LEVERAGE: Timothy Hutton & Beth Riesgraf celebrate the holidays with a very special episode

In a recent conference call, Timothy Hutton and Beth Riesgraf talked about their upcoming holiday episode and all the fun they are having on their hit TNT series Leverage. In the December 12th episode, the Leverage team undertakes a job to infiltrate a mall in order to save Santa’s reputation, which in turn leads them on a mission to restore everyone’s faith in the holiday; and it is this attempt to work a Christmas miracle that unexpectedly pulls the team into the holiday spirit. Timothy said because of the specialness of this episode, it is now one of his favorite episodes – it simply invoked the true Christmas spirit.

For Beth, one of her favorite parts playing Parker is that each season Parker grows a bit, letting down her emotional walls another inch or two. Thus, in the Christmas episode, because Parker loves the holidays, she is the biggest proponent of saving Christmas. Beth explained that just like Parker zones in on a heist, Parker has a one-track mind when it comes to the holidays. So Parker’s Christmas obsession and enthusiasm about Santa Claus provides some great moments in the upcoming episode; and, as a result, it was sweet how Parker and her child-like enthusiasm resonates with the team inspiring them to tap into their inner-holiday spirit. Beth also teased that there are also some pretty great twists and turns in the 3rd season finale that she thinks the fans will be excited by.

Talking about the challenges of her role as Parker, Beth shared that the physical aspect of playing Parker keeps her on her toes, as well as the writers’ tendency to throw in a curve-ball to ensure the steady growth of her character. While Beth can readily say that she is not an adept pick-pocket like Parker, she has picked up a few skills. She said that although Apollo Robbins, the famed ‘gentlemen thief,’ has provided her with videos and readily answered her questions, most of what she portrays on screen is just an illusion for television. She is quite happy simply portraying a master thief and has no plans to ever actually be one – although Timothy chimed in to reveal that she is quite adept at stealing scenes, which Beth laughingly protested.

Beth also quickly added that while she prefers to do her own stunts, most of the riskier ones are done by her capable stunt double. In fact, many of the upside-down stunt work is done by a professional. Trying to be realistic about her own limitations, only if Beth has time and can safely do the stunt, then she will, but for the most part she defers to her stunt double. A few of the stunts she has done herself included running atop a moving train and hanging upside down on a 40-story building. She has found that the more physical the role is, the more it appeals to the adrenaline-junkie side of her, so she finds herself volunteering when she can to do stunts, unless they are too risky.

As for his character Nate, Timothy said that Nate is miserable when it comes to the Christmas season. This is largely due to the fact his son died and the resulting break-up of his marriage. Thus, the whole idea of people celebrating the holidays makes Nate absolutely miserable. He just wants to hide and be alone. However, the upcoming Christmas episode provided a nice moment of reprieve from the deep sorrow infused in Nate’s soul. There is an opening scene between Parker and Nate that was a joy for him: because Parker is so into Christmas and Nate is not, the scene where Parker bugs him into assisting Santa Claus was a fun moment of transformation – a crack in the emotional wall.

Timothy also noted that even with Leverage going into its 4th season, the writing has simply been terrific. It has only gotten better at intertwining character development with drama and comedy – making it that much more fun to portray. He also explained that this is perhaps the secret appeal of the show. As more and more viewers are tuning in, they are discovering that at its heart it is simply fun. Leverage invites viewers on a ride in each week’s episode where the stakes are high and danger is around every corner. In addition to the high-risk, high-thrill factor, there is the slow introduction of different facets of each character, which makes it feel like each clue is a piece of a bigger jigsaw puzzle. Therefore, this piece-by-piece approach to revealing who the characters are provides nice surprises and clues to their true selves. They are not just reformed criminals, they have motivations that remain elusive and mysterious.

Another new element to the show has been the introduction of a recurring nemesis to help keep the team on their toes and to provide an ongoing threat in their world. It has become the larger story arc with twists and turns as the team tries to escape the net that Damian Moreau has seemingly cast across everyone and everywhere.

With the new added depth to the characters and the underlying storyline, Timothy appreciates how supportive TNT has been of the show. It has provided a good home for them and made a fun working environment for them all to play in for awhile. He elaborated, “TNT does just a great job on all of their shows. They’re very passionate about what they’ve programmed and with our show they’ve managed to keep the show [exciting].” He added, “All of our enjoyment in working together that really makes it all kind of go — and we’re really excited about these three shows that are coming up; the holiday show . . . And, of course, we can’t wait to get back to Portland and start up season 4 because there’s a lot of things that are going to happen in season 4.”

When Timothy first read the pilot script for Leverage, he was struck by how interesting Nate was to play. Nate was someone who had hit rock bottom and who presented a range of possibilities of where he could go – he could climb up and fall again, or climb out of it and still fall again. That combined with how emotionally shut-off the character was, and then having to willingly get close to people in order to assemble the team that he did, is remarkable. Parker, Eliot, Hardison and Sophie have become his family. It is this familial-element that makes the show compelling no matter what the team has to face.

Timothy also hinted at the twist in the upcoming 2 hour finale: “There’s going to be something – it’s kind of a nice surprise at the very end. . . . There’s just a bit about Nate Ford and his past that we don’t know about and I think the writers are going to bring forward, and it’s going to be really fun for me to kind of see what that is. . . There’s something that happens. It’s more of a visual than anything else. There’s going to be a need for follow-up, let’s just say, in season 4, so that’s going to be something. There’s – one of the characters of the five of us, it is revealed has a few secrets and a few things that – a few associations, we might say, that are rather disturbing.”

He further shared, “Season 4 is really when we begin that. There’s going to be a lot more understanding of how the show kind of sometimes goes into flashback mode and we learn in a little snippet like what Hardison was like, what Sophie was like, Eliot, Parker, Nathan. And I think there’s going to be more of that and we’re going to kind of learn about these peoples’ back story and in a fun way while they’re on a con.”

Finally, reflecting on his cast mates, Timothy revealed “We like working together. . . the chemistry that comes across with the five of us, it started in Chicago when we were doing the pilot. We just kind of in the first moment all enjoyed being around each other and working with each other, so and that’s just continued.” Beth added, “None of us take it too seriously. Like, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, and you know, the tone of the show allows for us to be goofy and have fun, and the directors that come on board are always in that spirit of play. . .since we all have fun with it, it makes it so much easier.”

Leverage returns with its Christmas-themed episode on Sunday, December 12 at 9:00 p.m. and then concludes with its 2-hour season finale on Sunday, December 19th at 9:00 p.m. on TNT. After the episode airs, join stars Timothy Hutton, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf, Aldis Hodge and special guest-star Wil Wheaton will answer fan questions live via video on the Leverage Facebook page, TNT.tv and TNT’s mobile website m.tnt.tv at 10 p.m. (ET) / 7 p.m. (PT).  Fans can submit questions live on either the LEVERAGE Facebook page or TNT.tv and interact directly through webchat with the cast as they answer questions.