MARG TALKS ABOUT “INTELLIGENCE” WITH THE FILM JUNKET (TRANSCRIPT)
February 24, 2014
Why did you decide to come back to TV? Was the project? Or were you looking for a project?
A combination. I was looking for something to do, of course. And the pilot season came around about a year ago, now. And my agent and manager called me and said ‘This is…I’m gonna send you one. Read it and get back to us as soon as possible because it’s very well written and it’s a great role.’ And it was, you know. It was just so smartly written. I loved the role of Lillian. I loved her strength and I loved her, you know, feisty-ness and her mysterious quality. Her inscrutable nature. Josh Holloway was already attached and I thought he was the perfect guy to play that role of Gabriel Vaughn. And I liked the use of the technology and…because it’s something that fascinates me. I’m certainly not a, you know, technological wizard, but I am fascinated by it. Perhaps I think if I do a show that’s about it I’m…maybe by osmosis, I’ll get better. And when I met with Michael Seitzman, who created the show and Tripp, his producing partner Tripp Vinson, and the director, David Semel, of the pilot, I just was convinced that this was the right people I want to be involved with. So that’s how I kind of got back involved in series television, and then we got picked up, and we shot our, just a week and a half ago, finished our thirteen episodes.
Lillian is a powerful woman. Have you met any particular women or are you inspired by any woman that you portray like her?
Well, you know, I of course can’t help but think of Hillary Clinton when I play this role. I’ve been a fan of Hillary’s…I got an opportunity to meet her several years ago actually when she was First Lady…her husband’s first presidency, Bill Clinton. She’s just a remarkable person and I… the entire time she was Secretary of State, I thought of her and I just pulled for her because I knew that’s a tough job. Just the traveling alone, but having to be, you know…say the right thing at all costs. You know, because she’s the ultimate diplomat. And Madeleine Albright, you know, when she was Secretary of State. There’s just been a number of women who’ve been in position of power that I have, you know, nothing but regard and admiration for.
Do you think that Lillian was a field agent?
That’s a, you know, question I keep asking myself. We’re still trying to figure…if the show continues and we hope it does, of course, what exactly what was her path? I mean, did she start off as an operative? Was she in Army Intelligence? Was she just in the CIA? Was she in the NSA? You know, there’s a lot of questions, which is kind of a reason why it appealed to me, the character. Because she just, you don’t know exactly what her back story is. But in the thirteen episodes we have shot, we do learn a little bit more about her and her personal life. She’s..I’ve got a daughter, a grown daughter, who’s an artist. And sort of the antithesis of Lillian…the essence of my daughter is, you know, the antithesis of my character. My father, played by Peter Coyote, former CIA director who kind of groomed me for the position I’m in. And we have, we have some very interesting scenes. So yeah, I mean, that’s what the fun part about episodic TV is, how you can develop this character and have this character evolve as the season rolls by. As the seasons roll by. You know, it’s always evolving.
Do you think the series will continue focus on international or will go to domestic…terrorism, for example?
Well we do deal with issues of domestic terrorism. And it’s not just like terrorist threats. It’s pandemic viruses, It’s cartels. So the show is set around the world. We have episodes that are set in Bolivia, in Mexico, in Afghanistan, Syria, India. It’s…I think that will, the international fans I think will find…will be of great interest to them. And I think the story telling, I think it’s solid, smart, you know, action, espionage thriller. And Josh has enormous appeal…Josh Holloway has enormous appeal. He’s just great in this, as is the whole cast. It’s a fun…it’s a smart show. It’s suspenseful. It has got a lot going for it.