For Erika Christensen, parenthood is a tough act to follow. No doubt about it. But ABC’s Will Trent has delighted the actress with her own unique blend of humor and “darkness.”
Reflecting on her role as Julia Braverman on Jason Katims’ six-season series Parenthood — which ended last January — Christensen told TVLine, “I’m pretty optimistic, but I know that it’s a unique experience from every angle you can look at it.
“As an audience, it was unique — certainly at the time, even more so — and really unique to work in,” she explained, “because the creative environment was so freeing and wonderful. And the way we shoot the show is really unique, and it gives the actors and the cameramen a lot of freedom.” After that unique role, she admitted, “I definitely don’t expect to have that experience again,” “but I’m excited to try new things and see what the next chapter of my life brings.”
That next chapter includes two ABC projects: Wicked City (in which she and Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick play serial killers who have a relationship), followed by the series she most wishes would last longer.
“It’ll be interesting to see what the next 10 days in the valley are like,” she said, referring to the fall 2017 mystery drama in which she plays Kyra Sedgwick’s sister. “I love the format of that show, and there are a lot of interesting twists and turns… I think there’s a lot more to that character that we can explore.” break, if there is a second season.”
WHERE THERE IS A WILL….
Christensen is now holding out hope that ABC will see more days for Will Trent. In the freshman drama, she plays Angie Polaski, an Atlanta homicide detective who is in a relationship with a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent (Ramón Rodríguez) — and with whom she shares a troubled past.
Thinking back to when she first sensed Angie in the pilot script, Christensen says, “She had a very painful life and a very traumatic childhood,” as a child in Atlanta’s foster care system. Hardened but certainly scarred by the experience of frequent abuse, Angie grows up “not accepting of anyone — and she couldn’t if she tried, and I love that about her,” says her co-star.
Christensen also finds the Angie/Will dynamic “interesting taste”; similar to “her more recent history of her beleaguered character being at the bottom of a bottle, or at the bottom of a pill bottle, knowing that it’s like letting the bad guys win, by hurting herself even more.” Hoping to defeat those demons, Angie has tried to “reorient herself,” envisioning both herself and Will as “Robin Hood characters who want to prevent any more trauma from happening to the weaker people in this world.
“It’s good for their own mental health to try to help others, and they also care a lot about their jobs, which you want,” she added. “All of these things just make for really interesting law enforcement storylines.”
THE BEST PLANS….
In recent episodes, Angie has been tormented by the reappearance of Lenny (played by French Stewart), a former foster father who sexually abused her as a teenager. So far, Angie has done everything legally possible to confront Lenny and alert the young woman currently in his orbit—all while keeping Will in the dark. In Tuesday’s episode (10/9c on ABC), Angie will pursue a new plan of attack that Christensen admits is, well, “ill-advised.”
“To protect Will, Angie is going to try to come up with some plans to get rid of him, and it takes her a while to figure out what she wants to do,” Christensen says, noting that it’s been a few weeks since she confronted the lecherous Lenny at the bus stop.
Whatever Angie will try next to ruin Lenny’s new life “sounds like a good idea, but the best-laid plans are…” Christensen’s voice trails off into a chuckle. “As she looks deeper into Lenny’s situation and how few options she feels she has, and how unwise they might be—like someone is advising her!—she also has to figure out how to deal with that while protecting Will. Because if she has to do something drastic, she doesn’t want him to be a part of it. And that drives them further apart.”
Speaking of Will, he’s busy this week as “Bill Black,” a criminal with a troubled past, taking down a drug cartel and finding a missing DEA agent. That storyline takes the show into “a whole new territory, a new style,” Christensen gushes.
