November 27, 2024 • 50 mins
Emmy-nominated actress Yvonne Strahovski first turned heads as a CIA agent in the popular NBC series Chuck, followed by a role in another hit show, Dexter, and, of course, as Serena Joy Waterford in the award-winning series The Handmaid's Tale.
Yvonne joins Sophia to chat about the final season of The Handmaid's Tale, including how she feels about the show coming to an end, the scenes that made her feel uncomfortable, how significant and relevant the show is in the current political space, and how she would love to dive into a comedy next!
Plus, she talks about juggling her globe-trotting career with motherhood, what she was like as a child, and starring and executive-producing her new horror series, Teacup, on Peacock!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi everyone, It's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Hi friends,
Welcome back to Work in Progress. This week, we are
joined by a true multi hyphenete powerhouse artist who I
(00:24):
have been a fan of forever. I'm talking since the
early days of her comedy on NBC Chuck to Dexter
to twenty four. She is just an absolute icon and
has certainly taken the world by storm in The Handmaid's Tale.
Ivanstrotowski is here today to talk about what it feels
(00:45):
like to be finishing such a seminal series that has
had such an incredible impact on culture, potentially unfortunately has
been a bit predictive. We're going to talk about what
it's like to balance working on something that is so
(01:05):
heavy while also seeing it reflected in the world where
she finds her joy. How she balances motherhood with being
a star of a show of this size and also
adapting a best selling novel and starring in an executive
producing another series, Peacock's newest horror show called Teacup, which
(01:26):
I watched in advance of this interview, and I can
confirm it is both incredible and terrifying. I truly just
can't wait to ask von how she manages to do
it all, and what's up next for her. Let's dive in. Hello,
(01:51):
Oh hi, how are you?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I'm cool? How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I'm really well? Thanks? Where do I find you today?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I'm in to our wolves look so similar, except I
was just going to say classier than well mine is?
My kids are I'm.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Not so sweet? How are things in Toronto?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
They're good? Yeah, they're good. You know, it's a little
weird being here right now post selection.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I bet, yeah, I'm super complicated.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That's a little weird. I remember this feeling. You know,
I was here one other time when the same thing happened. Yeah,
so its just I don't know, Yeah, it's it's it's
just a little weird. It's a little weird being here
on the show and playing the role I know. So yeah,
but are we're finishing up you know, season six of
(02:50):
the show, and that's it?
Speaker 1 (02:51):
What a trip?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Well, let's instead of sitting where we are, let's rewind.
I Actually we always really like to ask people because
you know, I sit opposite someone like you who is
just like, I don't even know what word I want
to pick first. Incredible, accomplished, brilliant, you're such an amazing performer.
(03:14):
You've done all of these incredible projects that we love,
and we all know you now, but I always like
to kind of understand or poke and see if you
got to hang out with your childhood self, Like if
we went, you know, into the space time continuum and
you got to meet eight year old Yvonne on the playground,
(03:37):
would you see yourself and your career, Like would you
see the through line in her? Or did life just
take a left turn and you can't believe this is
where you are?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Oh? Yeah, no that I would definitely see the through line.
You know. I'm experiencing this with my six year old
right now. He's like starting to do these Like I
was the kid that was like, look at me, I'm
going to heads, I'm going to win a weagh everyone
at the dinner party so that someone will like watch
me do stuff. And I'm seeing that in my eldest son.
(04:10):
And you know, he wanted to get he wanted not
a real guitar, like a play guitar for his birthday,
and he got one. And now he's like running around
the house kind of doing all these like he's just
making up songs and it's very loud and very funny,
and I'm just I'm looking at him like what you're saying,
(04:30):
like the kid in the park, Like would I recognize that.
I'm looking at him and thinking, oh my god, like
that was me. That was that was what I used
to do. And anyway, I don't know, obviously there's no
way to know, you know, whether he's going to end
up in the same space, but certainly, certainly at that age,
or I mean probably a little bit later when I
(04:52):
was about twelve, I kind of that was kind of
when I was like, yeah, I need to be an actress.
I just kind of had it in my head. Wo
that was what I wanted to do, and I had
been doing it probably since then.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, how did that begin for you back in Australia?
Were there like was there a local theater company or
were there shows you were watching where you saw other
kids and you thought, oh, I'm I'm going to do that.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I you know, we grew in Australia or you know,
at that time, we were very saturated with American TV
shows and programming, and so I think there was you know,
there was just some you know, like the crappy community
hall down the road, was doing you know, acting classes,
and my best friend and I signed up. We would
(05:39):
just like it was like, you know, you play charades,
you do drama games, yeah, and you're a kid in
and where I just remember we would take over the
class because we had this whole charade ship that we knew, like,
you know, we know the answer in one one second
as soon as one of us would do the thing.
And so that's kind of where it started. And then
and then I just sort of ended up in every
(05:59):
school play or musical imaginable that I could get my
hands on, to the point where I was I just
didn't have time to do anything else. I just kind
of wanted to be in everything and do everything. So
it was kind of, I guess it was a very
saturated natural progression kind of going from high school into
(06:23):
you know with all the plays and stuff, and then
going into university where I did, you know, the drama
degree was very practical and theater based and whatever. And
then I ended up starting a you know, a little
theater company with a friend of mine from from drama school.
So we would you know, she's her name's Anna, and
(06:44):
she's finished, and she would have these finish plays that
she liked from Finland, and we would adapt them to
an Australian audience and them and produce them and cost
them and do all this stuff. And then that didn't
last very long because the next thing, you know, I
ended up in the States. And that was when I
was I was twenty four, and now it's been almost
(07:07):
two decades wow, since that moment.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So what was it that brought you to the US
so quickly? I assume, you know, beginning of theater company
is a pretty big undertaking. So was it something that
you booked or was it someone who said you've got
to come here and start getting on the scene and auditioning.
What was the move like for you?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
It was it was totally random. I mean not totally random.
I was you know, I was dating a guy at
the time, and there was a bunch of Ossie actors
who had this movie who had gotten into Tiff at
the time, and they were all going and they were
either we were at the pub one night and they
were saying, you know, you should come with us, and
you know, tried tried to get some meetings in America,
(07:53):
and I remember, oh, you know, I had terrible skin
at the time. I had really bad acne on my face,
and I thought, oh, I don't know, like I probably,
you know, I don't know if anyone's gonna, you know,
want me there, but you know, okay, I'll give it
a go. And so I went with them, and I
remember having my Australian agent at the time pushed me
(08:16):
to go. She said, you should, you should do this,
and she had set me up with these five meetings.
I got rejected from four out of the five agents
and managers whoever I met with at the time, and
the only people who wanted to work with me were
these two women managers who I still work with to
this day, and the rest.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Are kicking themselves.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Maybe but anyway. So yeah, So I remember that was
like a two week trip and then I remember it
was the end of two thousand and six. I came
back home for Christmas, I got my tonsils out, and
then I finished a small guest job role in Australia
and I got back on a plane to do you know,
(09:04):
pilot season at the time in two thousand and seven.
Back then, we had you know that pilot season thing going. Yeah,
but I was late to the pilot season because I
was on this other job in Australia, and so I
was auditioning like self taping before self taping was a thing,
and I was sending over tapes, one of which was
(09:26):
for the show Chuck on NBC. And so the day
that I actually landed in the States was the day
they saw my tape and the day they called and
said we want her to test the next day at
the network and the studio. And I didn't know what
was going on. I had no clue how the business worked.
I didn't know what a test was. I didn't know
(09:48):
why I would be meeting all of the executives at
NBC and Warner Brothers. And then literally I went and
did this test and then I remember my you He's
coming out shaking my hand at the network and saying,
you know, congratulations, You've got the job, and I, you know,
my head exploded, and then that was kind of it was.
(10:11):
It was so quick, and so I just hadn't wrapped
my head around any of it.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yeah, Oh my gosh, it's so it really is so crazy,
and I think people don't know the swiftness with which
your whole life changes, Like you landed and then you
had to stay here. I remember doing the callback for
(10:37):
my test for One Tree Hill and I was in
college and then suddenly they were like, you're moving to
North Carolina in twelve days. And I had to call
my university and be like, I'm not coming and tell
my roommate I wasn't coming and she had to find
a new roommate, and I was so stressed out for her.
I was like, who are you going to live with?
Like all of these things that now they seem so
(11:00):
funny to me, but you're just there, you go figure
it out, pack your staff.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, yeah, it's it's exactly that, and the sort of
like unprepared, You're unprepared, You're you're you're young, like I
was so young, and I yeah. I literally remember pulling
over on Bob Hope Drive in Burbank in my like
really crappy rental car. I don't know how they rented
(11:29):
out cars back then. There was like these like one
rental company that all the Australians used to go to
in Losienaga and we would, you know, get the cars.
And I called my parents in Australia and told them
I wasn't coming home at the time that I thought
I was going to come on just I got a
job and like what and I know, and I never
went home. I was supposed to go back two months later,
(11:51):
and then it was a year. It was a year
to the day before I went back to my original
ticket had expired. But yeah, I didn't know. I mean
it was like I didn't know what a grocery store
was called. I didn't know what its like. I just
didn't know anything or anyone. And it was it was intense.
It was an intense first few years, several for first
(12:14):
few years.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Well, and the show was so fun. What was it
like for you? I imagine it's kind of a seesaw
the culture shock and having to learn so quickly, but also,
you know, in a way having your dream come true
and being on you know, the show that's it's a
big hit. It's hilarious, people love it. You know, could
you enjoy it or was it just a total whirlwind
(12:37):
the first season?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
I think it was everything it was, you know, it
was a year without any any one that I was
used to, you know, like you have all your best friends,
and you have your parents or whoever like your loved ones,
and then suddenly you're doing this thing and it's amazing
and you get to you Yeah, you have you have
(13:01):
this thing in front of you that you've always wanted.
But at the same time, it's you know that there's
a sacrifice that comes with that. Yeah, And I think
just the culture shock also was a big thing for
me at the time. You know, it's I know, you
know obviously, I mean, I'm born in Australia. We speak
the same English language here and there, but we don't
(13:25):
because culturally things are really different. And it was just
a matter of sort of getting used to that and
trying to find friends and connect with people. And when
you're young, or when you're that I mean, I'm not
sure if there was any twenty four year old to
like super and know who they are and you know
you and you can you have good judgment of character
(13:49):
or whatever, but you know, it's a process and when
you're that young, so and it was a real process.
I remember feeling like it was probably a good like
for the whole run of the show. The show ran
for five years, and I remember feeling like it took
me the whole time and beyond to really like truly
sort of start to find like my people and have
(14:13):
true connections that felt like they were going to last
for a while. And I think also primarily because back then,
you know, when you're on a network show, you're working
the craziest hours. And that was I think that was
the biggest shock, is just how many hours we would
spend there and work way into Saturday morning, yeah, and
(14:37):
kind of get up on Monday at the same time
that you had gone to bed on Saturday. Yeah, for
nine months out of a year. And it was like,
you know, it's just a lot. It was a lot,
but there's just so many of the feelings. There's so
many things.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, and now a word from our sponsors who make
this show possible. I talked about this with a friend
of mine recently because I realized that, you know, from
the time I didn't go to my senior year in
(15:15):
college to the first time I'd come home for any
real amount of time, it had been almost fifteen years
of being on location.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
And I said, you know, in the one sense, I
cherish being able to do this job that I love,
and on the other it's really hard to constantly be
the person who has to play catch up with everyone
in your life because nobody's awake at four am when
you're going to work and most people aren't awake at
eleven pm. When you're going home and you do, you
(15:48):
just sort of disappear and you're grateful, but there's a
there's a loss, and there's a grieving that comes with
it that I think nobody's really wanted to hear about,
because there's this notion of like, well, you're so privileged
and you're so lucky, and it's not that those things
aren't true. It's just that there's this other side of
the coin that has been unacknowledged for so long. And
(16:10):
it isn't lost on me that you got settled here
and you know, you worked on this job here having
to move and then you know, I think about you
having to go to Canada to do Handmaids and like, again,
you had to move. Was it a weird readjust or
did you did you sort of feel like you were
more practiced as a person having to pick up and
(16:34):
leave and get settled in a whole new place again.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
This feels like it's been my life the entire time
that I've been here in the States. It's been like
an ongoing moving around, you know, from you know, shooting
something in New Orleans at one point to you know, Broadway,
New York, shooting this other thing Vancouver, and you know,
and it usually and if it's a show, you know
(17:00):
you're in You're in the place for you know, five
six months I think there. I mean, we used to
shoot a lot more stuff in LA. That was when
I did Chuck, my first gig. And then also I
think did I did Dexter in l A. But other
than that, I'm pretty sure just about everything else has
been not in LA. So I'm well well adjusted to
(17:23):
like doing this whole travel thing. The only difference now
is that I have three kids. So I'm at this
point i think in my life slash career where I'm
trying to figure out how long this can go on
for because because I'm getting into the into the age
(17:48):
range with my eldest. He's in grade one here, so
his first Grade one experience is Canada. Yeah, it's not
home where we live. And and he because and because
he and like my all my kids have been with
me and we sort of travel as a family, you know,
it all together. And all three of them as babies
(18:08):
have come to work with me. They come to the trailer,
you know, so I can be nursing were they're really
used to the changing of locations, and they understand that
our family is also spread apart, because you know, family
in Australia, Poland, America, it's a whole thing, and so
they kind of get get it. But I do know
that there will come a point with my eldest first,
(18:31):
I'm sure where you know, he's not going to want
to do that anymore. He's gonna want to stay, gonna
want to have his friends, and it's going to be
a readjust. So it's very much on my on my mind.
Now you know, this whole gypsy life that I've been
doing for almost two decades is you know, there's going
to be a readjust And yeah, it's ever changing.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
It's wild, and there's that personal side of it. And
then I guess I'm I'm so curious about the sort
of individual personal to professional because not to you know,
we're all exhausted by it. I don't want to get
in the weeds of politics, but it's not lost on me. Also,
what you had said that the bookend of Handmaids is
(19:18):
the beginning and this last season are occurring at very
odd times politically, what is sort of the most challenging
part for you about playing a character like Serena Joy,
which was going to be my question anyway. And then
I guess I wonder how you're navigating the sort of
(19:38):
intersection of your work as a performer as it relates
to the larger landscape of the world. Does it make
it harder in a way to leave work at work,
or does it make the work feel more important than ever?
Or maybe it's a little bit of both.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Oh yeah, you know, back when I first started the job,
I never imagined how significant the show would become in
the political space, nor did I ever consider myself to
be politically articulate in any way, shape or form. But
(20:17):
you know, it's it goes hand in hand. I mean,
the show and the and the politics and what it represents.
I mean, it's unavoidable. I never imagined, you know, what
I would I didn't understand the scope of the character
either or what it would go, you know, beyond the book,
what we've done with Serena, what the writers of Britain,
(20:37):
what I've you know, the places I've gone to in
these scenes. I remember feeling super uncomfortable with a lot
of it at the beginning. Obviously, the ceremony scenes were
probably the hardest, and I felt and it felt icky,
and then you know, and then I got used to it,
and we you know, we have you know, work is
like any other kind of a fun workplace. We go,
(20:59):
we tell jokes, it's light, it's not you know, it's
not a serious set outside of what we're doing between
action and cot and and then you know, and I
started to really enjoy what this character and I mean,
what was on offer in terms of the scenes and
what I've been able to do just as a performer,
(21:20):
and how amazing. You know, these scenes just push you
to the limits of all the gray areas of humanity
and sort of trying to justify how this woman operates
and whatever. And obviously she's kind of like, you know,
over here, like this weird best friend but not best
friend in my life. And and then, you know, the
(21:43):
other day, I just didn't want to be in her
shoes anymore. I just remember thinking, God, it was such
a hard day. I just didn't want to be the
person representing her anymore, even though I am and I
will and I do it proudly, I do it with
you know, because she's in a way, she's kind of
(22:05):
like you know, one of my creative babies, and I
am excited to see this through to the end because
of what you know it all represents and stuff. But
it's I was like thrown back into that first season
and then some kind of just like thinking, who it
(22:29):
was a hard day to sort of get it together.
It was probably the first and only time in the
last twenty years that I've come to set and not
been able to get through a rehearsal or a blocking
and just was just going through all the things.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Yeah, well, that's the thing. These containers are reflective of
the human experience. And I think the most incredible thing
about film or television is it can create a container
for conversation or catharsis or learning, and it's a it's
(23:07):
a big container to be in in the present moment.
And you know, when I think about the the dystopian
world that at would created in The Handmaid's Tale and
this conversation about you know, women and our bodies being
the property and objects of men, I think there was
(23:31):
a time where we thought, oh, we've passed that, and
then we've we've been dragged back, kicking and screaming, and
suddenly this dystopian tail feels like a reality. And I
don't know. I wish I could give you a hug, Like,
how are you not supposed to have a terrible day
(23:51):
when that? I don't know if the word is like
comes to roost or what, But I can't imagine how
you could not have at least a day like that
at work dealing with this as a woman and a mother,
and it's a lot, it's a lot to carry. How
are you taking care of yourself in the midst of it?
Like not to be a you know, to sound like
(24:13):
a wellness girly, but I'm like, what is your self
care routine? Are you okay? Can I send you cookies? Like?
What's going on?
Speaker 2 (24:21):
I don't think there is. I mean, I don't really
have what self care routine? Oh my god, I have
no time for that. But I know it was one
of those days where I just thought, I mean, I
just was like, I am going to give myself permission
to just be messy today because I show up at
work every day, you know, and I do my thing,
and I've been doing this for so long. I'm going
(24:42):
to have one one messy day out of the twenty
years that I've been doing this. And I just sort of,
I mean, I think that was the self care is
just to allow for that to happen. And you know,
we have women, a lot of women on set, and
that was also part of it. I think everyone was
deep deep funk. And I know we had a couple
(25:04):
of people come to sit that weren't even working that
day just because we had to. We just had to
you know, sit around and chat and you know, cry
and do all the things we needed to do. You know. Interestingly,
I have my my whole family lives in Poland except
for my parents, and they just had went through a
(25:27):
similar kind of a thing about a year ago. It's
my twenty two year old cousin is living with us
right now, helping me with my kids, and she was
she came to work with me, and they're they're living
that right now, you know, the women's rights. Ah, they're
living it and and and it's just it's kind of
(25:48):
interesting having her here because you know, they're they're already
in that space and we are sort of I think, well,
God knows what's going to happen. We can all imagine,
but yeah, it's yeah, it's just a bit, it's it
feels icky and I don't know. I was sort of
(26:10):
in a conversation also the other day about someone who
was trying to sort of stay positive and have hope,
and although I do have hope and for various reasons whatever,
but I wasn't ready for that conversation either.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
No, yeah, you're like, give me a beat, okay, because
I would imagine it was Again, I don't want to project,
but I just empathetically, I imagine it was tough to
do season five knowing it was coming out after the
fall of.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Row and now season six is your final season and
we're we're back here. Does it does it feel sort
of sad as a performer to say, oh, I wish
this shadow wasn't over this last moment with this wonderful
(26:57):
group of people I work with, or does it kind
of make you feel relieved that you're almost done having
to be in the world of this, you know, cinematic universe. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
I mean, to be honest, I do I feel relieved
that we're almost done. But I'm also I'm also sort
of in awe and just I cannot believe how aligned
this show has been just over the course of its time.
It's it's as if the writers have had a magical
crystal ball, but they haven't obviously, but it is insane
(27:33):
how they will write stuff and then that very thing
will become very prominent in the news or something, you know,
various things, and it's just been really wild to what
it's it's I mean, it's kind of like it was
meant to be if you believe in you know, based
and destiny and the universe sort of providing a platform
(27:56):
of sorts. But it does really feel that way.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Yeah, I'm like, if your writers have the crystal ball
or their pen is weirdly predictive, can they write us
a really heroic ending class and thank you? Yeah, and
now a word from our sponsors. Well, aside from all
(28:23):
of this, how do you feel like the show has
you know, impacted the trajectory of your career? Has it
been an incredible place just to learn and glean? I mean,
I think about the folks you work with and the writers,
and you know, even to be with Bradley Whitford and
his you know, incredible sort of iconic career. It appears
(28:48):
that in every direction there's amazing teammates for you and
now you know you're starring in and executive producing Teacup
on Peacock, which, by the way, it's terrifying. I watched
the first episode. I was like, I don't do horror
for a reason. And here I am, and I am
a fan of yours, and We're gonna do this interview
and I'm gonna watch the thing, and I was like,
(29:09):
I'm have nightmares. The suspense in the show is so good,
and the and the dynamics between these characters feel so
rich and real. You know, has working on a show
like Handmaids influenced the way you you run your sets?
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Now? Yeah? I definitely. You know, Handmaids was sort of
I think where I was inspired you. So many of
my costmates, if not all of them, do things other
than just act, you know, like Ot did, made his
(29:47):
you know, made a television show. He wrote it, he
was in it, he directed it, sold it to Hulu.
You know, Max is directing. I mean, there's just a
bunch of we have such an amazing group, and I
I remember thinking, Wow, this is really inspiring. And alongside
sort of this movement, if we should call it that
(30:10):
that has finally started to celebrate women in this space
and female cinematographers and female directors and it feels like
we're finally sort of going and exploring this area and
seeing other actresses who I don't even know, but seeing
them sort of go and do other things and direct
(30:31):
and take charge of they're greater creative dreams. And so,
you know, looking at all of that and what I
used to do back in the day in Australia with
my own little theater company, and you know how creative
that was, I just thought, Wow, I really I need
to do that too. And so it was during the
(30:53):
pandemic really when we were here in Toronto shooting Handmaids,
that I thought, you know, I'm going to start planning
all these seas to to branch out and start getting
into this creative process, which led me into you know,
optioning a book called a Woman of Intelligence, which you know,
that's going to be another project that I'm that I'll
(31:15):
ep that I'm in development for right now, and teacup
and even just last year waking up in the middle
of the night and and sort of deciding I'm going
to do a short film and I'm going to film
in three weeks and just you know, writing that, directing it,
and just getting into that space of creativity has been
really rewarding, and it's it is really inspiring to see
(31:39):
people doing that all around and being really good at it.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
That's so cool. Can you tell the folks at home
what Teacup is about?
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Well, Teacup is a horror, much more horror than I
originally thought it was going to be a series about. Well.
I play a woman called Maggie, Maggie channaw With and
she has a husband and two kids, and they live
on a farm in Georgia, and they are, you know,
(32:11):
a regular ordinary family until weird stuff starts happening on
the farm and they end up sort of getting contained
to the farm by this. I guess you could call
it a force of some kind that they cannot explain.
And so the show sort of follows the characters trying
(32:31):
to figure out what is going on, and it gets
pretty gruesome at point at some points with a pretty
banging ending. And my favorite element of the show, and
what got me interested in the first place, is the
sort of the family relationships and the character part of it,
because I love the fact that you know, Scott Speedman
(32:54):
plays my husband James, and straight in the pilot you
understand that you know he's had an affair. He's done
something bad, and they're already at odds with each other
and they're hiding it from the kids, and there's a
great amount of tension just kind of going into it
already emotionally, which is really fun as a performer to
sort of start there. Yeah, and then the rest of
(33:16):
it unfolds.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
So yeah, it's really exciting. In the pilot, that first
scene with you and the actress who plays his mom,
I just thought, God, this is so well written because
the audience hasn't had it explained what he's done, but
you have a hunch and you don't talk about it.
(33:40):
You just say it's not you that I'm mad at,
or whatever that version of the line is. And I
was like, Oh, it's just so it's so good and
smart because it lets us, it lets us begin solving
a mystery right away before we even know what the
mystery of the show is. You know, there's a mystery
in the house, and it's just very, very exciting, and
(34:02):
it's really fun to see your your touch on it.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Yeah, it's it sets the scene for sure for this
distrust that ends up occurring, like in spades because of
the horror element, but we already have this emotional element.
I mean, I just I really love the character act.
I mean, all episodes are now up and available, but
I still I'm not going to do any spoilers because
that but certainly there the journey of the character at
(34:28):
the end, just going back into like her relationship with
her husband and what that means and what she has
to do in the end, there's a lot of sort
of tough decisions that she makes and she sort of
ends up becoming this warrior woman. And it was and
it was super fun, like the last two episodes, just
(34:49):
in terms of an emotional challenge and what we had
to do through was was really exciting for me. And
certainly handmade sets of really high bar when it comes
to emotional drama. So this was this was really really
meeting the mark.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
I thought, you know, yeah, what feels really important to you?
What's sort of the central force when you're choosing the
projects that you want to work on. Do you gravitate
towards certain types of stories and roles or is the
goal to always have each feel completely different than the last.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
I do like everything to feel different, for sure, But
I think if I had to pick one thing that
was the main thing, it would be some kind of weird,
complex emotional journey that is kind of left of center.
(35:47):
I just I find it, really I find humanity fascinating.
I find psychology fascinating. I find the gray area fascinating.
Like all the things that like I'm I'm the girl
that's there, the debrief that goes to four o'clock in
the morning with you know whoever who is up for that,
and just like touching on every aspect of whatever the
(36:09):
conversation is about, and debriefing until you know there's nothing
left a debrief about. I love that stuff. I just
find it absolutely fascinating. And how we operate as humans
and what influences us each individually to behave a certain
way or to react in certain ways to others and
(36:32):
circumstances that make us react in to I just think
it's absolutely fascinating. So when you get a character, I
mean someone like Serena Joy, I mean that's like intense
and amazing or even you know, I did this thing
once called Stateless about a woman who ended up in
a detention center who it is just like fast, she
(36:54):
was so fascinating and complex. And then or a character
facing intensely complex decisions like Maggie and Teacup. I just
that's sort of probably the biggest, the biggest thing that
I look for. But having said that, I also would
really love to do something funny me too, just because
(37:15):
you know, maybe I need to be done a little
bit with like that kind of stuff. So you know,
maybe maybe the next thing is just something just totally
random and bar fetched in the other direction.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
Sign me up. I think we all could use a
little bit of humor at the moment. Yes, for sure,
What where does a woman of intelligence fall? Is it
also quite serious? Can you give us a little overview
of what it's like to adapt a novel and dig
into something like that?
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Yeah, I mean it's definitely a drama for sure. But
having said that, the woman, I mean, it's about this
amazing woman who's a mother of two young children and
she loves being she loves her kids, but she's not
the best at being a mom. And it's set in
I mean, this is interesting because it's set in fifties
(38:09):
New York when it was rare that women worked. But
our main character actually is she speaks many languages and
she works for the United Nations, and so she has
this job, and she meets this guy, and the guy
wants to celebrate her for everything she has and tells
her that if we have kids, sure you're going to
keep working and you can have your life and you know,
(38:30):
be fabulous and whatever. And then that doesn't happen, and
so and so she feels changed to this home with
these two young children. He's a pediatric surgeon, so he
insists that she stay home and nurse them untill they're
seventy five and all the things, and she ends up
getting approached by the FBI to work for them and
(38:56):
spy on her old flame from college who is our KGB.
So there's all these sort of tie ins. I feel like,
just in terms of what I loved about it, aside
from the fact that it's an incredibly dense, rich novel
filled with amazing storylines and characters, but it's the themes
about women and what it meant back then to be
a woman, and how you had to present yourself as
(39:20):
a mother, you know, as a daughter in law, a
working woman, which was where at the time, you know,
all the things. I love all of that in the
parallels to now, as well as the political landscape of
that time period and how it reflects back to us
in the now. So, yeah, that's sort of where that
(39:42):
that is or I guess I just told you the
whole storyline of that, not that you asked.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
It's really exciting. And when do we get to see it?
Speaker 2 (39:51):
As early days we're very much like sort of in
development right now writing scripts.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Yeah, you can't wait. Yeah, that sounds like an absolute dream.
And you know so many of these women, regardless of timeline,
are not only dealing with their individual identities, but as
you've said, they're shaped by motherhood in one way or another.
(40:17):
What is it sort of like for you? I mean,
you've got three young boys. All their work is you know,
behind you on the wall right now we're seeing obviously
cars is big in your house too. How you mentioned
earlier that you understand, you know, you're sort of prepping
(40:38):
for when being mobile in the way our jobs require
is not necessarily going to be as easy. How do
you navigate it? And yes, I know the irony that
the men never get asked this question, but I am
always quite fascinated by the women that I know who
do all of it. You know you're wearing every hat.
(41:03):
How how have you integrated this into your career at large.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
Yeah, it's the million dollar question, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (41:14):
No pressure?
Speaker 2 (41:15):
I mean, you know if I'm I mean, I'm super honest.
There's not a day that goes by where I'm not
really actively wondering how on earth am I going to
do this? And somehow I'm doing it. But I'm also
every day wandering, gosh, what are we going to I'm
already you know. The other yesterday, I me and my
husband were having a conversation of like, well, what are
(41:35):
we doing after Canada? Are we going home? Are we
We don't know yet what where we're going based on
my work, and so it's just kind of I don't
it's a massive it's a massive juggle. I don't know
that I have it figured out sort of in theory.
(41:56):
I don't know that I've ever to explain it. I
just know that it's working. I don't think it for
sure wouldn't be possible without my extraordinary husband, who is
at home with the kids when I'm at work. And
so that's I mean, we kind of have a traditional
role of all Darren, you know, so I'm the one
(42:21):
that goes to work and he stays but I you know,
if I if I could be one hundred percent stay
at home mom, that's that's sort of my goal. I
want to feel like I'm one hundred percent a stay
at home mom, so I'm present with my kids because
it's so important to me to create the time. But
(42:41):
I also I also love what I do, and I
and I want to do what I do, and I
support my family, and so I have to balance it.
I think the only way that right now, and how
I've been justifying that is that it's sort of fifty fifty.
So for the times where I'm intensely at work, there's
(43:04):
an equal amount of time where I haven't been at work,
and I have been that version of the stay at
home mom one hundred percent of the time that I
want to be as well. And it's just it's one
of those things that you can't map out. It's because
of how crazy actors' schedules are and how crazy it
is that you know you're supposed to be here, there, everywhere,
(43:24):
and there's only one of you. How we balance it
is it's just kind of a case by case on
a day to day thing, you know, and a lot
of it comes down to just my partner and I
how we juggle it together and how we sort of
hand you know, past the baton on each time and
(43:48):
givvy it up. So yeah, it's I remember being fascinated
by this too with other actresses before I had kids.
I remember when I did Stateless with Kate Blanchett, and
I know she has a bunch of kids, and I
remember asking her like, how on earth do you do this?
Because I didn't understand it either, And lo and behold,
(44:10):
I found myself in a similar with three. I mean,
she has four, I think kids by three, and I
never thought I would have that many kids even, you know,
And it's this struggle, but yeah, it's an ongoing thing.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
Yeah, and now a word from our wonderful sponsors. But
I think what's really amazing is that people are talking
to each other about it. And you know, I don't
(44:45):
think it's taboo to say I love my job and
I don't want to give it up, and I love
my family and I want to be with them as
much as I can. And that requires sacrifice in both directions,
and it requires a full village. Like that's reality. And
I think the more we can kind of let each
(45:08):
other in on it instead of like keep it a
secret like inside Baseball, the better, you know. A friend
of mine said to me, She was like, yeah, you
can have it all, you just can't have it all
at the same time. Yeah, and I thought, you know what,
it's the simplest way I've ever heard anybody talk about it.
And then you just made me feel a lot better.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
Yeah. Yeah, kind of amazing. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's
it's about prioritizing and really kind of I don't know.
I don't even know. I don't know. I don't know
how to answer that. What is the best I'm just
trying to make it work. I'm like everybody else. I'm
just trying to make it work. I don't have the answers.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
It's like you guys got to do it.
Speaker 1 (45:49):
You just have to do what he's just doing the
best way I can.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Well, you're on this precipice of so many exciting things,
you know, the bittersweetness of a project that's about to
wrap after six seasons, the new show is out, You're
developing this book that sounds absolutely amazing. You know, the
kiddos are flourishing. It's a I would imagine it can
(46:14):
feel really exciting to look forward, despite who knows what
it means. Where do you go, where do you move?
What feels like the work in progress for you as
you kind of look out at what's to come over
the next year, the work in progress.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
I think it's really allowing myself the thoughtful time and
space to create, like the next two decades, you know,
create it whatever, like make it so that it's how
(46:58):
I truly really want to to be. So it's not
it's not like other people telling me I should do something,
or you know, being heavily influenced whatever. I just feel
like there's I've come to a point in my life,
(47:18):
probably when I turned forty, where I realized I probably
sort of got to know myself the most that I've
ever gotten to know myself in a really huge way.
And I think kind of looking back at the last
twenty years and realizing that perhaps some of those career
(47:39):
decisions or even life decisions on a personal level, weren't
my own own, that they were navigated maybe not necessarily
by me and solely me. I think the next two
decades I would like for it to be a different
kind of a journey where I'm really focusing on what
(48:03):
I want, what I prioritize, and also what brings me joy.
I've just kind of like worked my ass off, which
is great. Here I am in this amazing moment, ending
an amazing TV show and starting all this other stuff.
I don't think I would have got here without working
my ass off. But I also I don't want to
work my ass off anymore. In that same way, I
(48:25):
want to do it for things that I don't know
that are that are really special and meaningful that kind
of take me back to my roots. I just feel
like I'm sort of entering this space where I want
to honor honor where I came from in a weird way.
And I'm not even sure if I'm articulating this in
the best way, but just that old version of me
(48:47):
that used to create and had the theater company and
made all the things, and kind of get back into
that version of myself married to the discoveries that I've
made where I've landed now in my forties and kind
of go from there and create that space.
Speaker 1 (49:09):
I love that. I think it's wonderful and I I
don't know every woman that I speak to lately who's
kind of in our you know, peer group who's at
this stage feels that like, oh, I want it's like
a sharper focus that's deeper and yeah, and and more
(49:36):
more in one's own control. And I think that's really beautiful. Yes,
definitely more, really exciting. Yes, And I can't wait to
see what's next. I can't wait just to watch everything.
I'm gonna have to keep watching this show now because
it's very good. Even the horror and I don't get along,
(49:58):
so I agree with you have to talk about it,
and hopefully we'll find a comedy to do so.
Speaker 2 (50:03):
Hopefully. I'm not I'm in a groom with I'm not
a horror person anymore. I used to be, but I'm not.
I'm not a horror person and I've ended up in
a horror show. Yeh. But yeah, it's yeah, it's it's
a fun one.
Speaker 1 (50:14):
It's definitely really it's really very good. Thank you so
much for coming on today.
Speaker 2 (50:20):
Well, thanks for having me. This was really fun.
Speaker 1 (50:22):
It's lovely
Hi everyone, It's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Hi friends,
Welcome back to Work in Progress. This week, we are
joined by a true multi hyphenete powerhouse artist who I
(00:24):
have been a fan of forever. I'm talking since the
early days of her comedy on NBC Chuck to Dexter
to twenty four. She is just an absolute icon and
has certainly taken the world by storm in The Handmaid's Tale.
Ivanstrotowski is here today to talk about what it feels
(00:45):
like to be finishing such a seminal series that has
had such an incredible impact on culture, potentially unfortunately has
been a bit predictive. We're going to talk about what
it's like to balance working on something that is so
(01:05):
heavy while also seeing it reflected in the world where
she finds her joy. How she balances motherhood with being
a star of a show of this size and also
adapting a best selling novel and starring in an executive
producing another series, Peacock's newest horror show called Teacup, which
(01:26):
I watched in advance of this interview, and I can
confirm it is both incredible and terrifying. I truly just
can't wait to ask von how she manages to do
it all, and what's up next for her. Let's dive in. Hello,
(01:51):
Oh hi, how are you?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I'm cool? How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I'm really well? Thanks? Where do I find you today?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I'm in to our wolves look so similar, except I
was just going to say classier than well mine is?
My kids are I'm.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Not so sweet? How are things in Toronto?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
They're good? Yeah, they're good. You know, it's a little
weird being here right now post selection.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I bet, yeah, I'm super complicated.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That's a little weird. I remember this feeling. You know,
I was here one other time when the same thing happened. Yeah,
so its just I don't know, Yeah, it's it's it's
just a little weird. It's a little weird being here
on the show and playing the role I know. So yeah,
but are we're finishing up you know, season six of
(02:50):
the show, and that's it?
Speaker 1 (02:51):
What a trip?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Well, let's instead of sitting where we are, let's rewind.
I Actually we always really like to ask people because
you know, I sit opposite someone like you who is
just like, I don't even know what word I want
to pick first. Incredible, accomplished, brilliant, you're such an amazing performer.
(03:14):
You've done all of these incredible projects that we love,
and we all know you now, but I always like
to kind of understand or poke and see if you
got to hang out with your childhood self, Like if
we went, you know, into the space time continuum and
you got to meet eight year old Yvonne on the playground,
(03:37):
would you see yourself and your career, Like would you
see the through line in her? Or did life just
take a left turn and you can't believe this is
where you are?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Oh? Yeah, no that I would definitely see the through line.
You know. I'm experiencing this with my six year old
right now. He's like starting to do these Like I
was the kid that was like, look at me, I'm
going to heads, I'm going to win a weagh everyone
at the dinner party so that someone will like watch
me do stuff. And I'm seeing that in my eldest son.
(04:10):
And you know, he wanted to get he wanted not
a real guitar, like a play guitar for his birthday,
and he got one. And now he's like running around
the house kind of doing all these like he's just
making up songs and it's very loud and very funny,
and I'm just I'm looking at him like what you're saying,
(04:30):
like the kid in the park, Like would I recognize that.
I'm looking at him and thinking, oh my god, like
that was me. That was that was what I used
to do. And anyway, I don't know, obviously there's no
way to know, you know, whether he's going to end
up in the same space, but certainly, certainly at that age,
or I mean probably a little bit later when I
(04:52):
was about twelve, I kind of that was kind of
when I was like, yeah, I need to be an actress.
I just kind of had it in my head. Wo
that was what I wanted to do, and I had
been doing it probably since then.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, how did that begin for you back in Australia?
Were there like was there a local theater company or
were there shows you were watching where you saw other
kids and you thought, oh, I'm I'm going to do that.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I you know, we grew in Australia or you know,
at that time, we were very saturated with American TV
shows and programming, and so I think there was you know,
there was just some you know, like the crappy community
hall down the road, was doing you know, acting classes,
and my best friend and I signed up. We would
(05:39):
just like it was like, you know, you play charades,
you do drama games, yeah, and you're a kid in
and where I just remember we would take over the
class because we had this whole charade ship that we knew, like,
you know, we know the answer in one one second
as soon as one of us would do the thing.
And so that's kind of where it started. And then
and then I just sort of ended up in every
(05:59):
school play or musical imaginable that I could get my
hands on, to the point where I was I just
didn't have time to do anything else. I just kind
of wanted to be in everything and do everything. So
it was kind of, I guess it was a very
saturated natural progression kind of going from high school into
(06:23):
you know with all the plays and stuff, and then
going into university where I did, you know, the drama
degree was very practical and theater based and whatever. And
then I ended up starting a you know, a little
theater company with a friend of mine from from drama school.
So we would you know, she's her name's Anna, and
(06:44):
she's finished, and she would have these finish plays that
she liked from Finland, and we would adapt them to
an Australian audience and them and produce them and cost
them and do all this stuff. And then that didn't
last very long because the next thing, you know, I
ended up in the States. And that was when I
was I was twenty four, and now it's been almost
(07:07):
two decades wow, since that moment.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So what was it that brought you to the US
so quickly? I assume, you know, beginning of theater company
is a pretty big undertaking. So was it something that
you booked or was it someone who said you've got
to come here and start getting on the scene and auditioning.
What was the move like for you?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
It was it was totally random. I mean not totally random.
I was you know, I was dating a guy at
the time, and there was a bunch of Ossie actors
who had this movie who had gotten into Tiff at
the time, and they were all going and they were
either we were at the pub one night and they
were saying, you know, you should come with us, and
you know, tried tried to get some meetings in America,
(07:53):
and I remember, oh, you know, I had terrible skin
at the time. I had really bad acne on my face,
and I thought, oh, I don't know, like I probably,
you know, I don't know if anyone's gonna, you know,
want me there, but you know, okay, I'll give it
a go. And so I went with them, and I
remember having my Australian agent at the time pushed me
(08:16):
to go. She said, you should, you should do this,
and she had set me up with these five meetings.
I got rejected from four out of the five agents
and managers whoever I met with at the time, and
the only people who wanted to work with me were
these two women managers who I still work with to
this day, and the rest.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Are kicking themselves.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Maybe but anyway. So yeah, So I remember that was
like a two week trip and then I remember it
was the end of two thousand and six. I came
back home for Christmas, I got my tonsils out, and
then I finished a small guest job role in Australia
and I got back on a plane to do you know,
(09:04):
pilot season at the time in two thousand and seven.
Back then, we had you know that pilot season thing going. Yeah,
but I was late to the pilot season because I
was on this other job in Australia, and so I
was auditioning like self taping before self taping was a thing,
and I was sending over tapes, one of which was
(09:26):
for the show Chuck on NBC. And so the day
that I actually landed in the States was the day
they saw my tape and the day they called and
said we want her to test the next day at
the network and the studio. And I didn't know what
was going on. I had no clue how the business worked.
I didn't know what a test was. I didn't know
(09:48):
why I would be meeting all of the executives at
NBC and Warner Brothers. And then literally I went and
did this test and then I remember my you He's
coming out shaking my hand at the network and saying,
you know, congratulations, You've got the job, and I, you know,
my head exploded, and then that was kind of it was.
(10:11):
It was so quick, and so I just hadn't wrapped
my head around any of it.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yeah, Oh my gosh, it's so it really is so crazy,
and I think people don't know the swiftness with which
your whole life changes, Like you landed and then you
had to stay here. I remember doing the callback for
(10:37):
my test for One Tree Hill and I was in
college and then suddenly they were like, you're moving to
North Carolina in twelve days. And I had to call
my university and be like, I'm not coming and tell
my roommate I wasn't coming and she had to find
a new roommate, and I was so stressed out for her.
I was like, who are you going to live with?
Like all of these things that now they seem so
(11:00):
funny to me, but you're just there, you go figure
it out, pack your staff.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, yeah, it's it's exactly that, and the sort of
like unprepared, You're unprepared, You're you're you're young, like I
was so young, and I yeah. I literally remember pulling
over on Bob Hope Drive in Burbank in my like
really crappy rental car. I don't know how they rented
(11:29):
out cars back then. There was like these like one
rental company that all the Australians used to go to
in Losienaga and we would, you know, get the cars.
And I called my parents in Australia and told them
I wasn't coming home at the time that I thought
I was going to come on just I got a
job and like what and I know, and I never
went home. I was supposed to go back two months later,
(11:51):
and then it was a year. It was a year
to the day before I went back to my original
ticket had expired. But yeah, I didn't know. I mean
it was like I didn't know what a grocery store
was called. I didn't know what its like. I just
didn't know anything or anyone. And it was it was intense.
It was an intense first few years, several for first
(12:14):
few years.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Well, and the show was so fun. What was it
like for you? I imagine it's kind of a seesaw
the culture shock and having to learn so quickly, but also,
you know, in a way having your dream come true
and being on you know, the show that's it's a
big hit. It's hilarious, people love it. You know, could
you enjoy it or was it just a total whirlwind
(12:37):
the first season?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
I think it was everything it was, you know, it
was a year without any any one that I was
used to, you know, like you have all your best friends,
and you have your parents or whoever like your loved ones,
and then suddenly you're doing this thing and it's amazing
and you get to you Yeah, you have you have
(13:01):
this thing in front of you that you've always wanted.
But at the same time, it's you know that there's
a sacrifice that comes with that. Yeah, And I think
just the culture shock also was a big thing for
me at the time. You know, it's I know, you
know obviously, I mean, I'm born in Australia. We speak
the same English language here and there, but we don't
(13:25):
because culturally things are really different. And it was just
a matter of sort of getting used to that and
trying to find friends and connect with people. And when
you're young, or when you're that I mean, I'm not
sure if there was any twenty four year old to
like super and know who they are and you know
you and you can you have good judgment of character
(13:49):
or whatever, but you know, it's a process and when
you're that young, so and it was a real process.
I remember feeling like it was probably a good like
for the whole run of the show. The show ran
for five years, and I remember feeling like it took
me the whole time and beyond to really like truly
sort of start to find like my people and have
(14:13):
true connections that felt like they were going to last
for a while. And I think also primarily because back then,
you know, when you're on a network show, you're working
the craziest hours. And that was I think that was
the biggest shock, is just how many hours we would
spend there and work way into Saturday morning, yeah, and
(14:37):
kind of get up on Monday at the same time
that you had gone to bed on Saturday. Yeah, for
nine months out of a year. And it was like,
you know, it's just a lot. It was a lot,
but there's just so many of the feelings. There's so
many things.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, and now a word from our sponsors who make
this show possible. I talked about this with a friend
of mine recently because I realized that, you know, from
the time I didn't go to my senior year in
(15:15):
college to the first time I'd come home for any
real amount of time, it had been almost fifteen years
of being on location.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
And I said, you know, in the one sense, I
cherish being able to do this job that I love,
and on the other it's really hard to constantly be
the person who has to play catch up with everyone
in your life because nobody's awake at four am when
you're going to work and most people aren't awake at
eleven pm. When you're going home and you do, you
(15:48):
just sort of disappear and you're grateful, but there's a
there's a loss, and there's a grieving that comes with
it that I think nobody's really wanted to hear about,
because there's this notion of like, well, you're so privileged
and you're so lucky, and it's not that those things
aren't true. It's just that there's this other side of
the coin that has been unacknowledged for so long. And
(16:10):
it isn't lost on me that you got settled here
and you know, you worked on this job here having
to move and then you know, I think about you
having to go to Canada to do Handmaids and like, again,
you had to move. Was it a weird readjust or
did you did you sort of feel like you were
more practiced as a person having to pick up and
(16:34):
leave and get settled in a whole new place again.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
This feels like it's been my life the entire time
that I've been here in the States. It's been like
an ongoing moving around, you know, from you know, shooting
something in New Orleans at one point to you know, Broadway,
New York, shooting this other thing Vancouver, and you know,
and it usually and if it's a show, you know
(17:00):
you're in You're in the place for you know, five
six months I think there. I mean, we used to
shoot a lot more stuff in LA. That was when
I did Chuck, my first gig. And then also I
think did I did Dexter in l A. But other
than that, I'm pretty sure just about everything else has
been not in LA. So I'm well well adjusted to
(17:23):
like doing this whole travel thing. The only difference now
is that I have three kids. So I'm at this
point i think in my life slash career where I'm
trying to figure out how long this can go on
for because because I'm getting into the into the age
(17:48):
range with my eldest. He's in grade one here, so
his first Grade one experience is Canada. Yeah, it's not
home where we live. And and he because and because
he and like my all my kids have been with
me and we sort of travel as a family, you know,
it all together. And all three of them as babies
(18:08):
have come to work with me. They come to the trailer,
you know, so I can be nursing were they're really
used to the changing of locations, and they understand that
our family is also spread apart, because you know, family
in Australia, Poland, America, it's a whole thing, and so
they kind of get get it. But I do know
that there will come a point with my eldest first,
(18:31):
I'm sure where you know, he's not going to want
to do that anymore. He's gonna want to stay, gonna
want to have his friends, and it's going to be
a readjust. So it's very much on my on my mind.
Now you know, this whole gypsy life that I've been
doing for almost two decades is you know, there's going
to be a readjust And yeah, it's ever changing.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
It's wild, and there's that personal side of it. And
then I guess I'm I'm so curious about the sort
of individual personal to professional because not to you know,
we're all exhausted by it. I don't want to get
in the weeds of politics, but it's not lost on me. Also,
what you had said that the bookend of Handmaids is
(19:18):
the beginning and this last season are occurring at very
odd times politically, what is sort of the most challenging
part for you about playing a character like Serena Joy,
which was going to be my question anyway. And then
I guess I wonder how you're navigating the sort of
(19:38):
intersection of your work as a performer as it relates
to the larger landscape of the world. Does it make
it harder in a way to leave work at work,
or does it make the work feel more important than ever?
Or maybe it's a little bit of both.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Oh yeah, you know, back when I first started the job,
I never imagined how significant the show would become in
the political space, nor did I ever consider myself to
be politically articulate in any way, shape or form. But
(20:17):
you know, it's it goes hand in hand. I mean,
the show and the and the politics and what it represents.
I mean, it's unavoidable. I never imagined, you know, what
I would I didn't understand the scope of the character
either or what it would go, you know, beyond the book,
what we've done with Serena, what the writers of Britain,
(20:37):
what I've you know, the places I've gone to in
these scenes. I remember feeling super uncomfortable with a lot
of it at the beginning. Obviously, the ceremony scenes were
probably the hardest, and I felt and it felt icky,
and then you know, and then I got used to it,
and we you know, we have you know, work is
like any other kind of a fun workplace. We go,
(20:59):
we tell jokes, it's light, it's not you know, it's
not a serious set outside of what we're doing between
action and cot and and then you know, and I
started to really enjoy what this character and I mean,
what was on offer in terms of the scenes and
what I've been able to do just as a performer,
(21:20):
and how amazing. You know, these scenes just push you
to the limits of all the gray areas of humanity
and sort of trying to justify how this woman operates
and whatever. And obviously she's kind of like, you know,
over here, like this weird best friend but not best
friend in my life. And and then, you know, the
(21:43):
other day, I just didn't want to be in her
shoes anymore. I just remember thinking, God, it was such
a hard day. I just didn't want to be the
person representing her anymore, even though I am and I
will and I do it proudly, I do it with
you know, because she's in a way, she's kind of
(22:05):
like you know, one of my creative babies, and I
am excited to see this through to the end because
of what you know it all represents and stuff. But
it's I was like thrown back into that first season
and then some kind of just like thinking, who it
(22:29):
was a hard day to sort of get it together.
It was probably the first and only time in the
last twenty years that I've come to set and not
been able to get through a rehearsal or a blocking
and just was just going through all the things.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Yeah, well, that's the thing. These containers are reflective of
the human experience. And I think the most incredible thing
about film or television is it can create a container
for conversation or catharsis or learning, and it's a it's
(23:07):
a big container to be in in the present moment.
And you know, when I think about the the dystopian
world that at would created in The Handmaid's Tale and
this conversation about you know, women and our bodies being
the property and objects of men, I think there was
(23:31):
a time where we thought, oh, we've passed that, and
then we've we've been dragged back, kicking and screaming, and
suddenly this dystopian tail feels like a reality. And I
don't know. I wish I could give you a hug, Like,
how are you not supposed to have a terrible day
(23:51):
when that? I don't know if the word is like
comes to roost or what, But I can't imagine how
you could not have at least a day like that
at work dealing with this as a woman and a mother,
and it's a lot, it's a lot to carry. How
are you taking care of yourself in the midst of it?
Like not to be a you know, to sound like
(24:13):
a wellness girly, but I'm like, what is your self
care routine? Are you okay? Can I send you cookies? Like?
What's going on?
Speaker 2 (24:21):
I don't think there is. I mean, I don't really
have what self care routine? Oh my god, I have
no time for that. But I know it was one
of those days where I just thought, I mean, I
just was like, I am going to give myself permission
to just be messy today because I show up at
work every day, you know, and I do my thing,
and I've been doing this for so long. I'm going
(24:42):
to have one one messy day out of the twenty
years that I've been doing this. And I just sort of,
I mean, I think that was the self care is
just to allow for that to happen. And you know,
we have women, a lot of women on set, and
that was also part of it. I think everyone was
deep deep funk. And I know we had a couple
(25:04):
of people come to sit that weren't even working that
day just because we had to. We just had to
you know, sit around and chat and you know, cry
and do all the things we needed to do. You know. Interestingly,
I have my my whole family lives in Poland except
for my parents, and they just had went through a
(25:27):
similar kind of a thing about a year ago. It's
my twenty two year old cousin is living with us
right now, helping me with my kids, and she was
she came to work with me, and they're they're living
that right now, you know, the women's rights. Ah, they're
living it and and and it's just it's kind of
(25:48):
interesting having her here because you know, they're they're already
in that space and we are sort of I think, well,
God knows what's going to happen. We can all imagine,
but yeah, it's yeah, it's just a bit, it's it
feels icky and I don't know. I was sort of
(26:10):
in a conversation also the other day about someone who
was trying to sort of stay positive and have hope,
and although I do have hope and for various reasons whatever,
but I wasn't ready for that conversation either.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
No, yeah, you're like, give me a beat, okay, because
I would imagine it was Again, I don't want to project,
but I just empathetically, I imagine it was tough to
do season five knowing it was coming out after the
fall of.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Row and now season six is your final season and
we're we're back here. Does it does it feel sort
of sad as a performer to say, oh, I wish
this shadow wasn't over this last moment with this wonderful
(26:57):
group of people I work with, or does it kind
of make you feel relieved that you're almost done having
to be in the world of this, you know, cinematic universe. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
I mean, to be honest, I do I feel relieved
that we're almost done. But I'm also I'm also sort
of in awe and just I cannot believe how aligned
this show has been just over the course of its time.
It's it's as if the writers have had a magical
crystal ball, but they haven't obviously, but it is insane
(27:33):
how they will write stuff and then that very thing
will become very prominent in the news or something, you know,
various things, and it's just been really wild to what
it's it's I mean, it's kind of like it was
meant to be if you believe in you know, based
and destiny and the universe sort of providing a platform
(27:56):
of sorts. But it does really feel that way.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Yeah, I'm like, if your writers have the crystal ball
or their pen is weirdly predictive, can they write us
a really heroic ending class and thank you? Yeah, and
now a word from our sponsors. Well, aside from all
(28:23):
of this, how do you feel like the show has
you know, impacted the trajectory of your career? Has it
been an incredible place just to learn and glean? I mean,
I think about the folks you work with and the writers,
and you know, even to be with Bradley Whitford and
his you know, incredible sort of iconic career. It appears
(28:48):
that in every direction there's amazing teammates for you and
now you know you're starring in and executive producing Teacup
on Peacock, which, by the way, it's terrifying. I watched
the first episode. I was like, I don't do horror
for a reason. And here I am, and I am
a fan of yours, and We're gonna do this interview
and I'm gonna watch the thing, and I was like,
(29:09):
I'm have nightmares. The suspense in the show is so good,
and the and the dynamics between these characters feel so
rich and real. You know, has working on a show
like Handmaids influenced the way you you run your sets?
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Now? Yeah? I definitely. You know, Handmaids was sort of
I think where I was inspired you. So many of
my costmates, if not all of them, do things other
than just act, you know, like Ot did, made his
(29:47):
you know, made a television show. He wrote it, he
was in it, he directed it, sold it to Hulu.
You know, Max is directing. I mean, there's just a
bunch of we have such an amazing group, and I
I remember thinking, Wow, this is really inspiring. And alongside
sort of this movement, if we should call it that
(30:10):
that has finally started to celebrate women in this space
and female cinematographers and female directors and it feels like
we're finally sort of going and exploring this area and
seeing other actresses who I don't even know, but seeing
them sort of go and do other things and direct
(30:31):
and take charge of they're greater creative dreams. And so,
you know, looking at all of that and what I
used to do back in the day in Australia with
my own little theater company, and you know how creative
that was, I just thought, Wow, I really I need
to do that too. And so it was during the
(30:53):
pandemic really when we were here in Toronto shooting Handmaids,
that I thought, you know, I'm going to start planning
all these seas to to branch out and start getting
into this creative process, which led me into you know,
optioning a book called a Woman of Intelligence, which you know,
that's going to be another project that I'm that I'll
(31:15):
ep that I'm in development for right now, and teacup
and even just last year waking up in the middle
of the night and and sort of deciding I'm going
to do a short film and I'm going to film
in three weeks and just you know, writing that, directing it,
and just getting into that space of creativity has been
really rewarding, and it's it is really inspiring to see
(31:39):
people doing that all around and being really good at it.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
That's so cool. Can you tell the folks at home
what Teacup is about?
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Well, Teacup is a horror, much more horror than I
originally thought it was going to be a series about. Well.
I play a woman called Maggie, Maggie channaw With and
she has a husband and two kids, and they live
on a farm in Georgia, and they are, you know,
(32:11):
a regular ordinary family until weird stuff starts happening on
the farm and they end up sort of getting contained
to the farm by this. I guess you could call
it a force of some kind that they cannot explain.
And so the show sort of follows the characters trying
(32:31):
to figure out what is going on, and it gets
pretty gruesome at point at some points with a pretty
banging ending. And my favorite element of the show, and
what got me interested in the first place, is the
sort of the family relationships and the character part of it,
because I love the fact that you know, Scott Speedman
(32:54):
plays my husband James, and straight in the pilot you
understand that you know he's had an affair. He's done
something bad, and they're already at odds with each other
and they're hiding it from the kids, and there's a
great amount of tension just kind of going into it
already emotionally, which is really fun as a performer to
sort of start there. Yeah, and then the rest of
(33:16):
it unfolds.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
So yeah, it's really exciting. In the pilot, that first
scene with you and the actress who plays his mom,
I just thought, God, this is so well written because
the audience hasn't had it explained what he's done, but
you have a hunch and you don't talk about it.
(33:40):
You just say it's not you that I'm mad at,
or whatever that version of the line is. And I
was like, Oh, it's just so it's so good and
smart because it lets us, it lets us begin solving
a mystery right away before we even know what the
mystery of the show is. You know, there's a mystery
in the house, and it's just very, very exciting, and
(34:02):
it's really fun to see your your touch on it.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Yeah, it's it sets the scene for sure for this
distrust that ends up occurring, like in spades because of
the horror element, but we already have this emotional element.
I mean, I just I really love the character act.
I mean, all episodes are now up and available, but
I still I'm not going to do any spoilers because
that but certainly there the journey of the character at
(34:28):
the end, just going back into like her relationship with
her husband and what that means and what she has
to do in the end, there's a lot of sort
of tough decisions that she makes and she sort of
ends up becoming this warrior woman. And it was and
it was super fun, like the last two episodes, just
(34:49):
in terms of an emotional challenge and what we had
to do through was was really exciting for me. And
certainly handmade sets of really high bar when it comes
to emotional drama. So this was this was really really
meeting the mark.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
I thought, you know, yeah, what feels really important to you?
What's sort of the central force when you're choosing the
projects that you want to work on. Do you gravitate
towards certain types of stories and roles or is the
goal to always have each feel completely different than the last.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
I do like everything to feel different, for sure, But
I think if I had to pick one thing that
was the main thing, it would be some kind of weird,
complex emotional journey that is kind of left of center.
(35:47):
I just I find it, really I find humanity fascinating.
I find psychology fascinating. I find the gray area fascinating.
Like all the things that like I'm I'm the girl
that's there, the debrief that goes to four o'clock in
the morning with you know whoever who is up for that,
and just like touching on every aspect of whatever the
(36:09):
conversation is about, and debriefing until you know there's nothing
left a debrief about. I love that stuff. I just
find it absolutely fascinating. And how we operate as humans
and what influences us each individually to behave a certain
way or to react in certain ways to others and
(36:32):
circumstances that make us react in to I just think
it's absolutely fascinating. So when you get a character, I
mean someone like Serena Joy, I mean that's like intense
and amazing or even you know, I did this thing
once called Stateless about a woman who ended up in
a detention center who it is just like fast, she
(36:54):
was so fascinating and complex. And then or a character
facing intensely complex decisions like Maggie and Teacup. I just
that's sort of probably the biggest, the biggest thing that
I look for. But having said that, I also would
really love to do something funny me too, just because
(37:15):
you know, maybe I need to be done a little
bit with like that kind of stuff. So you know,
maybe maybe the next thing is just something just totally
random and bar fetched in the other direction.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
Sign me up. I think we all could use a
little bit of humor at the moment. Yes, for sure,
What where does a woman of intelligence fall? Is it
also quite serious? Can you give us a little overview
of what it's like to adapt a novel and dig
into something like that?
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Yeah, I mean it's definitely a drama for sure. But
having said that, the woman, I mean, it's about this
amazing woman who's a mother of two young children and
she loves being she loves her kids, but she's not
the best at being a mom. And it's set in
I mean, this is interesting because it's set in fifties
(38:09):
New York when it was rare that women worked. But
our main character actually is she speaks many languages and
she works for the United Nations, and so she has
this job, and she meets this guy, and the guy
wants to celebrate her for everything she has and tells
her that if we have kids, sure you're going to
keep working and you can have your life and you know,
(38:30):
be fabulous and whatever. And then that doesn't happen, and
so and so she feels changed to this home with
these two young children. He's a pediatric surgeon, so he
insists that she stay home and nurse them untill they're
seventy five and all the things, and she ends up
getting approached by the FBI to work for them and
(38:56):
spy on her old flame from college who is our KGB.
So there's all these sort of tie ins. I feel like,
just in terms of what I loved about it, aside
from the fact that it's an incredibly dense, rich novel
filled with amazing storylines and characters, but it's the themes
about women and what it meant back then to be
a woman, and how you had to present yourself as
(39:20):
a mother, you know, as a daughter in law, a
working woman, which was where at the time, you know,
all the things. I love all of that in the
parallels to now, as well as the political landscape of
that time period and how it reflects back to us
in the now. So, yeah, that's sort of where that
(39:42):
that is or I guess I just told you the
whole storyline of that, not that you asked.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
It's really exciting. And when do we get to see it?
Speaker 2 (39:51):
As early days we're very much like sort of in
development right now writing scripts.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Yeah, you can't wait. Yeah, that sounds like an absolute dream.
And you know so many of these women, regardless of timeline,
are not only dealing with their individual identities, but as
you've said, they're shaped by motherhood in one way or another.
(40:17):
What is it sort of like for you? I mean,
you've got three young boys. All their work is you know,
behind you on the wall right now we're seeing obviously
cars is big in your house too. How you mentioned
earlier that you understand, you know, you're sort of prepping
(40:38):
for when being mobile in the way our jobs require
is not necessarily going to be as easy. How do
you navigate it? And yes, I know the irony that
the men never get asked this question, but I am
always quite fascinated by the women that I know who
do all of it. You know you're wearing every hat.
(41:03):
How how have you integrated this into your career at large.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
Yeah, it's the million dollar question, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (41:14):
No pressure?
Speaker 2 (41:15):
I mean, you know if I'm I mean, I'm super honest.
There's not a day that goes by where I'm not
really actively wondering how on earth am I going to
do this? And somehow I'm doing it. But I'm also
every day wandering, gosh, what are we going to I'm
already you know. The other yesterday, I me and my
husband were having a conversation of like, well, what are
(41:35):
we doing after Canada? Are we going home? Are we
We don't know yet what where we're going based on
my work, and so it's just kind of I don't
it's a massive it's a massive juggle. I don't know
that I have it figured out sort of in theory.
(41:56):
I don't know that I've ever to explain it. I
just know that it's working. I don't think it for
sure wouldn't be possible without my extraordinary husband, who is
at home with the kids when I'm at work. And
so that's I mean, we kind of have a traditional
role of all Darren, you know, so I'm the one
(42:21):
that goes to work and he stays but I you know,
if I if I could be one hundred percent stay
at home mom, that's that's sort of my goal. I
want to feel like I'm one hundred percent a stay
at home mom, so I'm present with my kids because
it's so important to me to create the time. But
(42:41):
I also I also love what I do, and I
and I want to do what I do, and I
support my family, and so I have to balance it.
I think the only way that right now, and how
I've been justifying that is that it's sort of fifty fifty.
So for the times where I'm intensely at work, there's
(43:04):
an equal amount of time where I haven't been at work,
and I have been that version of the stay at
home mom one hundred percent of the time that I
want to be as well. And it's just it's one
of those things that you can't map out. It's because
of how crazy actors' schedules are and how crazy it
is that you know you're supposed to be here, there, everywhere,
(43:24):
and there's only one of you. How we balance it
is it's just kind of a case by case on
a day to day thing, you know, and a lot
of it comes down to just my partner and I
how we juggle it together and how we sort of
hand you know, past the baton on each time and
(43:48):
givvy it up. So yeah, it's I remember being fascinated
by this too with other actresses before I had kids.
I remember when I did Stateless with Kate Blanchett, and
I know she has a bunch of kids, and I
remember asking her like, how on earth do you do this?
Because I didn't understand it either, And lo and behold,
(44:10):
I found myself in a similar with three. I mean,
she has four, I think kids by three, and I
never thought I would have that many kids even, you know,
And it's this struggle, but yeah, it's an ongoing thing.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
Yeah, and now a word from our wonderful sponsors. But
I think what's really amazing is that people are talking
to each other about it. And you know, I don't
(44:45):
think it's taboo to say I love my job and
I don't want to give it up, and I love
my family and I want to be with them as
much as I can. And that requires sacrifice in both directions,
and it requires a full village. Like that's reality. And
I think the more we can kind of let each
(45:08):
other in on it instead of like keep it a
secret like inside Baseball, the better, you know. A friend
of mine said to me, She was like, yeah, you
can have it all, you just can't have it all
at the same time. Yeah, and I thought, you know what,
it's the simplest way I've ever heard anybody talk about it.
And then you just made me feel a lot better.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
Yeah. Yeah, kind of amazing. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's
it's about prioritizing and really kind of I don't know.
I don't even know. I don't know. I don't know
how to answer that. What is the best I'm just
trying to make it work. I'm like everybody else. I'm
just trying to make it work. I don't have the answers.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
It's like you guys got to do it.
Speaker 1 (45:49):
You just have to do what he's just doing the
best way I can.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Well, you're on this precipice of so many exciting things,
you know, the bittersweetness of a project that's about to
wrap after six seasons, the new show is out, You're
developing this book that sounds absolutely amazing. You know, the
kiddos are flourishing. It's a I would imagine it can
(46:14):
feel really exciting to look forward, despite who knows what
it means. Where do you go, where do you move?
What feels like the work in progress for you as
you kind of look out at what's to come over
the next year, the work in progress.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
I think it's really allowing myself the thoughtful time and
space to create, like the next two decades, you know,
create it whatever, like make it so that it's how
(46:58):
I truly really want to to be. So it's not
it's not like other people telling me I should do something,
or you know, being heavily influenced whatever. I just feel
like there's I've come to a point in my life,
(47:18):
probably when I turned forty, where I realized I probably
sort of got to know myself the most that I've
ever gotten to know myself in a really huge way.
And I think kind of looking back at the last
twenty years and realizing that perhaps some of those career
(47:39):
decisions or even life decisions on a personal level, weren't
my own own, that they were navigated maybe not necessarily
by me and solely me. I think the next two
decades I would like for it to be a different
kind of a journey where I'm really focusing on what
(48:03):
I want, what I prioritize, and also what brings me joy.
I've just kind of like worked my ass off, which
is great. Here I am in this amazing moment, ending
an amazing TV show and starting all this other stuff.
I don't think I would have got here without working
my ass off. But I also I don't want to
work my ass off anymore. In that same way, I
(48:25):
want to do it for things that I don't know
that are that are really special and meaningful that kind
of take me back to my roots. I just feel
like I'm sort of entering this space where I want
to honor honor where I came from in a weird way.
And I'm not even sure if I'm articulating this in
the best way, but just that old version of me
(48:47):
that used to create and had the theater company and
made all the things, and kind of get back into
that version of myself married to the discoveries that I've
made where I've landed now in my forties and kind
of go from there and create that space.
Speaker 1 (49:09):
I love that. I think it's wonderful and I I
don't know every woman that I speak to lately who's
kind of in our you know, peer group who's at
this stage feels that like, oh, I want it's like
a sharper focus that's deeper and yeah, and and more
(49:36):
more in one's own control. And I think that's really beautiful. Yes,
definitely more, really exciting. Yes, And I can't wait to
see what's next. I can't wait just to watch everything.
I'm gonna have to keep watching this show now because
it's very good. Even the horror and I don't get along,
(49:58):
so I agree with you have to talk about it,
and hopefully we'll find a comedy to do so.
Speaker 2 (50:03):
Hopefully. I'm not I'm in a groom with I'm not
a horror person anymore. I used to be, but I'm not.
I'm not a horror person and I've ended up in
a horror show. Yeh. But yeah, it's yeah, it's it's
a fun one.
Speaker 1 (50:14):
It's definitely really it's really very good. Thank you so
much for coming on today.
Speaker 2 (50:20):
Well, thanks for having me. This was really fun.
Speaker 1 (50:22):
It's lovely
Host
Sophia Bush
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