Lisa Ann Walter on Mother’s Day, Her ‘Abbott Elementary’ Bond With Sheryl Lee Ralph, and That Bette Midler Idea
Did it feel different filming this episode at all, given the reversal in your dynamic and the connection you have over the loss of your mothers? Quinta knows that I have readily available emotions. In any scene where crying is easy for me, I can access it. When they wrote this, they knew that if we had to play that we had both lost our mothers, that it would be battle of the network tears. I don’t need to play that every time. [Laughs] So they gave it to Sheryl, and of course I could feel what her emotions were, but my character wasn’t feeling it. Melissa was intent on noticing what was happening and saying, “I see what’s going on, and you need to take a little step back. You’re hurting.” Do you feel more comfortable making suggestions for your character now that you’re in season three and have more of a dynamic with Quinta and the writers? How has that evolved? Always, from the beginning, it’s like working with a great repertory company. …
