EW spoke with both actresses about their experiences taking on characters played byReese WitherspoonandKerry Washington.
I was like, “What the hell did I agree to?”
Didn’t mean to do this."
Credit: Erin Simkin/Hulu
[Laughs] So I had no idea.
ANNASOPHIA ROBB:I didn’t know how nervous I would be.
The writing for the show is so good and so strong.
Erin Simkin/Hulu
They really packed so much into all of the episodes, especially episode 6.
BOONE:I also had no idea it’d be so rewarding.
ROBB:The calculation of Elena.
And then when she ends up having a fourth baby, it totally veers out of control.
She goes through this whole unraveling and that’s how it has to end.
It was like this map in my brain that was created by Liz and everybody involved.
That’s how she is in the world, everything is a possibility for art.
That’s very central to the character.
She’s just really an observer of the world in a lot of ways.
I knew it was impossible, but I kind of wanted you two to have a scene together.
ROBB:They would’ve had a very different relationship.
I feel like they would’ve gotten along.
BOONE:I think they would have too, yeah!
What was the process like of trying to nail Reese and Kerry’s voices and mannerisms?
So for me to get into the character, I really went from the outside in.
I tried to understand her by the physical choices she was making, watching every hand movement.
She does something with her neck when she’s trying to make a certain point.
Her voice never gets angry, there’s always a slight sweetness to it.
There’s a certain range of emotions that she’ll let herself have as Elena.
It was a weird line to walk, like how far to let her crumble.
Were Kerry and Reese on set for your scenes?
BOONE:Kerry was there pretty much every day I was shooting except for my first day.
She was very respectful.
She would show up and sometimes I wouldn’t know until she’d been there for a few hours.
But other than that, she was just being a producer on set.
I was terrified at first when she started coming, but she was so supportive every day.
She was very chill about talking to me.
She as like,“You’re going to do great, don’t worry about it!”
I was like, “Okay, she thinks I can do it, I can do it!
Let’s do it!”
I’d have to remind myself of that stamp of approval on set every day.
New episodes ofLittle Fires Everywherehit Hulu on Wednesdays.
