‘Elsbeth’ Star Carrie Preston Reflects on Her Skin Cancer Diagnosis and Leading TV’s Female-Driven Second Act md18

At 58, Carrie Preston has now been headlining her own network TV drama for three years, and she doesn’t take it for granted just how “extraordinary” that is. But perhaps even more extraordinary is that Carrie’s Hollywood career only took off while she was in her mid-30s, a feat that not many women can say they accomplished. Throughout the last two decades, Carrie successfully built her Emmy-winning stellar career on supporting characters – Arlene in True Blood, Grace Hendricks in Person of Interest – before the role of Elsbeth Tascioni became such a success that 15 years after she was first introduced towards the end of The Good Wife’s first season, she landed her own series on CBS.

As the titular Elsbeth, Carrie now joins a list of incredible actresses in their “Second Act” who are headlining their own network TV show – Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Mariska Hargitay, Molly Parker, Kaitlin Olson, Wendi McLendon-Covey – and she tells HELLO! how “wonderful” it is that there is an audience that is looking for these stories. “The feedback that we’re getting is that those stories are being received and not just by women,” says Carrie. “I have people of all ages, genders, all walks of life coming up to me and saying that they love the show… Elsbeth is a show that people want to watch together, and that makes me happy.”

The character of Elsbeth is an idiosyncratic but astute attorney who, after years working in Chicago, moved to New York City and joined the NYPD to catch murderers utilizing her unique point of view. Wendall Pierce co-stars, and each episode has a high-profile guest star, with the likes of Alyssa Milano, Keegan-Michael Key, Nathan Lane, Vanessa Williams, and Stephen Moyer appearing, as well as Carrie’s own husband, Michael Emerson, as Judge Milton Crawford, an adversary to lawyer Elsbeth. During the creation of Elsbeth back in 2010, Carrie had to build the character within the context of an established show and not drastically change the tone with Elsbeth’s quirks, something she says was “a way to test my own creative boundaries,” and that balance still had to be found for the standalone series to ensure eccentricities didn’t alienate new viewers.

Three seasons in, those fears have been assuaged, with Elsbeth a commercial and critical hit, finding itself in the Emmys conversation this past season. But Carrie has also been through a huge personal upheaval, as she was diagnosed with skin cancer during filming of the second season finale earlier in 2025. Carrie admits it has been “pretty challenging” to reconcile: “There’s still a scar there, and there probably will be, for a while if not forever, and I am learning to deal with the permanence of that.”

Ahead of season three premiering on October 12, 2025, Carrie tells HELLO! about bringing Elsbeth’s longing for connection to the small screen, working with her husband of 27 years, and why fans can expect a few changes this year…

I wanted to start by asking how you are today after being diagnosed with skin cancer earlier this summer…

Carrie: It’s been a process, and pretty challenging as an actor to have your face cut open because our faces are what is out there in the world. But I had really good doctors, and I’ve been doing laser treatments that have slowly but surely helped with healing.

There’s still a scar there, and there probably will be, for a while if not forever, and I am learning to deal with the permanence of that. But thank goodness they did get rid of the cancer itself.

Elsbeth is a very unique character. Did you have concerns about how she may be received as a main character?

Carrie: In The Good Wife, I was finding my way because I was creating a character very quickly within the context of a show that had an existing tone – ‘How far can I go? How can I lean into her special way of thinking without pulling too much focus from these characters that I’m there to support?’ It was a way to test my own creative boundaries, and once I realized that the writers liked what I was doing, we started collaborating from page to screen.

But I have always been very cognizant of the fact that Elsbeth had only existed as a flavor, and now [with her own show] she was the full meal. I wanted to make sure that she didn’t come on too strongly [for viewers] and that there was enough balance; I always am very aware of trying to make sure that anything that might seem extreme is coming from a place of being grounded. Then we have incredible guest stars, and Wendell Pierce and Kara Patterson, to balance Elsbeth out.

I never thought this was a show that’s just about Elsbeth. It’s about so many other people, and the key to solving any scene is, in my opinion, making it about that other person.

Season two’s conclusion was a reset for Elsbeth. When season three opens, where will we find her? How will Kaya’s absence change the dynamic?

Carrie: You’re going to feel the loss of Kaya as a consistent presence – but you will also still feel her presence because Elsbeth is still very much attached. She loves her and misses her, and so we talk about her and learn [where she is], and then we will eventually see her. Kaya will come back into our world – and it’s such a refreshing and wonderful and familiar thing when she does return.

But Elsbeth has the other uniformed officers by her side – they aren’t the same ones as each case is different each week – so we meet Lindsay Mendez’ Officer Hackett in episode one, and Officer Reynolds from last year [will be back], and some of our familiar detectives. And Captain Wagner and Elsbeth’s son Teddy are back.

But Elsbeth has a longing for connection; she has a boyfriend who lives in Scotland but that’s very far away, and Marissa Gold (Sarah Steele) will be a familiar face for Elsbeth this season, and those are people that she can lean on. But at the same time, Elsbeth will really dive into her work and find a great deal of satisfaction in that.

Elsbeth has a longing for connection…. But at the same time, Elsbeth will really dive into her work and find a great deal of satisfaction in that.

Season three will also see Elsbeth continue to fight to expose the truth about Milton Crawford – played by your husband Michael Emerson. What is it like to play opposite him?

Elsbeth S02 Carrie Preston Floral Embroidered Cape

Carrie: It is wonderful having him on set, but sometimes it can be a lot. When you’re the lead of a show, you’re also the hostess, and so on one hand I was the hostess, and then on the other hand, I was the wife. I wanted him to be happy in the same way that I want everyone who comes on the show to have a good time, and to feel welcome and relaxed so they can be their most creative self.

But then I also don’t get to see Michael very much these days because I’m on set a lot with 18-hour days, so it was really great to have him there just because we actually saw each other during the daylight!

Do you have similar rehearsal styles?

Carrie: I have my own process of how I prepare and run lines, and so does he; the most we did was maybe in the van on the way to work, we would run through the lines to make sure we knew the words.

But because we have such a history together, we know each other so well that there was a level of comfort deeper than I have with someone I’ve just met. That was the nice thing, we were able to show up and already have trust.

Also, Michael is just such a brilliant actor that I was coming to the table wanting to see what he was going to serve up, knowing that it was going to be something that was going to make me better.

I love how you both speak about each other, why is that important to you, and how do you keep romance alive?

Carrie: It’s a natural thing. It’s not anything that we work at because there’s an appreciation that we both have for each other. Michael is, at his core, a good person – conscientious and respectful… those things that you hope that people learn when they’re in kindergarten! He has all of that naturally, and that makes him a good life partner.

Then, I sincerely am happy to see him every day. We’ve been together for 31 years and married 27, and we’ve had to spend a lot of time apart because of work, so we have an appreciation for the time that we are together. We have a lot of gratitude, and we understand how to treasure the moments we do have together.

What is your secret for a lasting marriage?

Carrie: Having your own passions and your own life and not making that person be everything to you. You have to be working on yourself in order to make a partnership work.

Elsbeth is known for her love of color, and the many bags she wears, and you partnered with Mokuyobi on a bag that pays homage to Elsbeth. How similar are you and Elsbeth in your fashion choices?

Carrie: You can always spot Elsbeth in a scene, and of course Polly and the Claws squad (the TNT show that ran from 2017 to 2022) loved bright colors and funky patterns. I like to think I’m fairly easy to spot in New York, where I live; I don’t tend towards city blacks and neutrals – I’ve always loved pink and am known in my friend circle for that. I also love a sparkly thing – sequins on shoes, a brooch, a shiny hat. I’ve enjoyed playing characters who have playful style and enjoy pops of color, it feels natural and right to me.

Will we see your Mokuyobi bag in Elsbeth?

Carrie: The costume department sources all kinds of things – high, low, thrifted, right off the runway. So you never know!

Would you want to do more fashion designing; is this a passion of yours?

Carrie: Working with Mokuyobi to design the Carrie-it-All definitely felt like another creative outlet for me. I’ve loved gifting the bag to my castmates and seeing their reactions and watching them style it and carry it. I can definitely see the thrill of creating a garment or accessory and feeling pride when someone makes it part of their wardrobe.

Elsbeth, and shows like Matlock and 9-1-1, are led by women in what HELLO! calls our Second Act. Are you seeing a change in the industry when it comes to stories for women in their 40s and 50s?

Carrie: There are so many shows led by women that are not 20, and I think it’s wonderful that there’s an audience that wants this. The feedback that we’re getting is that those stories are being received and not just by women. I have people of all ages, genders, and walks of life tell me they love the show.

But no matter what age or gender the person is, they watch the show with their mother. Teenage boys will say, ‘I watch it with my mom,’ and women who are 50 are watching it with their mom. Elsbeth is a show that people want to watch together, and that makes me happy.

How does it feel to be leading a network show at this point in your career?

Carrie: It’s extraordinary because there’s so much television. People keep saying to me, ’20 episodes is old school,’ and they’re right – that’s what happened at the beginning of my career.

People would do network TV and have shows that lasted 20 or 23 episodes. That went away for a while except for tentpoles like NCIS or Law and Order, but people are finding their way back to network TV, and it’s really heartening, and it’s good for our industry. We have at least 300 people working on this show, and all these wonderful actors who are New York-based get the opportunity to work. I feel very humbled by the fact that the show is doing well enough to employ so many other people.

How involved are you in casting your incredible guest stars?

Carrie: We have a wonderful casting director, Finley Davidson, and Finley and her colleagues do an incredible job casting along with our producers. But I do suggest people, friends who have auditioned, and I will put my word in because I am a producer too. But mostly I just let them work their magic because the acting pool that we have here in New York City to draw from is an embarrassment of riches.

It’s been really wonderful for me to work with people that I have admired in my life that I never thought I would get the opportunity to work with; Tracey Ullman, Pamela Adlon, Dianne Wiest, I can’t even believe that! Dianne is one of my all-time favorite actors ever, and I get to act with her.But it can also be upsetting because I get attached to them, and I only get them for two weeks.

I became really close, very quickly, to Alyssa Milano and Mary Louise Parker, and then they were gone. So I’ve been really trying to actively maintain relationships because it means a lot to me to have them come onto the show and embrace me.

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