Fairly Legal set visit: Virginia Williams interview (part 2)

I loved Lauren’s shoes, which I can’t pronounce.
I know, I know – yeah, yeah. She had – we both get great wardrobe. Lauren’s always in dresses. Always in super skinny, very fitted dresses, and Kate’s always in an A-line, or a pant. Lauren only wears the pants metaphorically. She doesn’t wear pants on the show.

We know you’re into the sixth episode but how do you feel about the character’s growth and motivation? You talked about being theatre trained. Is all of that ingrained?
I wouldn’t have taken the part if I thought she was just our stereotypical, you know, second wife, trophy wife, gold digger. I didn’t find that interesting. It’s been done 100 times before. I made the choice that Lauren very much was in love with Teddy. Of course then, as an actor, I’ve come up with those reasons as to how I could fall in love with a man so much older, what my daddy issues are, and all that kind of good stuff. I think she adored him. They were best friends. And she loved him. I think that the only person that would refer to Lauren as a b-word would be Kate. And you understand why Kate feels [that] way.

Lauren is just motivated by winning. She needs to win. I look at every scene I go into [and] go, “Okay, how does Lauren win in this?” And when she doesn’t win, how does she react? And how does she ultimately get her way? Sometimes it’s through a smile, and sometimes it’s through having to bring the hammer down. But I think Lauren’s just motivated by winning and keeping the firm alive. This is her baby. She doesn’t have any children. So I look at the firm as my child.

I like the scene in the pilot where you try to maintain one of your clients, and he propositions you. You could have played it coy, and a little, “Oh, well, maybe later,” but instead you played it with a lot of strength, yet emotion.
Thank you.

So, what made you decide to play that specific scene that way?
Well, you know, as you said before, that I tend to look at every scene and go, “Okay, what’s the obvious choice here? What’s the very surface reading of it? And how do I do something different and more interesting?” It just seemed way more interesting to watch a woman really struggle with that. Lauren will save the firm at every cost, but not at [the] risk of her integrity.

Lauren always takes the high road. I was just noticing that in this past script. I actually say to another character, you know, “Take the high road here.” And I thought, Lauren does always take the high road. I love stepping into her shoes every day. I mean, she speaks Mandarin for god’s sake. She’s so smart. And she’s just on top of it. And I read that scene, and I thought, yeah, it absolutely could be played the way that you just said where it could be, ‘all right, I’ll tease him a little bit’ – maybe later – to make sure that I get the business. But she won’t risk her integrity for business.

How did you envision Lauren? She’s so incredibly young, yet she’s the sole owner of this law firm. How did you envision her achieving that since, yes, she married the owner; but at the same time, she seems incredibly proud. She wants the gold ring, but to marry someone to achieve it doesn’t seem like her.
I don’t think that she ever had grand plans to marry into this. Did Teddy’s wealth and power – were they things she found incredibly attractive? Absolutely. Did it make him more attractive? Of course. I mean, if he were a plumber, would she have fallen in love with him? Probably not.  Let’s be honest here. But that’s the thing, that’s what they had in common. They were both really, really driven. They both loved the law. And, she was surprised that she fell in love with him, and she’s devastated that he’s died.

She knows full well she is not experienced enough yet really to be in this position. Was she groomed for this? Absolutely. But another character, another episode says, “You lack the experience.” And Lauren just says, “Get out of my office.” And they do.  But what she lacks in experience she makes up for in gumption, and in dedication, and in smarts. And she doesn’t ever use her – we haven’t ever seen her use her sexuality. Like you even said in that pilot scene she doesn’t. She doesn’t use her sexuality.

I was just thinking about the difference between theatre and TV. In theatre you have the script, but it ends after 150 pages. How does that differ from TV where the character is continuously evolving, either you’re adding things, or the writers are adding things.

Well, it’s a hell of a lot of fun. I mean, every time a new script comes out it’s like candy to me. I love finding out what’s going to happen. I’ve been really fortunate that our writers have been, particularly Michael Sardo, very open to my input, and to the way I’ve played things.

I’ll read something sometimes and think, “Huh. I’m not so sure how I feel about this.” But I can usually find a way to make it serve how I want to portray her. They’re very good about parentheses writing — writers who put in parentheses every emotion you’re supposed to feel. They’ve been really good about with my character leaving that pretty much out.

I’ve really been able to interpret it how I want. And it’s all in how you play it – you may read something and that may sound sort of like a b*tchy line in your head if you’re reading it. But I don’t read it that way. I think how is she going to get her way here? And the way she’s going to get her way is to do it through a smile, or to make the other person think they’re getting what they want, you know.

Clacked by An Nicholson
on Jan 07, 2011 @ 12:00 EST5EDT