Carrie Preston Is Ready for Her Quirky Spotlight in 'Elsbeth' on CBS

"I'm grateful to be doing something that is exactly what I want to be doing as an artist and as a person in my life right now. It's approaching everything with gratitude and excitement and passion and positivity."

Carrie Preston is ready to step into the spotlight. The Emmy-winning veteran character actress will helm the title role in Elsbeth on CBS (February 29), playing Elsbeth Tascioni, a character she originated 14 years ago on The Good Wife and its spinoff The Good Fight. "When this part came along, what was happening on the page was so extraordinary for television, because she was so unusual." We now find the colorful lawyer assisting the NYPD in solving crimes. "People don't quite know what to do with her either, and she knows that. She's not like the other kids." And Preston, best known for her supporting performances on True Blood and Claws, says, "I'm more prepared for it than I would have been in my 20s when I was just sort of dreaming about it." But she's still finding acclaim in smaller roles, too. She recently appeared in a small but key role in Alexander Payne's Oscar-nominated film The Holdovers. "I knew watching other Alexander movies that he was going to treat my character with the same amount of care that he treated [the main] three, and it comes across."

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Editor's Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.

How does this moment feel for you? Especially considering this is one of your first big leading roles.

I mean, I've played leads in movies, indie movies, things that my mom and maybe four other people have seen. So, I've had that experience of doing that, but not at this level, not on a television show. Look, I've been on some great TV shows, I have a career that I am extremely proud of. But I always wanted to do this. I'm a huge fan of television, and I've always wanted to see what that feels like, to lead a show. I never would have dreamt that it would be this character—even though people were calling for it along the way.

I started playing this character 14 years ago. And then as the character was developing along the way, fans and reporters would say, "Oh, we should give her a spinoff." And I would go, "Oh, that sounds good. But, they don't spinoff the sidekick, or they don't give that to women who are over a certain age in this industry." So the fact that we've gotten to this place, and not only is it a character that I've played before, they've dropped her into a totally new genre. It's not this legal show [like The Good Wife], it's the police procedural with Elsbeth Tascioni dropped down in the middle of it, like a fish out of water. As soon as Robert and Michelle King came up with that idea, they knew from the beginning, we're writing a network show, we're not writing a streamer, we're writing something that's gonna follow the structure of a Columbo, or Murder, She Wrote, Monk even, where we have this unconventional person who's solving these crimes. You can't get more unconventional than Elsbeth Tascioni and the way her brain works. So then to take what was really kind of the flavor, some spice to the meal, and then now make her the main course, it's a little daunting but extremely thrilling. And because I've been doing this for a long time, I'm more prepared for it than I would have been in my 20s when I was just sort of dreaming about it. I didn't have the history of having been doing this for so long, having struggled at times and having seen people who are leads of shows that maybe took it for granted and going "Gosh, if I get to that situation, I will never do that. "So, I really am approaching it with an extreme amount of gratitude and joy.

Elsbeth is such a unique character. How did you respond to how people responded to this character?

It's funny, I studied acting for a long time, I went to University of Evansville, which has a really strong theater conservatory, and then I went to Juilliard. I did a lot of theater, I did a lot of text-based work, and when this part came along, what was happening on the page was so extraordinary for television, because she was so unusual that I thought, "Wow, I can't believe they're gonna let me do this." And then I brought my brand of clown comedy, whatever you want to call it, to this role. And not only did they say "yes," they invited me back for more, and then the alchemy between the writing and what I was doing just kept getting renewed and refreshed and changing along the way. People come up to me on the street and say, "You are me. You don't understand. That's me." Or, "I work with Elsbeth. I know exactly that person." Or, "I feel exactly like your character. I'm so happy to see your character." People numerous times have said to me, "I named my child Elsbeth." I'm like, "Okay, well, something's working there."

That name really is weirdly unique.

Exactly. We kind of lean into that a little bit in this series, her name and how people have to kind of work hard to even say it. Because people pronounce it Elizabeth, or they don't even know how to do it. And that's kind of the character, right? People don't quite know what to do with her either, and she knows that. She knows that she's not like the other kids, but it's just who she is.

What's different about this version of Elsbeth?

First of all, she's not in the legal world, so we're not going to be hearing her talking about legalese, we are going to hear her talking about legal cases. She's a crime solver, but she's coming at it with the same unorthodox brain. She will light on one detail and know, from some kind of crazy intuition that she has, that that's going to be the key. Then hopefully what the audience is going to enjoy and what I certainly enjoy about playing her, she takes that one thing and builds on it and the frustration when something doesn't work and all that. Just structurally the way the show's gonna work, the case that each episode deals with is going to be paramount. And then we're going to have little side things that we're going to start to get to know Elsbeth in a way that we haven't before. Like we might see her with a friend and see what is it like to see her have a girl talk? We saw little bits of that with Diane, but she worshipped Diane so much on The Good Fight. But I think mostly we're gonna see her like not who-done-it, but how-done-it. We're going to see Elsbeth figuring that out.

When Elsbeth appeared on The Good Wife or The Good Fight, she was certainly supporting, so having her be one way was fine, but now she is the show. How do you humanize her or round her out?

Luckily she's pretty consistent as a character. What I think the fun of the show is going to be is that the people around her are way more real and they're in the police procedural world of Law & Order, and then she drops in like Colombo or Monk. So we get to see how that fish swims in those waters and how she interacts with them and how they respond to her. And then how she is going to use the fact that nobody really wants to take in this kooky redheaded lady, or take her seriously, and maybe she'll be able to use that to a good effect so that she can figure out how to frame these white collar criminals.

And CBS has a long history of shows like this—really great crime shows with unique leads like many of the ones we've mentioned, Columbo and Murder, She Wrote. Like I don't think this show could work anywhere but CBS.

I totally agree. And Robert and Michelle King, they set out to write a network show. They're brilliant writers. With The Good Fight in the streaming world where they have a little more license, you can go a little darker and heavier. But they knew that Elsbeth is this sparkling unicorn, so you can't go dark with her. And I think nowadays people are drawn to things that bring joy and delight and levity into their lives. We're in a kind of a dark time, and there's challenging things, I think there's something to be said for just sit down for a moment and be carried through something that brings me happiness and makes me smile and make me think and is fun to look at. They want to create this world that is New York City through Elsbeth's eyes, the world through Elsbeth's eyes, crime through Elsbeth's eyes. And Elsbeth sees things through very rosy lenses, and I think that is a bit of a throwback to a structure of another era that people are attracted to right now. I'm grateful to be doing something that is exactly what I want to be doing as an artist and as a person in my life right now. It's approaching everything with gratitude and excitement and passion and positivity.

And it's a gift to us as a viewer, because I want that break.

Yes. And structurally we will know the murderer. There's no mystery there. The mystery is how is Elsbeth going to figure out how to prove that the murderer did it? And we're gonna have great guests. We have Stephen Moyer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson now, and it's going to continue that way in the same way that Columbo had the great guest [stars].

You're also in Alexander Payne's The Holdovers, which picked up a ton of Oscar nominations. How does it feel to be part of such a celebrated film?

This is something that has such a throwback to an earlier structure of filmmaking and storytelling. First of all, Alexander Payne is one of our finest, in my opinion. He really is. You can count on your hands the number of filmmakers that can tell a story with that kind of care and precision and also with a light touch. And I think people are craving those kinds of things now. When we were shooting it, I just came in and did my little thing, and I had such a great time. Alexander and David [Hemingson], who wrote this for me, they had been working together on it for eight years, I think. He does such meticulous prep that by the time you get to set, it's just easy. He is just as happy to be there on day one as he was a few months later, when I came to do another scene. Same energy. The crew was also equally happy to be there. So I think all that translates to what you see on screen. And then those three central performances. I mean, Paul Giamatti is probably one of the best actors I've ever worked with. He has such an ease, it's enviable how easy he is in front of the camera. And he doesn't miss a beat. He's also highly direct-able, so he changes, and he and Alexander just have a shorthand. And then you have this kid [Dominic Sessa] who's never really done anything, just this miraculous find. And then you have Da'Vine Joy Randolph, just unbelievable. So to come in there and be just a little supporting part of that. I knew watching other Alexander movies that he was going to treat my character with the same amount of care that he treated those three, and it comes across. It was so lovely.