REVOLUTION: Elizabeth Mitchell calls series “A swash-buckling love adventure.”

By Liz | March 21, 2013

Revolution actress Elizabeth Mitchell plays one tough lady on NBC’s power series. She describes Rachel as being very focused on her children, and she’ll go to extremes to keep them all safe. “Her mindset is revenge, love and trying to do the right thing.”

Rachel and her husband were the creators of the program which caused the worldwide blackout. I’m not sure if they knew that it was probably going to be the most powerful weapon the world had ever seen, but it fell into the wrong hands, and here we are, 15 years later, and Rachel has been trying to correct a problem that is actually too big for her to handle alone.

Elizabeth Mitchell talks about her role on Revolution and gives us a closer look into Rachel and the people around her, as well as working with Eric Kripke and a great writing staff.

 

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Moderator: What is it about genre shows that appeals?

Elizabeth Mitchell: I have to say I’m a huge fan of adventures. I love to read them, I love to watch them. They go on in my head. So I think anything kind of epic and adventure wise is always a huge draw for me. It’s what I like to watch and to get to actually do it, to be in something that’s Lord of the Rings or Star Wars or any of those things it’s just what my passion is, kind of where I go to escape. So that’s what draws me to it.

Moderator: Elizabeth you were talking about how you love being in like action adventure oriented type shows, are you going to get to do any action of your own this second half of the season?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yes, yes we are and my father will be thrilled because that’s really the stuff he likes to watch the most. I think that Linda Hamilton’s his favorite actress. I do get to do some more actiony type stuff and I have a wonderful time. I love that stuff.

Moderator:  A question about filming in North Carolina. I wanted to see if you could talk about the advantages and the challenges of that.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I will say the advantages are Wilmington is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen so that has been beautiful. And then what I think that Billy and I were talking about the other day is just how lush and gorgeous the world around you is how that plays a little bit of a part — not a little bit, quite a bit. It’s almost another character in the show and we’ve all loved it. The cast has all loved it here.

It’s been, I don’t know, beautiful, interesting to be outside, every time you are you’re kind of amazed by what you’re able to find especially in the second half. I think some of the architecture, some of the abandoned buildings it’s truly beautiful. So for us it’s been a gift.

Moderator:  Have you ever binge watched a show? Which show, and can you talk about the experience? Like have you ever sat down and watched like a whole bunch of episodes of a show?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh yes. That’s the best. That’s one of my favorite ways to watch shows. I did that with 24, I did that with Breaking Bad. I will go back and probably do that again with Revolution just because I like the ride. I love the idea of sitting down to a 24-hour movie. I think it’s really fun. I mean, I realize it’s a little nuts but you get in your PJs, you’ve got some great popcorn, it’s worth it. I think it’s great fun.

Binge viewing that’s great.

Moderator: What advice would you give to people who are going to binge watch the first episodes of Revolution to get caught up before March 25? Is there, you know, to get in the mood is there something specific they should eat, should they turn off all the lights in their house?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yes watch it by candlelight, that’s a great idea. I love it. Maybe cook things over a fire.

Moderator:  Can you talk a bit about working with the Lost guys again and why don’t they throw you a bone for like Star Trek or Star Wars to give you a part on that too?

Elizabeth Mitchell: You know, I’m campaigning hard to be a Jedi. My friends like to tell me that I feel like I’m one in life so yes that would be really awesome. And I love it. I love complicated, good characters. I love complicated, good characters set in extraordinary situations so to be with the same people who kind of made that happen for me before is an absolute joy and I’m always honored.

It’s always nice to come back. It’s better than people being like let’s just not work with her again. So I’m honored and it’s fun and selfishly it’s just I love the complication of the characters I get to play. I just love the work so to be able to be with the people who make good work — is that proper English — it’s fun and I’ve had a great time getting to know Eric. It’s been great. He’s along those lines of thinking and different and wonderful and it’s neat. So yes and yes I’d love to be in Star Wars, just putting it out there.

Moderator:  Do you have maybe a favorite scene or moment coming up that you can talk about without spoiling too much and if not then a favorite moment from earlier?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well I have one. I have a scene in the moonlight next to water with Miles that is probably one of my favorite scenes as much for the silence as for the words. I enjoyed playing it, I enjoyed reading it and I just kind of got a chance to do ADR for it and I normally can’t watch myself but I liked it. So I think that’s probably one of my favorites. It was simple and lovely and exactly the kind of thing that I like to play and to watch. So just a simple little scene. I don’t know if anyone will feel the same way but that was one that I truly enjoyed and I thought that Billy was terrific and great fun to watch.

Moderator: Elizabeth you’ve been on shows like this with large casts before, what do you think is the key to keeping everyone happy and engaged and how would you say that Revolution is doing that for you?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh what a great question. I love ensembles I think mainly because I started in theater and I love that idea. What keeps people happy and engaged is good work, great words and then I think coming together there’s a lot of…Lost was the same way. We were all very supportive but everybody came ready to play and I think if you have that attitude and there’s not ego which is also the case on Revolution which I really like then it’s fun.

You go in and it’s fun and you play together and you antagonize each other on camera and you love each other on camera and you hate each other on camera and then you go off and you try to figure out how to make it even better and you come back and you try to do that. And that’s the collaboration of a group is and has always been very exciting to me. I think it elevates everybody. You rise to the occasion and I love that.

I hear that from all of the actors when we’re walking around. How did that go? Oh I had scene with Giancarlo and I learned so much, it was fantastic. Or I did this or I did that. So I think just that respect and passion so yes. That keeps it going and makes it really nice.

Moderator: Elizabeth I just want to — I know you’ve talked some about Lost — I just want to know could you compare kind of like the whole I guess filming process like it’s how the same and different to Revolution?

Elizabeth Mitchell: You know, it’s really interesting and I don’t know if this will make sense to anyone but it is slightly different. Lost we started with wide, we’d come in the middle, we get right into tight and we’d go for the eye like we’d get in really close. And on Revolution right now we’re shooting a lot of long lenses which means that I don’t necessarily know when the camera is right on my face so it’s been something of a surprise.

And what is done is that it felt more like in some ways like a play. You’re doing all of this, our operators are catching all of this but they’re not right exactly there. So it’s been really interesting, really fun.

It’s been really interesting how that is because I was so used to having the camera just right there. But the thing that I have found very similar is that we as the actors are all very exciting to know what’s happening next and I love that. I love the fact that we want to sneak in and who has a script and has anyone seen script and does anyone have a script and should we call Eric, should we ask Eric. Oh let’s not ask him. Oh maybe we will. Everyone’s like okay I asked it. And I was like did you, what happened? Well you know it’s about my character. Come on!

So I love that we’re all so excited and we were that way on Lost too and that to me is a huge and wonderful commonality.

Moderator: What’s been the most challenging for Revolution?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well I like challenges, I’m weird that way. I’m the one who ran stadium stairs as a kid. Challenging…I always find shooting outdoors to be challenging. It’s loud, it’s dynamic and you can either raise your game accordingly or you can get incredibly frustrated so I suppose that I enjoy that particular challenge of making all of that work and shooting a show with no electricity in a very powerful world. So there’s the cars, there’s the planes, there’s the cell phones so that’s definitely a challenge but it’s pretty funny.

Moderator: And Elizabeth what can you tell us about — I know you talked a lot about it — but how will your character’s stakes be raised, just give us one clue?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well with the things that happen in the first episode back I think that my character’s stakes I mean I’m sure they probably could get higher but right now I can’t imagine how, what she wants to accomplish, what her goal is. The protection of her daughter, her family it’s operating at such high stakes that at times I’m always amazed she doesn’t just burn out and extinguish. So I think that people are going to – I mean, I’ve enjoyed the shifts for her. I’ve enjoyed both her strength and her I don’t know sometimes sociopathic intensity but I always go back to the mother in her and I’m fascinated by that.

Moderator: Elizabeth when the show resumes where’s Rachel’s mindset with regard to Monroe, the rebels and being with her children?

Elizabeth Mitchell: She wants to be with her children. She wants to kill Monroe. I think that Rachel is somewhat, in my mind of course but everyone feels that way about their own character, such a tragic figure. She’s tried so hard to do the right thing for so long and she’s possibly one of the worst people I think. I think that her mindset is on survival and her mindset is on revenge and in a horrible awkward way her mind is on good parenting which she’s not very good at. But I think the sad thing was that she probably at one time truly was. So it’s just what this world has created and she’s a direct reflection of that.

So her mindset is revenge, love and trying to do the right thing. We’ll see if it works.

Moderator: Elizabeth in episode ten the scene with you and Tracy where you come face to face, I mean that was so powerful, so raw, I mean what was it like to shoot that and did you and Tracy, I mean did you guys just I mean go over those lines first or did you just – how did you do it?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well Tracy and I – Tracy and I really like each other and we have a very kind of easy and lovely relationship so we didn’t bring too much of that into the room. I think that we were both feeling just as awkward as the characters were because you want things to be so amazing with the people that you love the most. You want to be the perfect mother, the perfect person, the perfect whatever is and we both wanted that.

And what came out of our mouths and what happened was so awkward and stilted and raw and kind of horrible and that was the feeling the whole time. I mean both of us were like oh we just wish we were nice, you know, that and I liked that. I liked how awkward and raw and kind of horrible it felt in the room. I felt like there was something really real there and Tracy and I looked at each other and I don’t know who said it but we were both like this is exactly how it would be. This feels so real to us and that’s kind of what we walked away with, I mean this sad, awkward horrible thing where you just want them to just hold onto each other and be like I’m so happy to see you.

So it was awkward and horrible and kind of wonderful and raw so I think that Eric did a perfect job on that one. I really do.

Moderator: How far in advance did Eric give you guys the script? I mean did you – were you prepared for this or did Eric just kind of spring this on you? How’d it go?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well we got the scripts before and we both of course memorized it the day before and then we walked in, we read it through but we didn’t actually work on it together. It was more what’s going to come out when we’re on camera together and that’s basically what came out. It was very fresh and very raw.

And as far as being sprung, sure episodic television is the best because you get the script and then a couple days later you’re doing these crazy huge scenes and I love that, I really do. It doesn’t give you time to think before you jump off the cliff, you just jump and I’m a fan of that.

Moderator: Right. And at Comic-Con I interviewed Terry O’Quinn who was also on Lost and he said…

Elizabeth Mitchell: I love him.

Moderator: He’s great isn’t he? He said that he would never get his scripts in advance and is that how they play it here? I mean, well you said you get yours like a day in advance but he said he didn’t want to know what was going to happen next. He just like wanted to go with it and just act in the moment. Is that how you guys are playing it on Revolution versus Lost or is it a little bit different on Revolution?

Elizabeth Mitchell: No I think it’s very much the same. I think it’s the idea of you get it and play it and you play it with everything that you’ve got. And you may look back and be like oh gosh why didn’t I but I think the immediacy of it is what makes it so interesting. It’s one of the reasons I love television is that you can spend a long time agonizing over every choice or you can simply jump and a lot of times with episodic you just have to jump which is what Terry does so beautifully. I loved watching him in the immediacy of what he would do. So I like it.

I mean it’s kind of a Meisner approach to the whole thing but I just enjoy springing things on people, watching their reaction and reacting back. I think it’s really fun.

Moderator:  Are the dynamics between Rachel and Miles, clearly there’s a lot of back story there. There’s also some parallels in that; their willingness to protect people they care about, kind of manifested during the blackout.  So can you talk a little about how we’ll be seeing that dynamic explored the second half of the season?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well I mean I can say that in my mind it’s lucky that we do explore it. I think there’s a lot there. It’s deeper, richer than I at first thought. I mean I knew there was something, but I didn’t realize how much.

And there’s – the two of them – there’s a theory that people come together because of shared pain. Like you think, “Oh, I have things in common with someone and that’s why I love them.” But in some ways, it’s actually what your pain is, what the worse thing is for you, where your secret fears are.

And I think that Miles and Rachel are at heart in their sorrows very much the same. And I think that their tendency towards their ability to protect the ones they love is also very similar.

But they’re, you know, they’re (friends); it’s a great word for them. I mean they have been through all kinds of things which we really do get almost completely laid out for us by the end of the season. And it’s interesting.

And I don’t want to use the wrong word to lead it in the wrong direction, but I would say that if you can use passionate in the way that it was intended, being filled with emotion, that is how I would describe them and the revelations that we come across.

So I’m excited to see people’s response. But I’ve had a great time playing it and I really enjoy working with Billy. I think his (smile) is completely different than I ever expected him to do anything. So I’ve been having fun watching him.

Moderator: Can you tell us a bit more about how your character’s role changes because if she’s in charge of that then she would have a much more powerful role as the season progresses, right?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yes, well Rachel has a lot more to do in the second half of the season which is really fun. And yes, I mean as the preview suggests, that’s the quest, that sums it all up for her, and trying to, you know, patch her family back together and trying to figure herself out and sending her child again; that’s the worst and all of that.

So Rachel’s quest is specific and she’s incredibly proactive. She’s making a straight line towards what it is that she needs to do.

And the fun part that, you know, Eric had talked about before is that she also unloads everything; the entire secret, the entire history in one crazy conversation in Episode 1 – 13.

So I think that people will enjoy the fact that she has a lot to say and that her admonition or her quest is very powerful and proactive which I love in a character. It’s always nice to see women, people, anyone – your protagonist going after what she wants full force. So I think that’s going to be fun.

Moderator: And do you – can you say whether we will see something more personal in this story for her in terms of maybe a romance?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yes, you will see – we will see echoes of what has been and what could be and what might be now, and there’s definitely more passion for her in the second half, which by the way if really fun. I mean I always find it kind of interesting to see where people’s hearts lie. So we get to see that for sure.

Moderator: I ask because I think that in the first part of the season, I don’t know if it was deliberate on the writer’s part or whether it was because you had a certain chemistry both with Monroe and with Miles when you met them. There was always this air of, you know, tension that was not really understandable between them.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yes, right.

Moderator: So it would be interesting to see whether that was one thing or the other like maybe hate or maybe something else.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yes, it’s a fine line isn’t it? And yes, I think that some things were deliberate, some things just happened because it’s the chemistry that was in the room. I mean that’s what always happens and then the writers are like, “Gosh, that’s interesting. Let’s go further with that.”

But you know, in some of the scenes, the tension is deliberately written in, it’s in the lines. And then sometimes it’s simply just there, it’s just in the playing of it. And I do think that there is, as they say, a thin line between love and extreme hate.

So we’ll get to explore that a little bit more. But yes, that tension was definitely there.

Moderator: Could you describe in your opinion Revolution in three words?

Elizabeth Mitchell: That’s a great thing to ask, let’s see. Adventure, love – I want to put swash buckling there. How about this? A swash-buckling love adventure.

That might do it. I’m missing a few things but I feel like swash-buckling is such a great word. And there are sword fights, so it may not be the best word but I feel like I need to use it; it’s a good one.

Moderator: That works. I was also curious. Do you guys stick a lot to the script or do you improv at all? Are there things you add?

Elizabeth Mitchell: We really – it was the same with (Moss). We don’t improv all that much.

Now Eric is incredibly kind and generous. His feeling is, “Please say one, exactly as written, and then if you feel the need to play, please play, but just make sure that we get one as scripted.”

And if I feel like there are things that I want to say or that should be said or certain things, then I will do one exactly as scripted and then I’ll play in one. And sometimes they’ll use it and sometimes they don’t.

But for the most part, you know, we try to stick exactly to the script because they’ve obviously, you know, as Eric was talking about acting the whole thing out.

But I sometimes can’t help myself. I mean I was an improve actor for a long time, so there’s always a situation where I’ll add this or that and the script supervisor just rolls her eyes. So sometimes it’s affective and sometimes it’s not.

But Eric’s been really generous about letting us play if we have the desire to do so.

Moderator: Can you think of anything specific that you did add or that got cupped in or even maybe character-wise?

Elizabeth Mitchell: You know, there’s quite a bit but I’m trying to think of one specifically and I just can’t. But I know that there are times when I’m watching and I’m like, “Ha, that was mine.”

 

Don’t forget to tune in Monday, March 25th, for the exciting spring premiere of Revolution. The Stand airs at 10/9c on NBC.