Elizabeth Perkins – The Moodys

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) Were you busy filming “Truth Be Told,” “The Moodys” and “This Is Us” at the same time?

A) Yes, and I’m also on “GLOW.” I’ve just been working a lot. Thank God! I’m super grateful. It’s a lot of work, but I’m really happy.

Q) Have you had time to work on anything else?

A) I am doing “My Little Pony.” They are doing a new “My Little Pony” and I’m going to do the Queen Pegasus on that.

Q) Please tell us the premise for the series “Truth Be Told.”

A) It all sort of centers around a podcast a la “Serial.” Octavia Spencer’s character podcast begins and it reopens an old murder case that involves Aaron Paul, who is in jail for a murder that he didn’t commit. Instead of it being a salacious podcast about the intricacies of the murder and whether or not he is guilty, it is more about the consequences of true crime and reopening true crime and reliving the trauma for the family is all about. I play Aaron Paul’s mother who has spent the last eighteen years trying to get him out of prison. Octavia’s character starts the podcast with one idea and about halfway through the serial she realizes that these are real people and not just a fictional story. These are the forgotten victims. It’s not just a story about a crime. It’s a story that destroyed three different families and eventually it comes to take its own toll on her family. You watch shows like “Making a Murder” and you learn so much about the alleged murder’s story, but you never really realize the victim. No one really talks about their story. In this case Aaron Paul’s character still maintains his innocence is also a victim in this situation. So, it’s kind of an interesting take on podcasts and our international obsession with true crime podcasts that tend to be more salacious without understanding the consequences of reopening the cases for the victims, whether the victims be people who are unlawfully in jail or the victims in general.

Q) What made you want to be a part of this series?

A) Octavia Spencer. [laughs] Aaron Paul, Lizzy Caplan and Ron Cephas Jones. I had known of Nichelle D. Tramble, the creator and writer, for a while. I had thought she put together a really interesting take on true crime analysis and how it tends to focus on the killers as opposed to the people who are murdered. Even now when you see people involved in mass shootings. People are starting to say, “Let’s not talk about the guy who went into the church. Let’s talk about the people who were effected,” because that’s really the crime itself. All of those pieces put together just made it a really interesting story to tell. And I got to play Aaron Paul’s mother and I just think he’s an amazing talent. We worked together a lot and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with all of them. It was a great cast.

Q) What did you find challenging about this role?

A) Yes, my character is very sick on the show. She’s been fighting, as I said, for eighteen years to get him out of prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He went into prison at eighteen years old and the changes he’s gone through just to function within the criminal justice system…He’s become very hardened and somebody I don’t recognize. But I never stop fighting because I know that he didn’t commit this crime and yet I’m very sick. So, to play someone who is very ill and yet every single day fighting to get him out was very challenging. It’s definitely a drama. Let’s put it that way.

Q) What is it about shows and podcasts like “Making a Murderer” and “Serial” that have made them so popular these days?

A) Well, I do think that true crime has always been popular. It’s a genre that I think everybody can relate to. I do think it’s why shows like “Making of a Murder” and podcasts like “Serial” were so successful because it is highly relatable, in terms of it being a true crime. But sometimes they tend to lean towards the salacious as opposed to someone doing a documentary from the victim’s point of view and how even the people who allegedly committed the crime are jailed without having committed the crime – that in itself is a crime. There are a lot of people sitting in jail for crimes they didn’t do. There is a man to be executed in Texas that I’d say about 99% of the people involved in the case know he is innocent. It’s not just a crime story. It effects people. These are real people. The victims tend to be the forgotten. I do think that people are interested in it simply because of the true crime genre and that’s something we can all relate to.

Q) We love seeing you in dramas. Talk a little bit about what it was about the comedy “The Moodys” that appealed to you.

A) I’ve been doing a lot of dramas. I was in “Sharp Objects” with Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson last year, which was a really heavy, heavy show to work on. I’m lucky enough to do shows like “GLOW” that are fun and “This Is Us” because I get to work with Mandy [Moore] and Milo [Ventimiglia]. I prefer comedy. I find it at my age to be more fun. [laughs] Truth be told, I was really looking for something that would be fun to do with a group of actors that I really dug. This comedy with Denis Leary just landed in my lap. Denis and I have a similar sense of humor. He’s very irreverent and sarcastic. He just goes for it. Then, we have Jay Baruchel on the show as well. The three of us set the tone for what kind of comedy we’re going to be doing so I was on board right away. “The Moodys” is also a limited series, which is very appealing because you’re not sitting down and doing twenty-three half hours. With “The Moodys” it is a six half-hour event and there is the hope that sort of later on in the year we would find another event. This is “The Moodys” at Christmas, but there is the opportunity to “The Moodys” at New Years or Go On Vacation or Attend Their Cousin’s Wedding – anywhere there is a family gathering. All of that dysfunction, complexity and eccentricity just sort of explode on each other. So, it was just a fun opportunity to do something family-oriented, but was kind of screwed up.

Q) What is it about Christmas that makes it so hectic and tumultuous for The Moody family?

A) I think it’s very representative of what everybody really goes through at Christmas. We tend to watch a lot of Christmas things that are quite saccharine. The show is more about what it is really like. [laughs] Everybody tries to make the Christmas season very bright. We’re going to have eggnog and we’re going to open presents! In reality, there are a lot of underlying tensions when bring the whole family together. I mean extended family like grandparents, uncles and cousins and not to mention the kids come home for Christmas. People tend to revert to the family dynamic of their younger selves whenever they are brought together for a holiday and that can bring up a lot of old resentments and rivalries. Everyone is crammed into one house and there is one bathroom. When everyone tries to send it up as the perfect Christmas it usually devolves into some hostility and deep-rooted resentments from childhood to the point where even the parents are sniping at each other because they have such a high expectation over the holidays. I think a lot of people get stressed out and depressed at the holidays for that reason. You turn on the TV and there are the Macy’s commercials where everyone looks beautiful and they all have their red sweaters on, they’re giving each other gifts and they all look skinny and fabulous. In reality, that’s really far from the truth. So, what we’re trying to do is bring a little bit of reality, which I think a lot of people can also relate to. This is not a Hallmark Channel show. Not to put down Hallmark! This is sort of a realistic look at a chaotic family over Christmas with all of the stresses that the holidays bring.

Q) What are some of your stressful or off-the-wall Christmas memories over the years?

A) One time nobody would help me get the Christmas ornaments off the top shelf in the garage. And it went on for like four days until I like threw myself on the floor and said, “Nobody is helping me with the ornaments!” [laughs] Everyone was like, “Wow! Mom, are you okay?!” I said, “No! I’m not okay! I’ve been asking for four days! For four days I’ve been asking!” And that is kind of more real than most people would probably admit. They’re going to say, “Oh! My Christmas was perfect!” No. Somebody slings mud. Someone had a meltdown. They lost their shit. Someone threw themselves down on the ground and said, “Nobody is helping me get down the ornaments!” And that is more of the truth. You can watch It’s a Wonderful Life and even Miracle on 34^th Street (which I made) and go, “Yeah, that would be great with everyone beautiful and their hair was perfect and Santa Clause.” The truth is a lot farther from that.

Q) It has been great seeing you on “This Is Us” this season. Talk about working with Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia.

A) I just sort of come in and do two episodes a year. They have a huge cast and Dan Fogelman (the creator) has to service every one of those characters. So, as much as I would love to be Mandy’s mom all the time (I adore her and I love being around her. She’s amazing!), I just get to go in and sort of be not the mother she wished she had. There is the notion that Janet was not a great mother to her. So, in this upcoming episode I’m filming I think things are going to start coming to a head with her and her parents. This year we introduced her dad who you sort of think is this good guy and it turns out he’s not so good. I think it’s going to start explaining why she sort of took on this music career and sort of abandoned her family. And I get to work with Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia! I mean, come on! They are the sweetest, kindest, nicest people. She has new music that she has just released for the first time in a really long time and I would recommend to all of your readers to listen to it. The whole set is amazing. You think, “Are they really as nice as they appear?” And they really It’s kind of an amazing set. I’ve never been around people who sort of respect and adore each other like that.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and the work you do?

A) I think I’m just grateful. I just turned fifty-nine years old and I’ve been doing this for thirty-five years. I love my work. I’m so grateful to be able to work in whatever capacity it is. I love getting up in the morning and driving to the set and creating characters. I just feel really blessed to be able to do that. It’s a hard business to stay in for thirty-five years. It takes a lot of work, but I’m so grateful that every time I get a job that the first thing that I think of is “gratitude, gratitude, gratitude.” Gratitude takes you far and I just am lucky I get to work with such great people.