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Frances Fisher is doubling down on ABC shows, with an appearance on Castle and a lead role in Resurrection.
On Castle, when the assistant to haute couture magazine Modern Fashion‘s editor Matilda King (Fisher) is found murdered, Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Beckett (Stana Katic) step into the luxurious, back-stabbing world of high fashion in their search for the killer. And while they investigate the case, Beckett’s past as a model resurfaces.
PHOTO: ABC’s ‘Resurrection’: First Official Poster Debuts
Fisher identified with parts of her hard-nosed character’s personality, which may — at the outset — seem tough to handle. “It takes a person with a velvet glove to be in that position. She does her job and what people say about her is their own business. She’s there making the magazine as good as it can be,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter.
Even so, the veteran actress didn’t use any particular fashion editor as a model for Matilda. Instead, Fisher “used her imagination” in her portrayal of a high-powered woman in a fast-paced publishing world. While she did go online for some research, Fisher said she received “clues from the script about who this person is.”
Because of Beckett’s modeling past, Fisher hints that there is a connection between Matilda and Beckett that will be explored in the hour. “We knew each other back in the day and that comes out in the text of the show, that we have a history,” she says.
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Things ended on a rocky note between the two, Fisher reveals, with Beckett once turning down a magazine spread in Modern Fashion, which left a sour taste in Matilda’s mouth.
Guest-starring on a well-oiled machine like Castle can be difficult, but Fisher praised Katic and Fillion’s ability to make her feel welcome on set. “Stana is a lovely person whom I spent time chatting with in between lighting setups,” Fisher says, adding that “it was great to meet Nathan. The character he plays in this show is so endearing, and wouldn’t you know? He’s just like that in real life.”
And next month, Fisher will appear on yet another ABC series (this time as one of the leads): midseason drama Resurrection, based on the Jason Mott novel The Returned. Fisher plays a “good mother” who lost her son three decades ago, but when the 8-year-old boy returns — as if a day hadn’t passed — her character’s life is changed forever.
“She’s been living with the grief of losing a child, which is probably the worst thing that could ever happen to a human being,” Fisher says.
Fisher maintains that Resurrection is “a much more emotional show because we’ve all lost people we love” and that the stories, as well as the issues of mortality — and, yes, resurrection — are “dealt with in a real way.
“I know for myself, I’ve always wished I would have had certain things or have had one more hour with that person to be with them. When my character’s son returns, it’s an answer to a prayer and the extraordinary circumstance affects my character, my husband, the extended family, the entire town because nothing like this has ever happened on the planet,” Fisher adds.
Of the people who have been able to view the pilot ahead of the spring launch, Fisher notes that Resurrection “touches a chord in people and that makes me very hopeful that there could be some healing that could happen around this.”
Castle airs Mondays at 10 p.m. and Resurrection premieres March 9 at 9 p.m. on ABC.
Email: Philiana.Ng@THR.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
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