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Carrie Preston is taking a little look back at one of the most iconic scenes from her career!
The Elsbeth star joined ET’s Rachel Smith on one of New York City’s iconic double decker buses and reflected on the scene in 1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding, where her family left Julia Robert‘s character, Julianne, sinking in her seat during a cringe-worthy dinner — where the entire seafood restaurant breaks out into “I Say a Little Prayer.”
“We all go to the singing scene,” Preston says reflecting on the role. “With where we’re singing, ‘I Say a Little Prayer.’ That took us two 14-hour days to shoot that one scene.”
The moment, started by Rupert Everett’s character, George, was filmed with in Chicago at an actual restaurant. In the scene, Preston (who plays the twin named Mandy) shows off her vocal chops.
“You can only imagine what that room smelled like with all those lobsters,” she adds. “And crabs because they kept bringing in fresh ones. That turned into such an iconic scene.”
Preston later starred on a short-lived series with chef Emeril Lagasse, Sherri Shepard, and Abbott Elementary‘s Lisa Ann Walter. The 41-year-old star also co-starred with Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin on HBO’s True Blood for seven seasons, and recently had a role alongside Paul Giamatti and Oscar-winning actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers.
Preston’s latest role, Elsbeth, is more of a full-circle moment, as she initially played the character during season 1 of The Good Wife alongside Julianna Margulies and Christine Baranski.
Now, Preston is stepping back into the role of the lawyer who has a knack for detail (and distractions) 14 years later on CBS’ new show Elsbeth. For this series, Elsbeth is putting those skills to work as she investigates the death of a reality TV star.
Preston notes that watching Margulies head the team on The Good Wife helped her settle into becoming the series lead.
“Playing that role was you know, a career changer for me,” Preston says about playing Elsbeth after her previous role in the vampire series, True Blood. “Here we are,14 years later. We’re doing an entire series about that character. Watching Julianna lead that cast, I feel like I’m following in the footsteps of two extraordinary women. I learned from them. Set etiquette, how to behave as a cast leader, the responsibility that comes with that and the gratitude and humility that comes with that.”
She adds, “I feel like I’m walking in their footsteps.”
Preston also is learning to see the city she’s called home for over 30 years in a new light, as Elsbeth navigates crime in New York City.
“What I love about Elsbeth is she is teaching this New Yorker — ’cause I’ve lived here for over 30 years — to see the city with fresh eyes. I wouldn’t normally pick the tourist spots. New Yorkers, they’re always just on their way, they’re trying to, ‘get to the getting place’ as we say in the South. “We don’t pay attention to those things. Elsbeth, she’s looking at Rockefeller Center and she’s looking at the buildings and architecture and going, ‘Look at that, isn’t that incredible?'”
Though the series is centered around a crime, Preston ensures that it’s still light and channels the classic whodunit series.
“I like to say the show is aspirational,” Preston tells ET. “I think we’re just trying to spread delight and joy. We’re trying to bring some goodness and energy to the world and it’s positive. Even though we’re solving crimes, we’re solving crimes in kind of an old school way. It’s a throwback to the shows like Columbo.”
Elsbeth airs Thursdays on CBS.
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