Elisabeth Röhm – The Last Ship

By starrymag | July 3, 2016

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you have been working on?

A) I just did a movie with Jennifer Garner called The Tribes of Palos Verdes and that should be hitting theaters soon. She’s brilliant and the producer who made Dallas Buyers Club and The Fighter. It was fun to work with all of those brilliant women and Jolie Fisher. Then, I have a movie called Love Is All You Need? and then a movie called Blood Father and a movie called Adolescence. I have a lot of movies with heart coming out so I hope that people enjoy them. As an actor’s life, you’re off to the next thing.

Q) What is new this season with “The Last Ship?”

A) “The Last Ship” has a nice full season ahead. I was a huge fan of the show and I feel like that’s kind of my destiny because when I am a fan of a show and want to really be on it like “Law & Order….” With “The Last Ship,” it has Michael Bay, Eric Dane, Steven Kane, Hank Steinberg and Adam Baldwin – all these guys are making an incredible show and I think this season is the best one yet. I love it and I love the integrity this show has with the Navy. I really feel we pulled off amazing season that deals with international politics and a crisis in China. We have to get down to the bottom of why these guys have been kidnapped. It all comes back to the White House and my relationship with the President as the Chief of Staff is being his heavy and his steady. It’s having his back and speaking on his behalf and being like minded and being calm, cool and collected to help him during these time to make good decisions.

Q) How was Allison Shaw originally described to you and how has she evolved into?

A) I think that it was described to me very well. I think it evolved over time because actors bring things to the characters and the writers are inspired by that. Of course, they had a vision for it. With movies, it’s one script that you just get to it and with TV scripts are rolling in every week. So, it’s always shifting and that’s what makes it exciting and a completely different beast than doing a movie.

Q) In what ways do you connect with her?

A) I connect with her passion and I connect with her concern for others. I connect with her loyalty, silence and her support of the President. It is kind of a crypt of silence that you are working with or family with. It’s the key to trust so they can go forth with a strong trust. I think there are certain qualities that I relate to with her. She’s listening and observing a lot. She is really the ears for the President and I think it is a very meaningful role. I’ve never played a character that works in the White House. For me, especially in an election year, it’s really exciting to have gotten to explore that. It’s the government, rebuilding the government and what would happen in an apocalyptic time. Would we rebuild that government? I found it fascinating every day to be there at work.

Q) Since this is an election year, how does that influence your portrayal of Allison?

A) Maybe that was the reason part of why following up from Joy why I was compelled to take on the role and get into that political arena. World politics and local politics has been feeding me for the last seven months of making this show. So, while we have been watching the landscape of real politics, it was pretty cool to be in a make believe version. Your mind is sort of absorbed in what is best for the nation and how we handle international politics. It’s been a very creative year. I’ve been excited and turned on playing that as we are thinking about that in the real world.

Q) What has your experience been like getting to work with such a close knit group of people?

A) It’s a beautiful group of actors that are on the ship that I only got the pleasure of seeing in makeup and hair. The world of the White house is a small group and I really, really loved working with Marissa Neitling and Mark Moses. When you work with someone for extended months and months you grow to care about each other or you don’t. [laughs] If you do, in this case I think Marissa and Mark are incredible people and had a great time collaborating with them. Our audience is just going to melt with everything that Marissa does and Mark Moses is one of the most alive, electric actors. It’s just such a pleasure to watch him.

Q) What can you tease is in store for character development with Allison in next few episodes?

A) I think what you see is what you get. The tease is the crisis in China and the drama of the ship and how we navigate that from the core of the country in the White House. I think that intensity is the great hook and I hope that people love it. Then, I’m sure there will be surprises along the way.

Q) Is there something else in the entertainment industry you would like to try your hand at?

A) I definitely want to get more behind the camera as a producer. I think that is something that I am working on right now, although I haven’t gotten anything totally off the ground. I think that is the natural next step for any actor who has done it as long as I have. You want challenges and want to support other peoples’ dreams. I think back to the times when I was working on “Angel” and first met Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz. We’ve all grown up so much. You kind of think back and say, “I want to help upcoming actors and new directors get their projects off the ground.” I love working with female directors and encourage equality and equal pay and rights for women. I think those are my focal points, especially being the mom of a daughter. I want to help the younger generation find their bliss.

Q) You are a part of social media. What made you want to join and interact with fans?

A) I guess there is a part of me that always cared about the acting. It’s new to me. What is nice is that I’ve gotten a sense of my fans and being more connected. I think it is natural for a musician to really know who their fans are and have that relationship. With actors, we play characters and part of that has an anonymity to it. With all this new social media, I’m really getting to know who my fans are, what they like and what they want to hear from me. It’s been really interesting. It’s kind of made me feel really connected with people who have been watching me for twenty years.

Q) How has it been getting instant fan feedback to you work as well?

A) It’s been interesting. I wish I did more of it when I did “Law and Order,” Joy and American Hustle because I would have gotten an immediate response to what they like about your character, what they don’t like and what they connected to. Especially with a long running show, where it is a constantly living and breathing organism, it’s nice to get that feedback. Of course, we end up shooting things so far advance…I can see why studio and networks want to hear that feedback. It’s an immediate response from the audience. It certainly can shape you and make you better. You are making art for people that feel something from it. From the beginning of time, there have been haters. I just try to choose the best roles that I can and portray women that I feel other women will identify with and men will admire. I just try to put a good example out there, especially since I have an eight year old now. I want to play women who are formidable yet vulnerable.

Q) You do play so many strong, layered fierce female characters. What attracts you to these roles?

A) From what I understand from executives in the business, there is a total hunger, need and desire for female lead characters. So, I think we’ll always see more of them and I feel very strongly that I want to see even more female directors and executives. I just love how the world is changing and the passion for a female President. I feel really strongly about sort of giving the majority what they are wanting, which is these strong female character. Look at Robin Wright in “House of Cards” and Katy Segal in “Sons of Anarchy.” There are all these wonderful actresses doing strong, strong parts. I don’t know why it is that I feel into law enforcement roles from basically the age of twenty-four years old when I played a cop on “Angel.” Then, I parlayed that into a stockbroker on a TNT show called “Bull” and then “Law & Order” where I was a lawyer. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it is just that I have a certain strength to the way I spoke or articulated things. I’m really grateful to David O. Russell for breaking me out of that, in a way, and helping me grow to movies to play these incredible characters. That’s really where so much of the real acting and growth comes from, the accent and physical change. It’s immersing yourself in a different way. When you play a character for five years and you immerse yourself in that or when you immerse yourself into a movie role with a phenomenal director like David O. Russell, it becomes transformative in a way that is classic with acting – a physical change. So, I’m really grateful to have explored both tracks in my career and I continue to want to do movies and television.

Q) You’re a mother and an active actress. How do you balance doing both?

A) Someone said to me that they wake up really early before the kids get up and they get hours of work done. And they’re really present with their kids. Then, when the kids go to bed, they stay up later then everybody and get work done. I would say that is true for me. I’m very present as a mom. I’m the one who picks up and drops off my daughter the majority of the time. I’m the one who handles the play dates and cooks the majority of the time. At the same time, I’m very productive with my work. I’m the provider and the worker. I just feel like having a child and really wanting to be a mother, but also being a professional and the breadwinner you just have to manage your time well. You can’t fall down a rabbit hole and not get your work done. You just have to get it done and be very present with your children. That takes organization. My daughter comes to set with me and travels with me. If I have a meeting and she is around, she is invited.

Q) Is there anything about your work with the American Heart Association you want our readers to know?

A) I have been working with the American Heart Association for the last couple of years. I’m an ambassador and educate people on heart disease. I have the desire for everyone to become CPR certified and that’s something I’m working a lot on. I’m also writing a children’s book with my daughter called The Christmas Lion. We’re in the process of finishing that up and trying to get that published. It’s a good, busy time with lots to look forward to!