Okay. Take your shirt off so I can see if the glass cut you anywhere else. You okay, Teppei?
Yeah. Okay. All right, what's the prognosis?
Am I going to live? Unfortunately, yes. Thanks.
You're welcome. We shouldn't. I know.
I remember my reaction to that script. I you know, in complete transparency I I was excited to see like all of the messy ramp up and having them be awkward around each other. And when they when they had their moment in the hotel, I was admittedly feeling a little bit protective and like, "Well, wait a minute.
They haven't had a conversation. What do you What do you mean? What What What's happening here?
" And and then I kind of approach that topic, you know, with the writers and also with Eric and um and I think it's it was a good exercise for me as an actor to trust the process and remember that I am the color that the artists are painting with, you know? Um I think especially when you travel with a character for as long as we have been doing, we kind of start to feel a little bit like, "Well, hold on a minute. This is This is my little creature baby.
" And um and at the end of the day, we're actually just the tools that that the creatives and the people who are visioning the long arc of this story. Um we're we're their tools in that way. And so, it was a good exercise for me as an actor to be like, "Okay, let me just Let me just trust the process.
" Um but ultimately, it was a really wonderful uh opportunity to collaborate with Eric. You know, there was a lot of great places for us to figure out and dialogue with each other, "Okay, how do you want to play this? How can we help tell this story as best as we can?
" I think if I recall correctly, I think the way that I felt it's it's the compulsion. It's the irresistibility of a connection that you know exists there. And even though she is very career-minded in this moment, there's privacy, there's there's proximity, and and and there's just like the knowledge of what exists there.
But because of the circumstances, we don't have that. And so, I kind of feel like that moment is a moment out of time for them. You know, there's no supervision.
They both look really beautiful cuz they got dressed up for this evening. She just finished watching him being a knight in shining armor. You know, um I think that she had the best intentions when she went up there and probably was trying to deny parts of herself and then in that moment it's just It's pheromones.
They're so close to each other, you know. I I think that's what happened. I think she had best intentions and then it went off I'm very curious to know what that would look like in the final shot.
We did have a few different versions of how she got up, how she reacted to what he was saying. And that wasn't entirely clear to me when I was looking at it off the page. I wasn't sure how I wanted to have that moment.
Was she also on board with it just being a thing? Like we're good or was she caught off guard? So I don't remember what they put in the final cut.
But I do remember wanting to make sure that there was continuity with how we played it later, you know, cuz they go right back into working with each other and it's it's not all the way awkward but there's a little bit of shifting ground beneath them. So I think when she's standing outside it's probably I hope what ended up in the cut is like a mix of wanting to go back but also knowing that she shouldn't. It's messy and I think she wants to be clear.
I think if there's any through line for Lucy's journey with her at work romances, it's that she very much doesn't want her professionalism to be compromised despite herself. I like it. Forget Forget that I even know anything that happens.
Like even if I knew it only there and he's like, "Come on, girl. What are you talking about? " But but Again, I think that's I think that's a big part of Lucy's character.
Like, she's aspirational and and she wants to align herself in a virtuous way and be in integrity with her profession. Um yeah. So, I'm sure she's like saying stuff and she really means it.
But, whether or not she's still a human, you know, she's still a human being and that's one of the things I love about her. She's not some um What is it What is that word I'm thinking of? You know, like the big column.
She's not She's not just some some statue that exists as an archetype. She's She's flawed and I and I love that about her. I think um I think absolutely.
I wouldn't be surprised if they would try to stay a little bit separated. But, because of the nature of their job I imagine that they're going to get right back involved with each other and I hope, cuz again, this is minute ago now for us. It's been a long season.
Um but but I think it's always really fun for us to see them doing what they're the best at, which is sure, being in love with each other, but more than that, being really good at their job and they're really excellent teammates. Um so, I I I'm hoping to see more of that and I hope that the audience enjoys more of that dynamic between the two of them. I think that my perspective for much of the season was that she was on the back foot waiting for him to step forward.
Waiting for him to do all of these things that he said he was going to do. Waiting for him to initiate these conversations. And at the same time, you know, after I dialogued with Alexi about what was going on in the script, I it was really important to him that she had agency in these situations and had kind kind was reclaiming her power and connecting with him when she wanted to on her terms because of how everything ended.
And and also to that point that because Bradford knew that he had really messed up their their threads of trust, you know, in how he departed their their relationship. Um that Bradford was also on the back foot waiting for her cue. So I do feel like there's a little bit of both of them kind of sussing each other out, trying to figure out well what are you going to do?
How are you going to be with me? Um but ultimately when they're at work, all of that stuff, it kind of reminds me of athletes, you know? Like when you when you walk onto a court or you walk onto the field, whatever it is, check all your business at the door and just come in and do your job and do it as well as you can with your teammates.
Um and and I really appreciate that about the two of them. You know, it's been interesting because I felt I felt that this year I've had the opportunity to to explore an aspect of Lucy that I wasn't aware was a part of her character, actually. I I have always felt that Lucy was a person who perpetually to a fault gave people the benefit of the doubt and was always kind of giving them chance after chance after chance.
And so to feel her suspicion off the page about especially about a young man. And this might also be the fact that I'm older sister to a younger brother who's like eight years my junior and I always kind of like think the best of him. So there might have been residual hangover because of that cuz I was looking at Seth um who's played by Patrick so beautifully and I was always like I I feel like Lucy would give him a chance.
I feel like she might believe him to a fault. I feel like that might be her her fallibility as far as being a teach uh training officer, but I really appreciated that they actually decided to lean into her intuition and the strength of her intuition in this way. Um and and allowing that to kind of unfold with like just that she has a nose for it, you know?
I like that we instead of um leaning into this kindness that she has, we opted to lean into the fact that she's actually really good at her job and sniffing out something instinctively that is amiss. Um so, it's been really fun and again a really beautiful challenge of coming up against internal ideas I have have cultivated about who Lucy is and the vision and the arc of what our writers have about about who she is. And um yeah, I I always love that kind of challenge.
So much of when that was happening, my internal orientation to it was that she wants to give him the benefit of the doubt, but like her gut and everything she's seeing is telling her otherwise. And so, there's this constant like inner conflict that's happening. Um and it's hard because, you know, Patrick's got such a sweet, charming face, and the way he plays it is so endearing and sincere.
And then he goes and you're like, "Why are you lying? " Um so, I think the casting was exceptionally on point cuz I I feel like it the audience gets to go along on that journey with Lucy of the confusion and going, "Wait, I think No, no, no. He's great.
He's great. Wait, NO, NO, NO. HOLD ON A SECOND.
I THINK HE'S LYING AGAIN. " SO, YEAH, I I think the the whole dynamic has been really sweet to play. I I had a lot of fun with it.
Yes, absolutely. In that moment, when she walks up and and and and he's there with that burning sweet face, and Grace, you know, patting his back and everything, like we're going to be there right with you. It's an impossible situation because she feels like he's lying, but how do you accuse someone of lying about having cancer without looking like an absolute off-the-rocker insensitive human being, you know?
So, it's a wonderfully impossible situation, especially for a character like Lucy. You know, I Yes, and the the stakes are actually going to be a lot higher than that. It's not She's trusting him to have somebody else's back, not hers.
And um and I don't think that's too much of a spoiler, but but but in that dynamic, as far as who Lucy is, the situation that she puts Seth in, the stakes are much higher than him just having her back. And um it really elevates the stakes for their relationship and the consequences of of his potential lying, you know? If he is lying, it really just all of the tension kind of starts ramping up because of that, because of that mission that she kind of sets him on to.
Yeah, well, I mean, that'll be the interesting thing, right? It's like I leaning back onto the fact that they are such good teammates and she trusts him implicitly as a mentor outside of it. Like that is that is the origin of their relationship, you know?
Just even though she has never felt that his methods were maybe always pure, she has always respected his capacity and his um his opinion and his insight in these ways. And so, uh yeah, it'll be interesting to see who she ends up leaning on. I I don't think it's a spoiler to say that that part of their dynamic is not damaged because of that, you know?
And I think that's the beautiful thing about them is that as messy and confusing and wonderful and sweet as their out of work relationship has become, it's never We haven't seen that yet. Although that's an interesting thing to play with. Like I wonder if it ever would.
Um but but so far it hasn't affected the way they work together. And I think that's really important as far as the underlying tenant of who these people are, who we know them to be. They're good at their job and they know how to compartmentalize those things and that's a really important part of being a first responder.
Um from everything that I've heard, you know, we have a couple of people on our writing team that used to be in the force and being able to compartmentalize is essential. And I think Lucy in particular is going to be really good at that because of her background and and her her the way that she really took to undercover work as well. Like she knows how to section things off.
Hey. No. You know, and and I it's funny like I think about it and I I I do know that uh Nolan and Lucy have some some cases together, but for the most part I really feel like I barely saw Nathan this season, which is always such a tragedy for me because I love working with him.
Um but no. No, we don't see that very much. Uh his his world is kind of I mean our cast is getting so big and so the people he leans on kind of in in the other space over there.
But as a team um certainly we're always there supporting each other. Hey. I can only speak from what I know as an individual.
You know, any character you play you're always it's going to be informed by your own experiences and I think given the state that they are in and the fact that they had not at that point had any significant dialogue, they're just been kind of like, workplace flirting, you know? Um, it felt human and terribly feminine to be on high alert. Suddenly, to just kind of be like, "Oh, that's nice for you.
" "I don't have a date, but uh wonderful. " So, I definitely think she was on guard and also it it there was it allowed a beautiful moment to have that like uh release, that energy release when she saw Jenny, you know? Like, the whole thing kind of goes away.
She's like, "Oh my god. " I kind of wish that they had done that for the audience as well. Like, I kind of wish that they hadn't said anything about Jenny.
Like, they showed it in a preview and I was like, "Oh wait. " You know, cuz I just know that the audience would have been like, "Who the heck is he bringing? " Cuz Rachel was integrated back and everything.
Like, there just could have been so many things played there, but that's fine. Uh yeah. So, so I think that's I think that's going to be really sweet.
And I love the dynamic between Bradford and Officer Nolan. So, I'm really excited uh for the fans to enjoy that again as well. She's such a beautiful addition to the show.
I think it affected me a little bit more deeply in the earlier seasons when almost everyone was still in their cop uniform and we hadn't really done press events together yet. Um, to kind of like see the contrast. It's always so amazing to see everybody really dolled up and also exciting to see our hair and makeup team and our wardrobe team get excited and to see the way that they express their artistry.
Cuz a lot of the time it's like, you know, we're still in our costume. We're still in our cop uniform with our cop bun and it's the same stuff that we do every day. So, we had a lot of fun being dressed up and there are so many things that happen at the gala.
I'm just like being flooded by all of the silly moments that I'm not even sure I can talk about in an interview. Um, but we had a blast. It feels kind of like a mini vacation whenever everybody is dressed up and we're hanging out offset and we're doing silly things.
Um, yeah, we have so much fun together. And as far as like the the I don't even I wouldn't even say awkwardness. I mean Eric is such a pro and anytime we have to do scenes like that, it's super professional and it is it it is the absolute complete opposite end of the spectrum of what you see on camera.
Like what looks kind of sexy scene like to be waiting on camera to film something like that is so not sexy. It is like the opposite complete opposite of sexy. You know, it's like, "Okay, I'll do this here and you do that.
Is can you see if I move my face here for the camera? " Um, and there's all these people standing around and they're feeling awkward cuz they want to be respectful. So, they're like looking away and or it's just kind of silly.
But, yeah, I I really hope that it looks beautiful and that um that that the story that we're trying to tell comes across which is that in that moment um you know, two people are just irresistibly drawn to each other in that moment despite themselves and um and I think that's always a very kind of like makes your chest feel tighter. Like It's the stuff that you know, it's the stuff that every girl's like, "That looks That might be nice.
