Carrie Preston And Michael Emerson Preview Their Elsbeth Face-Off — Plus, Watch Exclusive Sneak Peek
There's no love between Carrie Preston and Michael Emerson on Elsbeth.
In real life, the couple has been happily married for 26 years. But when they share the screen during this Thursday's episode of the Good Wife spinoff (airing at 10/9c on CBS), their characters will have a far more adversarial relationship.
Emerson makes his debut this week in the recurring role of Judge Crawford, who finds Elsbeth to be a formidable thorn in his side when she's selected as an alternate juror in his courtroom. At the same time, the titular lawyer suspects that the judge might not be so honorable when he keeps favoring the prosecution during a murder trial. As you can see in TVLine's exclusive sneak peek above, that leads to a very intense exchange of words between Elsbeth and Crawford.
Read on as Preston and Emerson preview their on-screen dynamic and Elsbeth's return to the courtroom.
TVLINE | This is not the first time the two of you have worked together, but it's been a while since Person of Interest. Had you been itching to collaborate again as much as the fans have been wanting Michael on the show?
CARRIE PRESTON | Yeah. I mean, I always love to work with Michael. Anybody would be lucky to work with him, and to have a show now that's centered around a character that I've been playing for 14 years, I just loved the idea of sort of inviting him into this universe, and having him be a part of this new show, but also a part of what I've been enjoying playing for so long.
TVLINE | Michael, how was it being on a set where Carrie was the lead?
MICHAEL EMERSON | It's a reveal to me, because I have not been in that situation, playing opposite her, ever in my life, and her being the title character and the lead of the show, it's a treat to sit back and just watch how people relate to her, how she manages herself and the situation, how she sets the tone and energy of the show. It's a marvel, and it makes me so happy to just be there and get a look at it.
TVLINE | Michael, did you have any requests in terms of the type of character you wanted to play?
EMERSON | I never have those kinds of requests, actually, because the good stuff is always beyond my imagining to begin with. But when I read it, I thought, "This is good. This is a good contrast of characters and sympathy systems." I can't be too nice a guy on Elsbeth, or there's no contrast to how nice Elsbeth is. So I better be the villain. It's just better that way, I think. [Laughs]
TVLINE | How would you describe Judge Crawford and his dynamic with Elsbeth?
EMERSON | He's an entitled, blue-blood, upper-class judge who feels like he is owed everything that the world has to offer, and he's very rarely ever crossed or questioned. So it's good to see him meet his match on some level, to meet someone that he discounts at first, as everyone does discount Elsbeth, only to find out that she's a legal prodigy, and the worst adversary he might have come across.
TVLINE | When we spoke with showrunner Jonathan Tolins at New York Comic Con, he mentioned that this character sort of came about when someone in the music department asked him if Elsbeth was ever going to get her version of Professor Moriarty. Carrie, what makes Crawford such a formidable foe for Elsbeth?
PRESTON | Well, he has quite a powerful reach, and he has ambitions that are going to drive him to not let anything get in his way. Elsbeth is also tenacious in a different way, and she's out for justice and truth. That's her mission statement from the beginning. And so, that just creates a real wonderful conflict for the show, and shows are just best when you have conflict. And so, I think it's fun because we're used to seeing Elsbeth rather quickly, nimbly solve a crime, and bring the characters to justice, in a way that she wasn't able to do as a defense attorney. Like, she would defend people, but they might not always be good people. [Laughs] They might not always be innocent people. This time, she wants to bring down the people who deserve justice, and so, to have him be somebody that she's not going to be able to pin down just adds a lot of texture and stuff to the show.
TVLINE | This episode actually takes Elsbeth away from the on-the-scene murders and puts her back in the courtroom, although as a juror this time. In a way, did you feel like you were back on The Good Wife?
PRESTON | Certainly. I mean, just logistically, shooting courtroom scenes is its own beast. [Laughs] You know, a lot of us say it's where all energy goes to die. It's very hard to do those scenes because there are so many angles, and so many things that you have to shoot. And I've even directed courtroom scenes, because I directed on The Good Wife, so it did feel like, "Gosh, here we are again." That said, we were actually in an actual courtroom in Yonkers...that let us shoot there. It makes it feel more real. And then just, for Elsbeth to be back in her element, but in a way less of a position of power... When you're a juror, you're just there to be the witness, really, to what's going on, and then you, yes, get to decide, but it was really tough for her when she saw this inept defense attorney not doing a good job defending a person that she could tell, instinctually, is innocent. So that was really fun to play, and I think the audience that knows Elsbeth from The Good Wife and Good Fight universe, hopefully, will enjoy seeing her back in that world.
TVLINE | Michael, you've become known for playing some really iconic bad guys, from Leland on Evil to Ben Linus on Lost. How would Judge Crawford compare to your previous villain roles? Where does he fall on that spectrum?
EMERSON | Well, he's a quieter sort of wrong-doer, and I don't want to say he's a topical character, but we do live in a time where we wonder how are highly-placed judges in our system held to account. Should they need to be held to account? It would be a tricky business. So, here we are in the tricky-business zone, and he doesn't give off many suggestions or reasons that he's done anything wrong. [But] the audience knows better...
PRESTON | And so does Elsbeth!
Are you excited for Preston and Emerson's on-screen face-off? Hit the comments!