Elizabeth Mitchell – Dead of Summer

So the next episode is called the Dharma Bums. Do you think that was on purpose?

Yeah, it is on purpose.

Can you explain that?

Yeah, I probably should have of right? But it is from the book. It is kinda of fun. That was a fun episode to do because there was so much back story so I got to play Deb through a lot of different time shifts and a lot of different times of her life. I loved it. It was great.

How did it feel going back to the 80s? 

I was a zitty, frizzy haired, skinny little just unhappy little creature. So it was great fun to go back to the eighties now when the fashion actually was fun. You know makeup looked fun. You know, like the whole thing was great. I wasn’t like “eh, don’t look at me, don’t look at me!” It was good. I had a good time.

Will we find more about the book that Deb showed Joel?

Yes, we talk about the book a lot. The book has so much to do with her life philosophy. I don’t know the things she wanted to be, who she thought she was, who she isn’t, and I think that anytime that happens in life it is always kind of interesting to think about it. What makes us, us.

Did the show runners give you a list of movies and books to reference to go back and revisit them?

I think that maybe they felt like since I had been there I would be okay. They did talk about Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink. You know I had my reference points that I thought were great.

Did it bring you back?

Yeah it did. It totally did. Oh, that’s right. Yeah, that was amazing. Oh with the curtains and Demi Moore, right and Rob Lowe. I completely forgot about that scene. I remember as a kid being like they are so attractive and beautiful. They are amazing. I thought that is going to be me when I am a teenager one day. Yeah, it wasn’t like that.

Were you a fan of like the whole flash movies when you were growing up? Like the eighties movies?

My dad is. Now you gotta see, I love my dad. I became a long distance runner because my dad is a long distance runner. My dad is also that guy who says A-word like every hour or so. So the only way to get him to talk is being on a really long run. And then you have these great things. So it was the same thing with the horror movies. I just sit there and be like “hey what are we watching next? Vampires in outer space? This is great!” I did watch them a lot as a kid and mainly just to hang out with my cool dad.

It’s hard to tell whether Deb is manipulating Joel so is that… does her feelings run deeper than that?

Possibly, I mean that is definitely the appearance. From everything that we’ve seen that’s exactly what it seems like it is the case. But I feel like it’s that big of … You have to kind of watch carefully for where she really is. Things are trickier than they seem…which is fun. It’s not a very good answer but it will be in two weeks, you’ll be like…Oh yeahhhh.

What do you think about the Lost finale?

Oh I like it. But what’s funny is that I know people didn’t, and I get it, that makes perfect sense to me. But I did like it because what they were kind of saying is that magic is real and that’s okay with me. I like the idea that these amazing brilliant show-runners thought that was something that could happen, you know, made me happy.

Did you understand [it] when you read it?

I was reading them back to back so there were no drops. It’s like knitting you drop a stitch and you’re like ah now the whole thing is ruined. I didn’t have to drop any stitches because I had everything in front of me. And every script that I would get I read read three to five times as I was developing my character, developing the arc for the story. So it would be the equivalent of watching every episode for maybe five to ten times. So I didn’t feel like it was confusing but I did think it was wonderful. But I understand the people that didn’t get it.

What do you like to watch ?

Oh I just finished binge watching Rita, it’s a Danish show. Oh my gosh, this woman is so good. She’s so good and so complex and so complete and I loved her with a passion. So much so that when the show came to end I was just like “No!” And I went on tried to find anything. But the whole sensibility of the education system… her… just loved her. So that one I love. Oh and Game of Thrones, because I read all the books, all of them. And I didn’t read them and then my boyfriend was like I really want to talk to you about this. And I’m like but I read all the books, he goes no they’ve gone off the books. You actually have to watch it. So I’m now at the end I just finished season five. And I’m starting six and now I can carry on an intelligence conversation soon.

You know the show runners are masters of conspiracy. As an actor, is it good for you not knowing some things about your character that maybe will be revealed later ?

Yeah, I think what has always intrigued me about this particular way of making a show is that in life you don’t know what’s going to happen next. And I like not knowing, I like that they’re playing a character who doesn’t know. It keeps it all really interesting. And then also it covers up bad acting really well. Because if you do something that’s just plain old bad, they’ll make an excuse for it in the next script so I’m all for it. You’re like yeah that’s right I knew that all along. That wasn’t because I was really bad that day. So it’s helpful. (laughs).