inspiring to me. [01:06:55] Speaker B: Absolutely. [01:06:56] Speaker A: And I think especially, like, working almost exclusively in theater, as I have for the bulk of the last 20 years, to me, there's something about that finite amount of time that eight to twelve weeks that you might have working on a show, sometimes more, depending on the run or whatever, it's gotten easier and easier for me to ask that question the older I get, because it's like, I can enjoy this. I can be in the moment for this, but, boy, whatever's next, it'll be better. That's the hope, right? [01:07:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:07:32] Speaker A: And that, to me, is inspiring. I think the idea that whatever's next, because you have grown from this experience and now the next one, can be even more. Even more meaningful, impactful. [01:07:41] Speaker B: I love that. I do. That's awesome. Thanks for having me. [01:07:49] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for being here. I had so much fun and I'm so thrilled that people are going to get to see more of Hannah and more of Hannah and Ben's journey together, but also just more of Hannah's journey, because there's points in this episode where I feel like we do, we see someone who has matured even over last time, but without losing that sense of play, which I think is so lovely about her. And I think that it's the thing that can really just keep people coming back, basically. So I'm looking forward to seeing what happens over the course of these next five episodes, so. [01:08:34] Speaker B: Yeah, me too. Let's have. [01:08:38] Speaker A: Right? Awesome. Eliza, will you come back? [01:08:43] Speaker B: Absolutely. [01:08:44] Speaker A: Awesome. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Take care of yourself. And I look forward to having you back on to talk more whenever Hannah comes back to Quantum Leap. [01:08:54] Speaker B: Sounds good. Okay, bye.