HIT FIX: Interview: 'Justified' co-star Natalie Zea
It's not always easy being Raylan Givens' ex-wife
By Alan Sepinwall
Wednesday, Feb 2, 2011
Raylan Givens' ex-wife Winona doesn't appear in person in any of the Elmore Leonard stories that introduced the character who's now the hero of FX's "Justified." She's mentioned in passing a few times as Raylan laments how she left him for a real-estate salesman, but that's it.
"Justified" gave the character flesh in the form of actress Natalie Zea. But for a while in that first season, Winona threatened to become as irrelevant as she was in the books - to the point where Zea suggested it might be best if she and the series parted company. Fortunately for all involved, things changed quickly, and as the series prepares to start its second season (a week from tonight at 10 p.m. on FX), Winona is just as present and vital as the other supporting characters, and is trying to figure out if the night she and Raylan spent together near the end of the first season is going to lead to more - and if either of them want it to.
I spoke with Zea a few weeks ago at press tour about Winona's evolution, about her early frustration, working with Timothy Olyphant, and more...
... In those early episodes in the first season, you guys have to establish a back-story, a chemistry and be plausible as 2 people who really cared about each other once upon a time. How did the 2 of you get to know each other and how did you work at establishing that on-screen?
NZ: It was just sort of fast and loose. We, I think, have a pretty natural chemistry to begin with. And he’s a ridiculous flirt so that helps. We didn’t really have to try all that hard and we made sure to... I was about to lie. I was going to say we were in constant contact throughout the season talking about script and character and stuff but we weren’t. That was this year. I got in touch with him over the summer because I wanted to get a head start. I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t peripheral. That there was a purpose. So I knew that he would be the best person to go through initially, so we kept a constant correspondence over the summer and still anytime I get a new script we make sure to touch base...
Justified, All New Season, Premieres Wednesday, February 9 at 10PM ET/PT only on FX.
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