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In an October 2013 interview with OK!, Carrie Preston discussed returning as Elsbeth Tascioni on The Good Wife and her hopes for Arlene Fowler as True Blood headed into its final season. She wanted Elsbeth’s eccentricity to remain human, and hoped Arlene would build an independent life while taking time to grieve—not be rushed into a new romance.
Elsbeth’s return to The Good Wife
In the interview, conducted by Kaitlin Menza and published October 21, 2013, Preston said Elsbeth would return to represent the law firm Lockhart/Gardner in a sexual-harassment case. The character would face off against Viola Walsh, played by Rita Wilson. Read the OK! interview.
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Preston called Elsbeth a special role and said she felt unusually at ease playing the lawyer’s eccentric brilliance: “The role is just so special, and I feel alarmingly comfortable playing such a scatterbrained genius.”
Keeping Elsbeth eccentric and human
In a July 2013 Backstage interview, Preston described Elsbeth as mercurial and discussed balancing her unusual way of thinking with a believable human character. “I wanted to make sure that even though she’s eccentric and has an unorthodox way of thinking that she was human,” she said. Preston also welcomed collaboration with the show’s directors: “I like that collaboration.” Read the Backstage interview.
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- Genre: TV Drama
- Number of Discs: 42
- Number of Tracks: 0
- Playback Duration: 6763
- Rating: NR
Preston’s hopes for Arlene in True Blood’s final season
In October 2013, True Blood’s final season was still upcoming. Preston liked that Arlene had gained standing in the community and owned the bar. Her wish for the character was continued self-sufficiency, space to mourn the love of her life, and no immediate replacement romance.
“My hope for her would be to see that she continues to grow into this self-sufficient women who is okay with not having a man in her life, and gives herself proper time to grieve for the love of her life, who has only just been lost. I hope they stick with that.”
Rank #2
That quotation records Preston’s hopes at the time; it is not a description of how Arlene’s story ultimately concluded. Read the OK! interview.
What Preston said during the final-season run
By August 2014, Preston was reflecting on the season as it aired. She said she was pleased with Arlene’s story and described the show’s pace as “breakneck,” anticipating both sadness and joy. “I’m very, very pleased with what they’ve done with Arlene. It is a breakneck speed, the show this season, and there’s going to be some sad stuff and some joyous stuff, just like life.” Read the Assignment X interview.
Rank #3
- GOOD WIFE: COMPLETE SERIES [DVD]
Two roles, different dramatic centers
Across these interviews, Preston’s comments point to a useful contrast. Elsbeth’s comedy comes from unconventional thinking, which Preston wanted to ground in a recognizable person. Arlene’s story, as Preston framed it in 2013, centered on independence and grief. The remarks come from different moments in the shows’ runs: her hopes for Arlene preceded the final season, while her later assessment came during it.
In a 2024 retrospective, Preston described Elsbeth as having begun as a guest character conceived as “sort of like a female Columbo” before evolving into the lead of Elsbeth. That later perspective adds context to the character’s trajectory, but it is separate from her 2013 comments about The Good Wife and True Blood. Read the Vanity Fair interview.
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