Lana Condor is hoping her boundary-pushing role on CBS’ Elsbeth comes as a surprise for those who may know her primarily from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.
In Us Weekly‘s exclusive sneak peek of the December 4 episode, Carrie Preston‘s Elsbeth “goes from the squad room to the locker room when a campus murder rocks the world of college basketball after an athletic director winds up dead following a heated confrontation with his basketball coach’s 22-year-old girlfriend,” according to the official synopsis.
The first-look images tease Condor’s character, who is visibly younger than her boyfriend, in a story line seemingly pulling ideas from recent high-profile age gap romances — including that of Jordon Hudson and Bill Belichick.
“I just felt like it would be a fun way to maybe be seen in a little bit of a different light,” Condor, 28, exclusively told Us Weekly while attending the Netflix House Philadelphia VIP Housewarming Party on Monday, November 10. “Predominantly, I am known for To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and I wanted to show a different layer.”
Condor was thrilled for the out-of-the-box opportunity.
“I was very excited to be a part of the show, and Carrie and everyone on the show were so welcoming to me,” she recalled. “I hope I get to go back, because it was a very sweet experience and they really respected me. … I felt like they believed that I could do something where my character is so different from anything I’ve ever done. They were so encouraging, and that’s hard to find.”
Condor continued: “That crew and that team is amazing. Everyone on Elsbeth, they’re good and kind people. To be honest, I think that’s very hard to find in this industry. When I was offered the role, my team called me and they were like, ‘Hey, all of our clients who’ve been a part of the show have loved it.’ If you tell me there’s good people, I’m there.”
The best part of the experience was getting to share the screen with her husband, Anthony De La Torre.
“My husband got to do the show as well. He’s in it,” she gushed to Us. “That was a major part [of what made this experience even better].”
Before appearing on season 3 of Elsbeth, Condor became a household name playing Lara Jean in the hit Netflix franchise To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Condor appeared alongside costar Noah Centineo in all three films, which were based on Jenny Han‘s book series.
“The books had such a strong, strong following and the fans were so supportive. So we had the built-in Jenny Han fans, and they really showed up for us,” Condor exclusively told Us about To All the Boys‘ continued success in September 2024. “In terms of chemistry, Noah and I both really respected each other and we both knew how fortunate and lucky we were to even be working on any job. We came from a place of mutual respect, and it really worked. And we were really good friends.”
At the time, Condor seemed unsure about reuniting professionally, adding, “We’ve never actually talked about working on something else together. Or actually maybe we did. But I don’t know if it would make sense. … I don’t know if the audience could suspend their disbelief unless we just played older versions of our characters.”
Condor has since remained booked and busy with projects such as Worth the Wait, Valiant One, Ballerina Overdrive and now Elsbeth.
The hit series, which premiered in 2024, also stars Wendell Pierce and Carra Patterson. The procedural nature of the show brings new characters to each episode, with viewers usually knowing who is to blame for a crime from the beginning.
Elsbeth airs on CBS Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Paramount+.
