After Kevin Spacey’s riveting performance as the conniving Frank Underwood in House of Cards , politics is quite the flavour of the season on telly. Madam Secretary , which premiers on AXN on January 10, tells the story of Elizabeth Faulkner McCord (Téa Leoni), a CIA analyst who is promoted to United States Secretary of State. In Los Angeles at a press conference promoting the show, Morgan Freeman, who has executive- produced the series with Lori McCreary, spoke of the importance of showing women in positions of power. “I think that the world is going to be better off if we have more women in power.”
On what inspired him to get involved in the project, Freeman said: “It started with Lori and Barbara (Hall, creator) over lunch, talking about what we could come up with for a scripted TV show. Madam Secretary was the outcome of that. We are producing partners and I thought it was an extraordinary idea. Remember I said before, I think it’s time for women to take over, so this was right up my alley.”
Talking about his job profile, the Oscar-winning actor said: “The truth is I don’t have to do anything. I’ve always said executive producer is just a title and not a job. Producer is the job. These guys do the heavy lifting. Sometimes I get to comment. I could comment anytime I wanted to, but it’s not necessary. It’s like having too many cooks in the kitchen, so I have plenty oftime to play executive producer.”
“We have had three female Secretaries of State,” said Téa Leoni, about what drew her to the title role. “We have women in great political positions in this country and what we see on the news is the decision made, not being made, we see people come up to the mike and say ‘this is what we are going to do about it’ or ‘this is where we made a mistake’. I was curious about Hillary’s life — there is a glint in her eye, that gal has got something, some warmth and some charisma. I thought, this is a really interesting idea that we are going to have this woman and we are going to see her come home and burn eggs and miss soccer games and have horrific struggles with her daughter.”
Casting Téa, Freeman said: “When you are casting, actors might come and say ‘Oh I like this role’. Or they’ll evidence an ability to play the role or there is an actor who will come along and own it and that’s what happened here.”
Téa said she is often asked if she has met Hillary Clinton as part of her research for the role. “Obviously, it is the blonde hair. The truth is I didn’t. The first place in my mind that I went was not towards a particular political figure, or in particular, a female Secretary of State. We have had three. I thought more about my grandmother, who founded the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, was the volunteer president for almost 30 years and raised five kids and 27 grandchildren. What it was for her to be travelling around the world and coming home and being a mother. I think about my friends who are working mothers. If they had asked me to play a seated Secretary of State or a lifetime politician, I think I would have done a hell of a lot more research. I sort of enjoyed embracing coming in without that experience and without that mindset. I did have coffee with Madeleine Albright. She is amazing. And she told me some funny stories.”
The mother of two said she identifies with her character. “I certainly do when I think about the heels that I am wearing and the hours that I keep and my children at home. Those three things are very much the same. I relate to her because I think that I have a very strong sense of diplomacy. I think I inherited a great amount of that from my grandmother and from my father. I like that about myself and I like it about her. I can relate to how she approaches things.”
To a question whether the increase in DC-centred shows such as House of Cards and Veep indicate an increase in engagement in politics, Freeman said, “I don’t think there is a correlation and I’ll tell you why I think this way. If audience were that involved with DC, we would have had a greater voter turnout. So, watching television, you are just watching what could be, not what is, and I think that sort of separates the two.”
Commenting on the number of shows set in the world of politics, Téa said: “There is a lot of drama in politics. It’s a pretty good playground for drama.”
Madam Secretary airs on Saturdays at 11 p.m. with a repeat telecast on Sundays at 4 p.m. and Thursdays at 11.30 p.m. on AXN.
The writer was in Los Angeles at the invitation of AXN India; the talent interviews were coordinated by CBS Studios LA.
