Rarely does an actor showcase such talent, charm, and brilliance as Carrie Preston.
Still, each character has their own ideas as to how matters should go.
“She has more confidence.
We’re back to the races.
And so she burned down the casino.
Desna’s furious with her.
And the question is at what cost?
Certainly one that lasts longer.
But we’re going to see her go deeper into that and what the consequences are for that.
So that will definitely continue to unfold.
Never a dull moment in Palmetto.
Sounds like it’s going to be a fun season, for sure.
Specifically with your character, what can you tease about her arc this season?
Well, she had her heart broken at the end of Season 3.
She found who she thought was her soulmate and then it turns out whoops, married.
So, like you do, she answers that with just a little bit of arson.
[Laughs]
Just like you do.
[Laughs] Like you do.
And so now she’s rebounding in a way and is on a bit of a personality bender.
And so she meets this baron and he’s very wealthy.
We did five episodes before COVID, which we were very lucky.
We got to do all those.
I directed the third episode.
And then we went back to work.
We were one of the first shows to go back to work.
So we had to start rewriting scenes.
And I know all the shows were dealing with that, but luckily, we do have these things.
And so, characters we do as a society, we communicate this way.
So the characters started communicating that way.
And so, it did force the writing to kind of minimize itself a little bit.
And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
And then they forget that it’s about human connection and it’s about relationships.
What was your experience like being in one of the first shows to go back to filming?
So a core group of the cast, we rented apartments in the same building on the same floor.
It was like a dorm.
It was like we were in college again.
My apartment became like the campground.
That’s really beautiful.
And luckily, we get along really well.
We love each other, we live to make each other laugh.
We would get each other through it, and it was good that we had that little pod.
And now to see it airing too, that’s wonderful.
I know, finally.
I mean, the first five episodes, we started shooting those two years ago.
We’re like, “Oh my God, I forgot about that scene.”
Was it weird to transition back into filming mid-season?
Yes, it was.
It was very strange, but we were all so grateful to finally be back.
We didn’t know if we were going to finish, and we knew it was our last season.
But “Claws” gave me my first episodic directing in Season 3.
So they gave me the opportunity to do another one in Season 4.
But nonetheless, you’re racing against the clock.
I have more on-camera work in the one I directed this season than I did last.
So that was more challenging because the days that I was having to act and direct …
I shouldn’t say “having.”
And that can be really, a little bit [it can] make your head spin.
But it went really well, and I was very happy with the final cut.
As the director, you do the show.
And then that’s it.
… they don’t consult you anymore because then the producers do their cut.
The studio does their cut, and the internet does their cut.
So there’s many, many fine-tuning [improvements] along the way.
But I was very pleased with the final cut.
So I was very, very happy about it.
Oh, it’s so great.
So that’s been great to live in the streaming world.
And it’s so great to get the real-time response of them.
Oh, no, she didn’t!”
Oh, Niecy, she’s a powerhouse, right?
I mean, she knows what she’s doing.
She’s a total pro.
She kind of embodies that character.
And there’s something really magical that happened when the five of us would get in a room together.
There was just something.
I liken it to five fingers on the hand.
It works best when all five are there.
And we’re revolving around her.
We’re orbiting around Desna’s planet, and it can be pretty electric.
I think electric’s a really good word to describe her.
Yeah, for sure.
So that was like an actor’s dream to be able to transform within one character.
Also it was so elevated.
A little over the top, you know?
I’m always of the mind, go big or go home, you know?
And so I like to make big, bold choices and keep them grounded as much as I can.
“True Blood” was the project that kind of took my career up to another level.
Like people just really love that character.
They love that person that the writers trusted me with.
Many people still adore you so much for your role in that series.
What are some of your favorite memories from filming “True Blood”?
I mean, whenever I think about “True Blood,” I think about Merlotte’s.
I think about the restaurant because my character was this waitress.
So, I think about all that.
And all the characters would ultimately end up there.
So that, to me, is sort of the nucleus of the show for me from my experience.
And so, I just think about all the good times that we had in there.
But by the end, I end up with the vampires.
So I got this incredible arc in storytelling.
And we got to see this woman’s mind opening as the season[s] went on.
And so, you want to have an arc like that.
You want to have a journey like that as an actor and as a character.
So I feel like it would’ve been wrong if my character had like become a vampire or something.
So, I don’t have any regrets about that.
Even just within one character, how do you get into character for such diverse personalities?
I mean, I studied acting for a long time.
I’m a big for me, training was something that was, [that] I really loved.
I loved going to acting school.
It’s not for everyone.
So I use those tools that I learned in school, and I still use them today.
I get inspired by the script.
So I start with that and build from there.
I guess we did a lot of physical work.
We did all the physical work that you would need to get your body ready to transform.
Vocally, physically, all that stuff.
And that’s just kind of like going to the gym in a way, you know?
You kind of need to do it to get yourself strong, right?
What am I doing?
What am I doing?
You’re doing yourself a disservice.
And usually that’ll help a scene click.
Nine times out of 10.
I do, but I can’t tell you or it won’t work.
Oh, that’s fair.
[Laughs]
Yeah.
Superstitions times a million.
That’s very fair.
I also wanted to ask you about your appearance or your work on the 2019 music video forSaweetie.
What was your experience like in the “Claws” remix of “My key in”?
Well, we didn’t really have that much to do with that.
But that stuff never gets old.
You do your work, and it kind of feels like you’re in this little bubble.
It just is still like I squeal like a little girl.
That’s not part [of it].
These are dreams you don’t allow yourself to have.
You don’t even know that that is a dream you could have.
So, I ensure to always pinch myself and remain grateful and humble.
I mean, that’s probably also why you continue to get such great roles too.
I don’t know you just exude such a confidence and respect for the craft, which I love.
Yeah, I do respect it.
And I respect other people’s work and I like to celebrate other people’s work.
Which I think is very appealing.
It’s novels in visual form.
It’s so funny when people ask that.
It’s like, well, I couldn’t have dreamt up Elsbeth.
I couldn’t have dreamt up Polly.
In a way, I kind of like the …
It might be something that I never even knew I could do or that existed in the world.
Like a lead character.
I’ve done it a few times, but I’d like to have something that like that.
So I’m kind of that’s the dream I’m having right now.
Yeah, I mean that’s a great dream to have.
Well, it’s different for each one.
“True Blood” was a very simple …
It was very simple, thank goodness.
They didn’t make me test or do any of the hurdles that you have to go through.
So I didn’t have to audition for those, which is not always the case, believe me.
Sometimes people are like, that’s the weirdo that we want to play this part.
So, I’ll take it.
I’ll take it.
Well, I just, this fall and summer, I did back-to-back movies, indies.
One not having anything to do with the other, where I playedKevin Bacon’s wife.
So weird, I know.
Zero degrees of separation now between me and Kevin Bacon.
The first one, his wife, Kyra, directed.
Kyra Sedgwick directed, and she’s wonderful.
And then we did a thriller that is set in an LGBTQIA+ gay conversion camp.
Good place to set a horror film.
Given the horrors of conversion.
Or therapy, I should say.
And so it went great.
We shot it in Georgia, in my home state.
So both of those things should be coming out end of next year or sometime next year.
you might catch Carrie Preston in the final season of “Claws” each Sunday at 9 p.m.
