November 23, 2022 • 44 mins
Jessica and Zuzanna finally get to sit down with the legendary Margaret Colin, who played the tough-as-nails Eleanor Waldorf. Margaret talks about balancing the comedy and the evil of Eleanor, choreographing her own dance scene with Cyrus, and getting recognized on the street (but only when she puts makeup on).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi. I'm Margaret Colin and I play Eleanor on Gossip Girl.
Welcome back listeners. Do you want and only source into
(00:20):
all things gossip Girl? You know you'll love it. X
O x O. Hello, Hi, Margaret, ladies him good. I'm
it's three hours later. I tried to do this at
noon because I got the times wrong, so now it's
three o'clock in New York. I'm really looking forward to
(00:43):
talking to you. Do you know what's so funny? I've
done that too, where I like, I got on because
of the time zone. Yesterday we were recording and I
got on an hour early, and I'm like, where are
you guys, Like, what's going on? So I feel you
Are you in New York? Margaret, I am, I am?
And Diego got a call for me at nine o'clock
in l A. So that was nice. Uh, well, that
(01:05):
means you were just like really trying to make it happen,
which we appreciate. You're here. It's so cool to have
you here. I don't know when's the last time you
two have seen each other, because I haven't seen you
since we were filming, and we obviously didn't have that
many scenes together. But everyone loved working with you so much,
and I obviously am a huge fan of your work,
(01:26):
so I was always like, it's Vanessa Ever popping by
the by the well, you know, penthouse, so that I
could like have a scene with you, because obviously you're
a legend, not just in television if Broadway, just as
an actor. Yeah, you really are are. And you know, Margaret,
your name comes up a lot on this podcast, so
you were finally gracing us with your presence, which is
(01:49):
cool because a lot of people we've had other people
on who you know, have had such good experiences working
with you, and yeah, and especially me, I always talk
about you, so I'm lucky to have you. Before we
go any further, I just I want to take a
moment to actually introduce our guest I have on today,
the extraordinary Margaret Colin, who played Eleanor Waldorf on Gossip
(02:14):
orl for many seasons. So I was very lucky to
have a lot of scenes with her because of the
you know, my role in the Waldorf household. So this
is a real thrill um. So having her here today
is extra cool because this is our sort of Thanksgiving
time episode and I feel like we had a lot
of good Eleanor stuff in all of the thanksgivings of
(02:36):
Gossip Girl past, so it makes total sense that we
are together during this festive time. So welcome Margaret, Thank
you ladies. One of the titles was Blair Waldorf must Pie,
and that was a Thanksgiving where you and Blair had
a lot of tension. But I don't even I forgot
(02:57):
that that title because it's season one, episode nine, Blair
Waldife must Hie. Yes, it's hilarious, was it really? I
was really brutal to her with her, believe me, with
her Beliemia. I was like Eleanor was mocking her wonderfully evil. Yeah,
it was bad. I knew she was going to go
throw up. And I didn't even remember that. Yeah you remember, Susannah, Yes,
(03:21):
there was that was it was a theme that was earlier. Yeah, um,
eating disorder. I didn't even remember that, right. And our
marriage was breaking up, me with me and her dad.
You know, my gay husband was was ending up in
his he was taking up John Shay played the part
and he was taking up with Fella Roman. I seen
(03:42):
had to practice say yeah, yeah. There was a lot
of food, a lot of pie, and and Dorota always
there was always hysterical, so much food and I could
give you so much ship, and it was always hysterical,
like the looks with this woman when we would we
would try to get dinner done and I would smile
her hand for not cleaning up problem. We just had
(04:02):
ridiculous fun. Yes, You're always a joy to act with.
It was so much fun. Yes, Eleanor is a borderline abusive. Yeah,
Eleanor was buorderline abusive with up for Dorona, but it
was a lot of fodder for fun canceled right. Yeah,
I would have been so cacarious. Absolutely, It was really
funny because now I was like I would say the
(04:23):
lines really loud and slowly to you and treat Toronto
like she couldn't understand you or know what was right
right right because she's And I just asked this, was
that like your choice or was that something written like
or you or did you choose to have Eleanor do
that to her? Yeah? Yeah, I chose to be abusive. Yeah,
(04:48):
and it made them times, but I like I think
that those layers. Yeah, and then I just started doing
it in like one take and Susannah would pick up
on it and and she all her eyes and I'd
catch it and Blair would catch it. And it was
always more fun when it was actor driven, an actor created, like,
let the writers do their thing right, the best stuff
that you knew, and then let us, you know, take
(05:11):
it over. Let actors take it over. And it was
always wonderful to play with the Susannah and Layton because
they did pick up the ball at moment it we
we had a really what when it got bad was
when they would write it instead of doing their workers, well,
you know, the best word they could do as a writer.
They would say, and Eleanor does that thing that she does.
You're like, man, I don't know, let me just do
(05:33):
it right, Yeah, you like, we're the best words you
can and I'll figure out where to do that Eleanor
thing right. You know. It's it's funny because I learned
so much from working with you about you know, like
doing comedy on camera because you know, this, uh, this
job for me was my first kind of substantial on
on camera roll. And before that I had played some
(05:55):
you know, really uh put upon victims of crime, you know,
on Law and Orders and whatnot. So to be a
sort of comedic character working with you that kind of uh,
you know, finding where and when to do those little
improvisational moments, you know, and then to kind of know
which one stick and then hold onto them for continuity.
(06:15):
I mean, I just really I feel like we had
a little bit of a masterclass lighton and I when
we had the experience working with you and scenes. So
I know that's why I wanted to come work with
you guys, right exactly. And I also learned something which
I bring up a lot. It's always important to you know,
deliver the dialogue obviously has written, and to give them,
you know what, what they need for the scene. But
then sometimes there's a room for a little extra something.
(06:38):
And I feel like Margaret is a has a masterful
way with that, which is that she knows when to
sort of place in a little added button or something
at the end of the scenes so that you so
that they can use it or not use it, and
it helps the character grow because I don't think that
Eleanor Waldorf was as funny or colorful a character on
paper until you got your hands on it, Margaret. So
(06:59):
you know, that's what's fun I think about, you know,
you know, populating the roles with like amazing actors, especially
ones with your experience. Um and and we saw each
other not too long ago because we were we were
lucky and had this wild a couple of days on
set on the New Gossip orl on the reboot. So
(07:19):
we worked together, right, and did a cameo and I
had to speak Yiddish. You did? Yeah, it was wild. Yeah,
they made me Curseing Yiddish was terrifying. Yeah, you had
a whole paragraph. I had a whole paragraph and I'm
sweating just thinking about it because you couldn't download, like,
you know, like to practice, because they would make it
(07:41):
up as they felt like it. The writers would come
over and they go, oh, my grandmother used to say this,
and I'm like, I don't know what that is, and
then they they've recorded, and I'd listen to it and
listen to it, and then I have I'd have to
say it at the table, at the hanakah table, and
people are going, what is she saying? Does it mean?
And our writers, producers, directors wouldn't wouldn't answer them, and
(08:05):
then Molly would look at me, you know, for his take, like, yes,
I still don't know what I said. I think I
said anything like it should only happen to you what
happened to him, and but it wasn't you know, it
was not in anything you could learn ahead of time.
And of course, of course they made me loop it.
Oh my gosh, you had to go back and right
(08:27):
after after I've done it on stage and everybody watched me,
and I think he actually, Josh actually talked about one
of the funniest things was trying to get Margaret to
speak to curse and yet Ith and I was like, yeah,
I'm glad it was fun for you. It was. It
was hysterical, it was that is amazing and that's it
was so hot, wasn't it too? Oh it was, well,
you know, it was interesting. And I've mentioned this before,
(08:49):
but they had that whole scene lit with practical light
via candle, So we had like seven million candles lit
and it was like a Hanukah episode, so we had, right,
it was really dark and moody and romantic, but we
had a million candles, so it was like everything was
on fire and uh, but it was. It was funny.
So we had a lot of um of the sort
(09:10):
of Hanukah stuff and so the whole the whole cast
who was at the dinner party had to do some
prayers and things. So it was actually the funny fact
was that some of the producers and like crew had
to chime in. The people who actually knew those prayers
had to sort of help voice them because not everyone
could learn it, you know, on the fly. It's not easy, right, right,
(09:32):
and Wally had Wally had YouTube and said this, this
is someng, this is actually sung and they're all going yeah,
and I'm looking at him going okay, good luck and
then singing and cursing can get to show my two
favorite things. So I had to loop that as well
because we sang the prayers and I'm like, we'll go
to somebody. Since you've got Broadway stars there, you've got
(09:53):
Broadway singers. Let her, let the Benatti do it, give
it to her. Nope, you had to do a lot
of fun. I had to do it. Well, yeah, because
the beauty of Eleanor is that you know, she she
converted for Cyrus Rose and so she took it on
with great enthusiasm. So of course she's going to lead
the celebration, which was and there was a lot of
(10:14):
fun um, you know, snarky Eleanor stuff. The mom does
it anyway, and in the tradition right the prayer. So
it's like stressing me out because I'm thinking even when
I get to set and there's like a line change
and it's something that I know or some words or
language that I actually speak sort of get somewhere and
it's like a completely different language or prayer or something
(10:34):
you have never done or don't know, and it's like
on the spot and they're like, hey, do this. That's
like so stressed stressful to me. So hats off to
you for even like being like, yeah, I'm down, let's
do it. Because I'd be like do I need to
go to my trailer? Can I have? Because can we
write it down? But I mean that is like that's intense. Yeah,
there was no trailer. We were sitting outside under a tent, right.
(10:54):
We were sitting on the street in Brooklyn Heights just
waiting to Yeah. So we had a really nice day
because we were just down in the beautiful sunshine. But
I was gonna ask it. You know, we know that
in Gossip Girl pilot episode there was a different eleanor
so then as happened sometimes in TV and film, you know,
some time went by between the pilot and when the
show got picked up and then there was a recasting
(11:17):
and we got you in that role. So do you
remember what your process was like of getting the part
and sort of entering the project. It's a long time ago, girls,
I'll try to remember. Of course, I was. I was
happy to get the gig. I hadn't watched the O
c UM. I was living in Montclair, New Jersey with
my husband and my youngsters, my young son, and so
(11:38):
it would mean, you know, going across two rivers in
a city to get to work to Queens. So it
wasn't so great because we mostly shot in Queen's as
you know, so that was a that was a bit
of a hike. But they sent me the pilot and
I was like, it's really glamorous. The lighting is beautiful.
It's so it's a love story to New York. And
(11:58):
then I saw this, you know, really beautiful skinny young
woman say one line and I was like, well, what's
the matter with her? She just she did perfectly find
what do you what do you want? And then the
Stephanie asked for for us to have lunch, and I
came and have had lunch with her. When we talked
about it and where she wanted the part to go,
and she was kind of like, I didn't you know,
I don't. I don't know, Maybe because I would be
(12:21):
more recognizable, maybe because I've done a lot of shows
in New York that they wanted me to see if
I was interested in. So I didn't know Stephanie and
Josh at all. I had never watched the O c Um.
I had all many many shows that come to New
York I was in in some way or another. So
it's like sort of the repertory player for for New
(12:43):
York City. So I love that. So yeah, so I
said yes. And then the intense wore the clothes the
clothes with Eric was nuts. And and then there were
some logistics that I always get really difficult about, like
are gonna pick me up? Like the making of the
deal was was became became the next thing. And as
(13:05):
you probably know, I was never under contract. I was
always recurring. Actually that was interesting, Yeah, No, I never was.
I never was. Well, they were let you reoccur that
whole time. Yeah, they were like, We're going to reoccur
you till the end. They were going to reoccur me
till they possibly could, and I and and then that
also didn't obligate me. I could do plays, I could
(13:26):
do Broadway, I could do independent films, I could I
could be gone. But it worked, it worked pretty well
with my young family, and eventually we made a deal
that I was really happy with. And then I was
really I really looked out working with Susanna and Wally
and Layton. I really uh and and Eleanor was a
screen I mean I liked her when she was more evil.
(13:49):
I enjoy it. So yeah, I just thought I just
found an opportunity for her to be very selfish and
that would be the problem, Like, if you don't love me,
you're gonna pay for it. So anytime I felt like
Blair's character didn't love me after being abandoned by my
you know, gay husband, I would punish her one way
(14:09):
or another, I would I would punish her. So um,
and that was that was fun. But I do think
that they there was a huge love between Eleanor and Blair.
I mean I think there was. I just think she's
very selfish and for good reason. She's you know, her life,
her life just fell apart, right, And the more that
we saw those difficult moments with the two of them
than the sweet moments were very resonant. We saw one
(14:30):
we were watching, but we've been doing rewatching episodes and
we saw one recently that was a nice moment sort
of just the two of them in the mirror. And
you know, when you have those little lovely moments, you
see that relationship and it's very real and relatable. I mean,
I think so many people have those kind of relationships
with their parents. So and the first thing I want
to do is stand in front of a mirror with
(14:50):
a knockout young woman like Layton Master and and and
being the same shot with her, matching our bodies up.
That's my idea of a good When you the way
(15:16):
you played her, there would be times where like and
be like, oh my gosh, ouch that that was hard,
Like when you had Serena be the model instead of Blair,
like and and obviously the competition that Blair and Serena have,
you know, whether it's subconscious or consciously throughout the whole series,
that was like devastating to watch this like high school
(15:37):
girl like who she already kind of battles and feels
like she's in the shadow of Serena when you did that.
But there's something away the way that you play eleanor
that you never were like pissed at you are like
wanted Blair to like come up and like hate you,
like you just you always wanted them to somehow find
that connection again and that love that is there. And
I think that it really has to do with the
(15:57):
way you and Layton played that, because it could go
very wrong if you just leaned into the selfish uncaring,
you know what I mean, it wouldn't have been as
fun to watch or as much or or to be
able to connect to or fight for them or love
them when you do see the moments where you really
are coming through for her. So I just want to say,
like it's just really great. And there's something about when
when the outside when you get the exterior shot of
(16:21):
the penthouse and you know you're gonna come in, and
whether the scene would be with you two or with
Blair or with Wally, it was just very you knew
it was going to be very exciting, something interesting, and
that doesn't happen on a lot of shows sometimes if
it's not one storyline that you've been watching and so
dialed into, when it goes to another home or another set.
(16:41):
You kind of check out, like, oh, this is when
I'm gonna go get my you know, fill up my water.
This is when I'm gonna use the restroom. That doesn't
happen often on Gossip Growing. It really when it was
going to be the walldor Penthouse, it was exciting because
you just knew because there was the comedy was there
with with that family, the truth with like the relationship.
It was just a very I just loved it. I
(17:02):
loved it. I wish Vanessa was there more, even though
she really shouldn't have been, but I do. Uh yeah,
it was. It was also this like um no blessed oblige.
It was more money than you knew what to do with.
People got into college without really studying you know. Uh
you know again that the kids had the run of
the city. Um, and I would dump eleanor would dump
(17:25):
the parenting off onto Deronda all the time. But like,
the clothes were great, the lighting was great, the set
was gorgeous. So and we had that amazing staircase, you know,
that amazing you know way to play an entrance no more. Yeah,
as your true But I think I think shows make
a big mistake when I when I was coming up,
(17:47):
I was nineteen and I was on the edge of
Night and I was with Kim Hunter, played played my mom,
you know, Stella in Streetcar named Desire, and also she
just was off the planet of the Apes m movies.
So there I am with his Academy Award winning legend
huge stage actors, studio member stage were you know, huge, huge,
and and a bunch of other people of her generation.
(18:10):
And then you get the new people and you learned
how to behave on a set from those older, established,
brilliant actors. And I'm not brilliant like they were, but
I'm I have a body of work, so you kind
of really enjoyed. I really enjoyed. I loved learning from
those people when I was young. And I think the
(18:31):
really best shows that land the test of time have
the kind of multi generational aspect with people that are
very new to the business, with people who who know
their way around, uh, you know, as Susanna set comedy
and drama and timing and how to behave on a set.
So I think that's really it was wise on the
(18:52):
part of the c W and and the people that
I got to work with in particular picked it up
and ran ran with it as well. They wanted to
put their best foot forward. Margaret, you also have such
a you have so much experience on stage as a
as an actor in the theater, and you've done all
these incredible roles. And I think, you know that's another thing,
is like bringing that sensibility, you know, to be an
(19:14):
actor who's versed in acting in all genres. You know,
not everyone are gossip girls that had had those kind
of experiences. And I'm wondering, how are you and more
in love with working on camera on stage or you know,
do they hold different places in your heart? Where where's
your like original soul? I think I was most enamored
(19:35):
as a as a youngster of you know, the the
great Betty Bicall and Betty Davis and and you know
Bewitched and that Girl those shows when I was a
kid and in school, and I could catch those legendary
movies of the forties and the fifties, and then those
TV shows that were so positive, women driven. Um So,
(19:56):
my first inspiration to work probably came from seeing these
women on television telling telling these stories. But I went
to school, a public school on Long Island and Baldwin
and we had an amazing budget and amazing um volunteer
group of teachers and parents, so we did a school
play every year. So as soon as I knew I
(20:17):
could get on stage at kindergarten, yes please, oh yeah,
oh yeah. Telling another story, The Little Old Lady who
Loved Noise was my stage debut and I was the
title character. So um yeah. Mostly I can say I
want to work with the best people that I can
(20:37):
with the best material, So that goes back and forth,
depending on the waves of the business. Both of them
have a special place in my heart. And certainly, you know,
the need to stay viable in the business, the need
to get challenging roles, the need to put food on
the table, those are all, you know, really big factors
in a long career. So um the quickness of television
(21:00):
is delightful. The opportunity to create a role in a
rehearsal hall and develop nuance and go deep and create
history is uh invaluable. So they both are. They're both
pretty great, and then sometimes they just really want to
make some freaking money, right, I love it. You you
(21:20):
started or at least had a lot of experience in
the soap world right back in which is just which
is like a whole other world. And so I wonder
if you are so able to work on the fly
and like learn all this stuff and just be really
present because of the training, because it's pages of dialogue, right,
don't don't they film? Like I mean, it's like when
(21:42):
when I found out what they did, I'm like, I
don't even know how that's um as. You know, I
was a half hour, so it wasn't that many pages,
um as. The world charged was an hour. So we
would sometimes get sixty pages new every day, sometimes on location.
So short term memory is a really good thing. I mean,
(22:06):
Margaret and I sixty pages, yeah, but you know, you
shared it with the rest of the company. My husband,
Justin D's, would frequently get on all the soaps that
he was on. More than three times they dedicated the
entire hour to his character, so he would do the
sixty pages and yeah, a summation speech in court, or
(22:28):
sometimes he played his own mother and father and that
was prosthetics and shooting all three sides and then they edited. Yeah,
yeah was an animal. He's just wild. So you shall
the amount of time the pages with everybody else, but
it's really kind of read adator, drop it. Okay, let's go,
you know, and then and then and then like all right,
and then and then and you can do pickups in
(22:50):
daytime like you can with nighttime. You can all right,
let's take it from there, you know, and then you
start again, or you can do yeah, running a running
take on it, so they just keep going to get
it down. But yeah, the the Again, I worked with
really great people on those shows, so watching them um
focus on the story that they were telling. So yeah,
it does the working fast and and and finding the
(23:12):
character and finding something to hang your heart on so
that you really want to play this character. That definitely
came from my early work on television. It's we've already
talked about how that's what I like to do with Eleanor.
It's like it wasn't necessarily written that she was belligerent
and and needing to be you know, needing loyalty, but
that's what I found in the lines to play and
(23:33):
I yeah, that's definitely come from a lot of time
in front of the camera. Wow, actually speaking of that
the whole and this is spreash in my mind because
I just rewatched it. There's a moment that something happens
with you and Cyrus about his ex wife, and Blair
uses it to come tell you the information, obviously because
she needs something, But then you kind of find out
(23:54):
the whole thing is because of your trust issues, because
of what happened with your gay husband. Um, and I
just want to talk a little bit about the relationship
with Cyrus because when when that came on, the dynamic
of YouTube was so lovely and great, and he's obviously
an incredible actor as well. Did you know right away
were they casting all around? I don't. I don't really
know the story with how he was cast, do you
(24:14):
guys know? I don't. I think it was an offer.
I think I'm sure it was an offer. Uh. And
I think once I knew that there, Cyrus was introduced
as I recall, and uh, you never got the scripts
way ahead of time, did we ladies know? So? So
then you just looked on the fall steet on who
was playing it and uh and I had known Wally
(24:35):
from mutual friends and of course you know I have
his aunt Damnon and Lemon play right here. So sign
he's a player eight and a stage actor and a
film actor as well, um, so I I knew him
socially a little bit through mutual friends, and then we
we knew it was a big site gig because I'm
(24:56):
five ten and he's not, and there's a big age
there's a big age difference. So we knew that they
were going for that. But both of us just sank
our feet very plant very firmly planted on the idea
that this was mutual respect and a lot of love.
They were both financially very comfortable, but it was mutual
(25:18):
respect and a lot of love, and I think that's
what made the relationship work great. Right. Also, we had
a chance with that relationship to see eleanor a little
softer sometimes giddy, you know, and those were really thrilling
moments to see, uh, to see that almost girl like quality.
It was just just being in love. So that was
one of the more pure love stories. I would say
(25:38):
on the show. It really was, and you really felt it.
It was like when he would talk to Blair about it,
I'm like, oh my gosh, he's like madly in love
with her mother. Like it was sweet, really sweet, right,
So that and that was they wrote that and then
Wally just you know, committed to it, and that that
I was very grateful for what I wasn't so grateful for,
(25:59):
wasn't they We danced at some party I don't remember.
I don't think it was my set, but they said,
uh okay, uh Wally and Eleanor dance which puts his
head right in my boobs and and then he dips her. Well,
I don't know, ladies, if you've been dipped, how often
you've been dipped, But when the guy is up to
(26:21):
your boobs, it's really hard to be dipped over in
his arms, right. So the director comes up and we're
approaching the scene. It's not the first thing up in
the day. And the director comes up and she says, well,
I didn't bother staging this because you know, I knew
your actors would would know how to handle it. And
I'm looking at her, going, oh, similar to what they
(26:42):
say with the sex scene. You guys, go ahead. I
didn't bother picking my shots to just do what you do.
Oh I should just do what I do. My husband
will be so pleased. So so like, oh, all of
a sudden, you're abdicating your job as a director. You
don't have a shot, you don't have any idea, So
you actors can just do what you do. Wally said,
I don't dance right, and he walks away. So the
(27:03):
directors throws her hands up, and I'm like, oh, well,
I dance a right. So I'm like, I don't know
what we're gonna do. So they're they're humming around and
walling around, and I'm going, this is this is hysterical.
Everybody's I called my husband. I say, how is while
I supposed to at me? My husband tells me how
to shoot it and how to do it. So I say,
(27:24):
while I came here, put your arms around me in
a in a in a dance position, one around my waist,
one in my hand, and then just walk about back
and forth to like this. You go and you can't
find the beat, and he won't find a beat, and
so I just say, step step, step step, So he
does that, I said, and now back me up towards
this couch. So I said, when I say knee, put
(27:49):
your foot on the couch bench, you know, put your
bent knee on the couch. So I go, step step
step step knee, and he put his knee on the
couch and I bent myself over and over. So and
then and then I stood up, and so so you
have to put the camera behind the couch and Wally
(28:12):
and I while he has his leg has to be
out of frame. And then it just looks like I'm
he's dipping me. And then I come up and we're great.
So I teach this to Wally. I show it to
the camera department. They're like, terrific. The set people move
the couch over so that we can do this. We
practice it twice. Wally feels like he's king of the world.
I'm like, that's pretty good. Director says terrific. We go
(28:34):
and get touched up. We come back and they have
put people on the couch, so there's like four inches
for Wally's foot. He's never gonna find that. Mark and
I told them, okay, great, this is how you want
it by you can find somebody to do this, Like
all right, They go, alright, alright. I said, get all
those people off the couch, get him all off couch,
(28:54):
and okay, So basically, you did direct it? I did
I do. You were like a savior. You came, you
had the shot mapped out. You know that's right, Mark
Hobby Hobby to the rescue. Have Wally bend you over
his Nate thank you. Yeah. I mean thinking about it
(29:15):
when you watch a scene where someone's dipping someone in
that it is mapped out and it is step by step,
and you have that you can't just be like, okay,
let's just do it, because it's never. Never. Even sometimes
when it's a simple dance, they have like instructors they're dancing.
Is very exhausting too, because like when they when you
have to dance on camera, you have to dance seven
million times. So that's the other thing I remember we
(29:37):
had because like I feel like Gossip Girl, we had
a lot of weddings. We had a lot of those
kind of parties and parties. Yeah, there was a big
um when I the episode I where Deronda got married
to Vanya, there was like a balloon dance where they
had to dance like the couples held a balloon in
between them and danced and you had to dance without
popping your balloon and really last couple standing one And
(29:59):
we did that for you know of course, So that
was you know, so it's like you get a lot
of it's fun for a minute and then you know,
but those scenes like on Gossip World have always been
so fantastic because there's so many background actors and you know,
one of the my favorite episodes is Deroda's wedding, which
was a big, a big one with Eleanor and Cyrus
(30:19):
because they were the ones who kind of you know,
Cyrus walked Roda down the aisle and and Eleanor had
to kind of concede to you know, treating Deroda like
part of the family, which was always you know, got
stuck in our crawl the time, you know, and they
bought um Deronda and vonyan apartment. So we had a
lot of really cute scenes you did there that that's
(30:40):
coming up in this it's coming up in this season.
And you know, also Dorota has babies and there's a
great scene with Eleanor and Cyrus where uh Dorota asks
them to be the godparents and they you know, are
there for the birth basically, which was a really fun
scene to shoot with Margaret and Wally uh Us in
the Little Newborn Babe Be So that was too. So
(31:03):
we had a lot of adventures, I mean, that's a
lot of stuff. Yeah. See, Eleanor was a sweet, sweet woman.
That was a nice thing to do. That kind of
brings us back around to this idea of Thanksgiving, which
(31:26):
is the season that we're in here in real life.
And also it was so present on Gossip Girl, and
you know, we had um such big Thanksgiving festivities, like
they went all out in the Waldorf household. Do you
have any memories of those Thanksgiving episodes, Margaret, I remember,
lots of turkeys, have lots of food. They're keeping your
spirits up with the endless. Eating is always a challenge,
(31:48):
the endless, it really. Yeah, twenty four people around the table,
twenty four different setups, you know, right, Yeah, lots of
coverage those are you know, Margaret, I'll remind you because
as the when the cool thing that we had about
Thanksgiving was the the Waldorf kitchen set was on location
and we would shoot those in that mansionette over by
(32:10):
a central park, and it was those guys had they
had I believe they had like the largest private collection
of Rodan and they had, um what yes, So the
lady of the house, I mean, the woman who lived there,
had a private gallery of Rodan statues and paintings. And
then there was Norman Rockwell in the breakfast nook. And
(32:31):
so we got to experience a really fantastic Gossip Girl
esque you know that was lampic, Yes, that was they had.
The holding was frequently the holding was we had our
trailers up on the street, but the holding was frequently
in the mansion and it was amazing. That was amazing.
I love that. And I think the last the last
(32:52):
thing where Blair is married and has a kid. But
the last thing we shot on location was there for
the like the season. Yeah, finally the final scene of
the finale. Yes, yeah, yeah, you're right. You and and
Whialie and I shot the last scene on the set
in the Gossip Girl. Yes, and we have cute, I
really cute pictures of it. Yeah. We were like in
(33:14):
bathrooms or something. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it was the last
it was. It was the end. Yeah, it's like sentimental
at the end, certainly. Yeah. I had a fun They
gave eleanor you know, because she was a designer. Um,
they gave her quite their career. And I remember having
a fashion Week episode where the fashion show went on,
and like you said, we had amazing extras and people
(33:38):
who had one line or something and they were so supportive.
We shot him one of these stunning buildings on the
west side, like Midtown. That was the whole side of
the building was like a wave of glass and it
was just an event space, I think. And they staged
Eleanor's um fashion show and I come out at the
end and I take this bow and it was, you know,
(33:58):
it was like very anchoring and very fun. And it
was because the extra is really most of the occasion.
They really cured and they got into it and they
called my name and then and then I hung out
with them quite a lot, so that when we had
to do it a couple of times, it was it
was even more fun. But that was that was a
really big kind of ego boosting highlight. It was a
lot of fun. And I remember this ridiculous line about models.
(34:21):
It's like hurting cats because and and and that was
one time that Blair and I were getting along quite well.
Because the models disappeared and I think she tried to
sabotage the fashion show. She had them all leave, and
I was like, where did they go? How do you?
How do you lose models? They wrote it really really
really like how do you lose models? Yes, I remember, hilarious.
(34:43):
It was hilarious. Well, and I think all behind it.
It was Jenny was there, she can't find the models,
But I think it was really Blair trying to do
that because of the whole thing was Serena. It was
like because I betrayed her. Yeah, there was a lot
going on in that episode. But the fashion looked amazing.
All the dresses were so I think kind of when
(35:03):
you look back at the show, that's one one of
the biggest fashion forward, like flashy, so exciting, the music,
Serena being in the fashion show. Your designs were great.
The designs from Jenny were really good. That Eric did
it just was very like dialed in and like glamorous. Yeah,
it was fun. Margaret, did you did you enjoy the
(35:25):
high fashioned aspect of playing eleanor are you a big
like glamour puss in your regular life? Or was it
fun dress up? Or was it stressed? Oh you know
the answer to that, girl, You know the answer to that. Yeah,
it was spanks hell. It was like, oh my god,
not another one. And and but the clothes he made me,
Eric made me look amazing. The whole creation creating of
(35:49):
the look I loved. Do I do it in my life?
How do you know it? Don't you know? I don't like.
You know, you never know, you might have a walking
around when you're stilettos, you know, for things I do
addressed for Thanksgiving at home, Margaret, I wear red when
(36:10):
I when I wear a lot of red as sooners
Thanksgiving through New Year's I'm in velvets as much as
I can, and they are very old velvets because they
make me feel but yeah, yeah, because it's fun. It
feels like Christmas. And I'm a mom, so I've borrowed
clothes for openings. My husband's very generous with lots of clothes.
(36:30):
Um expensive, gorgeous stuff. But um no, I've never worked
with a stylist or a designer or any of those things.
I like to look. Well, you have an inherent sense
of style, you do. You have really great Yeah, you
just just seem fashionable. So I love it. Okay, it
was like, I really believe that you're a fashion designer
(36:51):
at heart. So that was good. Being from New York,
I think, and I'm not from there, but I do think.
Out of a lot of shows and movies that I've watched,
I think they did a really good job with the
city and the show. Um do you feel like that
being from there, Yes, like there was something special about
it with with Gossip Girl, I think yes, I think
it was very heightened, very beautiful, very twinkly. A lot
(37:13):
of those hotels aren't there anymore, which I'm really thrilled
that it was captured. Um that the beauty of the bridges,
the way the city looks like a jewel box lit
up at night. Absolutely, But I I I constantly tell
when somebody else will scream out, you know it's Blair's
Wait a minute, you're that actress. Just like, are you
watching the show with your mother? Are you watching it
(37:36):
with an adult? Because they're not the values you know
they're they're just not It's not really like loaded up
with the good things that you want young women to
model themselves after. So I just keep saying, to watch
it with your mom. Let somebody tell you if this
could possibly ever happen, or if you think it's a
(37:57):
good idea. I mean, I remember Blair, Blair gets pregnant
or she thinks she's pregnant, and I'm like, oh, good luck,
and I send her off to her father in Europe.
And that was like sort of under the radar, like
we never spelled it out but it was like it
was with all the sex that all those kids were having,
you kids were having, and there's no talk of contraception.
(38:17):
There's no consequences. There's well there's plenty of heartbreak, but
there's no real consequences. So I was always you know,
and I remember Eleanor was really terrible. I don't even
remember how that story resolved. So the one that we know,
she didn't have a baby. So I don't either. I
don't know if that's come up yet. Yeah, we haven't
seen that yet, Margaret. Do you think that of all
the roles that you've played, and you've played some really
(38:38):
high profile roles and big movies and stuff, Uh, where
does Eleanor rank in terms of recognition on the street.
Do you find that you get a lot of gossip
girl love? I do. I get a lot of gossip
girl love a lot. I don't paint up usually in
my life. I've painted up for you gals, but I don't.
And then because I thought it was at noon, I
(38:59):
was all ed it up and ready to talk to you,
and then I had three hours to go, Oh you
got a face? Hould gonna do? So? Of course I
go to church because I go to church a lot,
and then on the corner are all these volunteers for
the A s p c A. And as I'm walking
past because I'm all painted up, they go, that's that's
that actress. That is a blairs mom, Blairs Mom. They
(39:19):
start screaming, and I'm like, waiting, gotta got a charge,
got a church. And then I'm then I'm voting today.
Everybody go vote um. And then we went to Yeah,
we went to lunch. My husband and I went to lunch.
And then people in the restaurant were going, uh, you know,
I love you on Gossip Girl. You know I hate
the fanboy about that. So usually I get away with
(39:41):
a lot of being anonymous until they hear my voice.
I just gonna ask that because it's so specific and
beautiful beautiful. Well thanks, but but because I don't paint up,
I'm usually pretty cash in my life, and they don't.
They don't. Yeah, if I stay quiet, then I'm anonymous.
If I talk, watch out for me. It's always when
(40:02):
I have my hair up in a ponytailer back then
I look more like de Rota. Otherwise it's not you know,
it's it's it's funny and you know, I have to
fan girl out on one other aspect of your career, Margaret,
because like I, you know, was a huge fan of Veep,
and like your your work on VIEP was so awesome
and so funny. So you have to tell us just
(40:22):
a little bit about what that was like and working
in and that I assume there's some improv and some
you know, a different format there than you know most television. Yeah,
you think. Um, they did write the script and then
the group of riders there would be on the sound
stage while you were shooting, obviously, and they'd be handheld
(40:44):
cameras going around and also stationary cameras going around, and
it moved really, really really fast, and then they would
shoot one and then they would power out. Twenty riders
would power out, including Julia Louis, even if she wasn't
in the scene or working that day, she would be there.
And then they would come up with it, Uh, let's
try it this way, Let's try it that way, let's
let's let's go faster, let's do all right, let's just
(41:05):
do half the scene again. It was it was fast,
and it was it was really surprising to me how
quickly I joined their world because they're not nice people.
The characters are ruthless, and I was like, I'm havitaball,
So yeah, I actually enjoyed it. And a lot of
those guys are stand up comedians, so the level of
intensity is quite high, and the quickness, the facility that
(41:30):
they have to come up with stuff and commit to it,
and in being such a high quality was throwing. There
was throwing. I had a blasts recognized from that, which
is probably good since she's one of the angriest people.
I love it. I love it, but it was your
nice winning a sag Award for it, I'll tell you
(41:51):
that much. That was lovely. But see that's you like,
I think you have comedy in your in your blood
because there was scenes too with even Eleanor that you
made funny that necessarily it probably wasn't that funny on
the page or had someone else kind of read it.
You brought a comedy to even Eleanor with with some
of this not so great stuff about Eleanor, you really
(42:13):
brought things that were we're great with her. Thank you, hone,
thank you. Yeah, you guys, you're so flattering. I don't
I don't deserve happens price. But I'm so thank you
for all the lovely things you said, and none of
it's true, but you're all a lot. You're both delightful
and I'm so happy to re visit a really happy
time in my life and to see that beautiful those
(42:33):
beautiful faces. And I just enjoyed working with you so much, Tosanni.
You gotta know that it was. We just had a
really great time together. Thank you, you really did. It
will always be very dear to my heart, and I
hope it happens again for me. I hope to get
another gig and walk in and Margaret, Me and eire Um.
So thank you so much for talking to us and
(42:54):
for being the most fantastic eleanor and bringing all of that. Yeah,
you brought so much to that role, and you brought
some much to the show that still means a lot
to a lot of people and they're watching it stuff. Yes,
I'm sure so many people are thrilled to hear you
today and to hear some of your behind the scenes
and your voice. It's such a beautiful, very specific voice.
But yes, thank you for joining us, and thank you
(43:16):
for your stories and just yeah, you brought a lot
of smiles to everyone's faces on the show. I know
that obviously everyone in the Waldor family loved working with
you and anyone I did too. I know we didn't
get too very much, so I agree with and I
hope that I book a show sometime soon and we're together.
That would make me very very happy. That was very,
(43:36):
very very blessed. So I wish you girls are lovely. Thanksgiving. Yes,
happy Thanksgiving to you. Also, do you have any any
projects you want us to be looking out for that
you want to share with everyone listening? Apparently I've done
my first Hallmark movie, Three Wise Men and a Baby,
and I am the mother of the three Wise Men.
(43:58):
And yes, maybe that's October on the Hallmark Chowel, so
oh my god, I love that alright. Yes, and if
you want another movie to watch, you can go and
watch my Christmas movie Designing Christmas that is streaming on
Discovery Plus. Okay, thank you, Margaret. Thanks by XO XO
(44:33):
is produced by Propagate Content and Meat Jessica's Or. Our
show is executive produced by Langley. Our producers are Diego Tapia,
Christin Vermilia, Emily car and Hannah Harris. Original music by
Moxie and Lun
Hi. I'm Margaret Colin and I play Eleanor on Gossip Girl.
Welcome back listeners. Do you want and only source into
(00:20):
all things gossip Girl? You know you'll love it. X
O x O. Hello, Hi, Margaret, ladies him good. I'm
it's three hours later. I tried to do this at
noon because I got the times wrong, so now it's
three o'clock in New York. I'm really looking forward to
(00:43):
talking to you. Do you know what's so funny? I've
done that too, where I like, I got on because
of the time zone. Yesterday we were recording and I
got on an hour early, and I'm like, where are
you guys, Like, what's going on? So I feel you
Are you in New York? Margaret, I am, I am?
And Diego got a call for me at nine o'clock
in l A. So that was nice. Uh, well, that
(01:05):
means you were just like really trying to make it happen,
which we appreciate. You're here. It's so cool to have
you here. I don't know when's the last time you
two have seen each other, because I haven't seen you
since we were filming, and we obviously didn't have that
many scenes together. But everyone loved working with you so much,
and I obviously am a huge fan of your work,
(01:26):
so I was always like, it's Vanessa Ever popping by
the by the well, you know, penthouse, so that I
could like have a scene with you, because obviously you're
a legend, not just in television if Broadway, just as
an actor. Yeah, you really are are. And you know, Margaret,
your name comes up a lot on this podcast, so
you were finally gracing us with your presence, which is
(01:49):
cool because a lot of people we've had other people
on who you know, have had such good experiences working
with you, and yeah, and especially me, I always talk
about you, so I'm lucky to have you. Before we
go any further, I just I want to take a
moment to actually introduce our guest I have on today,
the extraordinary Margaret Colin, who played Eleanor Waldorf on Gossip
(02:14):
orl for many seasons. So I was very lucky to
have a lot of scenes with her because of the
you know, my role in the Waldorf household. So this
is a real thrill um. So having her here today
is extra cool because this is our sort of Thanksgiving
time episode and I feel like we had a lot
of good Eleanor stuff in all of the thanksgivings of
(02:36):
Gossip Girl past, so it makes total sense that we
are together during this festive time. So welcome Margaret, Thank
you ladies. One of the titles was Blair Waldorf must Pie,
and that was a Thanksgiving where you and Blair had
a lot of tension. But I don't even I forgot
(02:57):
that that title because it's season one, episode nine, Blair
Waldife must Hie. Yes, it's hilarious, was it really? I
was really brutal to her with her, believe me, with
her Beliemia. I was like Eleanor was mocking her wonderfully evil. Yeah,
it was bad. I knew she was going to go
throw up. And I didn't even remember that. Yeah you remember, Susannah, Yes,
(03:21):
there was that was it was a theme that was earlier. Yeah, um,
eating disorder. I didn't even remember that, right. And our
marriage was breaking up, me with me and her dad.
You know, my gay husband was was ending up in
his he was taking up John Shay played the part
and he was taking up with Fella Roman. I seen
(03:42):
had to practice say yeah, yeah. There was a lot
of food, a lot of pie, and and Dorota always
there was always hysterical, so much food and I could
give you so much ship, and it was always hysterical,
like the looks with this woman when we would we
would try to get dinner done and I would smile
her hand for not cleaning up problem. We just had
(04:02):
ridiculous fun. Yes, You're always a joy to act with.
It was so much fun. Yes, Eleanor is a borderline abusive. Yeah,
Eleanor was buorderline abusive with up for Dorona, but it
was a lot of fodder for fun canceled right. Yeah,
I would have been so cacarious. Absolutely, It was really
funny because now I was like I would say the
(04:23):
lines really loud and slowly to you and treat Toronto
like she couldn't understand you or know what was right
right right because she's And I just asked this, was
that like your choice or was that something written like
or you or did you choose to have Eleanor do
that to her? Yeah? Yeah, I chose to be abusive. Yeah,
(04:48):
and it made them times, but I like I think
that those layers. Yeah, and then I just started doing
it in like one take and Susannah would pick up
on it and and she all her eyes and I'd
catch it and Blair would catch it. And it was
always more fun when it was actor driven, an actor created, like,
let the writers do their thing right, the best stuff
that you knew, and then let us, you know, take
(05:11):
it over. Let actors take it over. And it was
always wonderful to play with the Susannah and Layton because
they did pick up the ball at moment it we
we had a really what when it got bad was
when they would write it instead of doing their workers, well,
you know, the best word they could do as a writer.
They would say, and Eleanor does that thing that she does.
You're like, man, I don't know, let me just do
(05:33):
it right, Yeah, you like, we're the best words you
can and I'll figure out where to do that Eleanor
thing right. You know. It's it's funny because I learned
so much from working with you about you know, like
doing comedy on camera because you know, this, uh, this
job for me was my first kind of substantial on
on camera roll. And before that I had played some
(05:55):
you know, really uh put upon victims of crime, you know,
on Law and Orders and whatnot. So to be a
sort of comedic character working with you that kind of uh,
you know, finding where and when to do those little
improvisational moments, you know, and then to kind of know
which one stick and then hold onto them for continuity.
(06:15):
I mean, I just really I feel like we had
a little bit of a masterclass lighton and I when
we had the experience working with you and scenes. So
I know that's why I wanted to come work with
you guys, right exactly. And I also learned something which
I bring up a lot. It's always important to you know,
deliver the dialogue obviously has written, and to give them,
you know what, what they need for the scene. But
then sometimes there's a room for a little extra something.
(06:38):
And I feel like Margaret is a has a masterful
way with that, which is that she knows when to
sort of place in a little added button or something
at the end of the scenes so that you so
that they can use it or not use it, and
it helps the character grow because I don't think that
Eleanor Waldorf was as funny or colorful a character on
paper until you got your hands on it, Margaret. So
(06:59):
you know, that's what's fun I think about, you know,
you know, populating the roles with like amazing actors, especially
ones with your experience. Um and and we saw each
other not too long ago because we were we were
lucky and had this wild a couple of days on
set on the New Gossip orl on the reboot. So
(07:19):
we worked together, right, and did a cameo and I
had to speak Yiddish. You did? Yeah, it was wild. Yeah,
they made me Curseing Yiddish was terrifying. Yeah, you had
a whole paragraph. I had a whole paragraph and I'm
sweating just thinking about it because you couldn't download, like,
you know, like to practice, because they would make it
(07:41):
up as they felt like it. The writers would come
over and they go, oh, my grandmother used to say this,
and I'm like, I don't know what that is, and
then they they've recorded, and I'd listen to it and
listen to it, and then I have I'd have to
say it at the table, at the hanakah table, and
people are going, what is she saying? Does it mean?
And our writers, producers, directors wouldn't wouldn't answer them, and
(08:05):
then Molly would look at me, you know, for his take, like, yes,
I still don't know what I said. I think I
said anything like it should only happen to you what
happened to him, and but it wasn't you know, it
was not in anything you could learn ahead of time.
And of course, of course they made me loop it.
Oh my gosh, you had to go back and right
(08:27):
after after I've done it on stage and everybody watched me,
and I think he actually, Josh actually talked about one
of the funniest things was trying to get Margaret to
speak to curse and yet Ith and I was like, yeah,
I'm glad it was fun for you. It was. It
was hysterical, it was that is amazing and that's it
was so hot, wasn't it too? Oh it was, well,
you know, it was interesting. And I've mentioned this before,
(08:49):
but they had that whole scene lit with practical light
via candle, So we had like seven million candles lit
and it was like a Hanukah episode, so we had, right,
it was really dark and moody and romantic, but we
had a million candles, so it was like everything was
on fire and uh, but it was. It was funny.
So we had a lot of um of the sort
(09:10):
of Hanukah stuff and so the whole the whole cast
who was at the dinner party had to do some
prayers and things. So it was actually the funny fact
was that some of the producers and like crew had
to chime in. The people who actually knew those prayers
had to sort of help voice them because not everyone
could learn it, you know, on the fly. It's not easy, right, right,
(09:32):
and Wally had Wally had YouTube and said this, this
is someng, this is actually sung and they're all going yeah,
and I'm looking at him going okay, good luck and
then singing and cursing can get to show my two
favorite things. So I had to loop that as well
because we sang the prayers and I'm like, we'll go
to somebody. Since you've got Broadway stars there, you've got
(09:53):
Broadway singers. Let her, let the Benatti do it, give
it to her. Nope, you had to do a lot
of fun. I had to do it. Well, yeah, because
the beauty of Eleanor is that you know, she she
converted for Cyrus Rose and so she took it on
with great enthusiasm. So of course she's going to lead
the celebration, which was and there was a lot of
(10:14):
fun um, you know, snarky Eleanor stuff. The mom does
it anyway, and in the tradition right the prayer. So
it's like stressing me out because I'm thinking even when
I get to set and there's like a line change
and it's something that I know or some words or
language that I actually speak sort of get somewhere and
it's like a completely different language or prayer or something
(10:34):
you have never done or don't know, and it's like
on the spot and they're like, hey, do this. That's
like so stressed stressful to me. So hats off to
you for even like being like, yeah, I'm down, let's
do it. Because I'd be like do I need to
go to my trailer? Can I have? Because can we
write it down? But I mean that is like that's intense. Yeah,
there was no trailer. We were sitting outside under a tent, right.
(10:54):
We were sitting on the street in Brooklyn Heights just
waiting to Yeah. So we had a really nice day
because we were just down in the beautiful sunshine. But
I was gonna ask it. You know, we know that
in Gossip Girl pilot episode there was a different eleanor
so then as happened sometimes in TV and film, you know,
some time went by between the pilot and when the
show got picked up and then there was a recasting
(11:17):
and we got you in that role. So do you
remember what your process was like of getting the part
and sort of entering the project. It's a long time ago, girls,
I'll try to remember. Of course, I was. I was
happy to get the gig. I hadn't watched the O
c UM. I was living in Montclair, New Jersey with
my husband and my youngsters, my young son, and so
(11:38):
it would mean, you know, going across two rivers in
a city to get to work to Queens. So it
wasn't so great because we mostly shot in Queen's as
you know, so that was a that was a bit
of a hike. But they sent me the pilot and
I was like, it's really glamorous. The lighting is beautiful.
It's so it's a love story to New York. And
(11:58):
then I saw this, you know, really beautiful skinny young
woman say one line and I was like, well, what's
the matter with her? She just she did perfectly find
what do you what do you want? And then the
Stephanie asked for for us to have lunch, and I
came and have had lunch with her. When we talked
about it and where she wanted the part to go,
and she was kind of like, I didn't you know,
I don't. I don't know, Maybe because I would be
(12:21):
more recognizable, maybe because I've done a lot of shows
in New York that they wanted me to see if
I was interested in. So I didn't know Stephanie and
Josh at all. I had never watched the O c Um.
I had all many many shows that come to New
York I was in in some way or another. So
it's like sort of the repertory player for for New
(12:43):
York City. So I love that. So yeah, so I
said yes. And then the intense wore the clothes the
clothes with Eric was nuts. And and then there were
some logistics that I always get really difficult about, like
are gonna pick me up? Like the making of the
deal was was became became the next thing. And as
(13:05):
you probably know, I was never under contract. I was
always recurring. Actually that was interesting, Yeah, No, I never was.
I never was. Well, they were let you reoccur that
whole time. Yeah, they were like, We're going to reoccur
you till the end. They were going to reoccur me
till they possibly could, and I and and then that
also didn't obligate me. I could do plays, I could
(13:26):
do Broadway, I could do independent films, I could I
could be gone. But it worked, it worked pretty well
with my young family, and eventually we made a deal
that I was really happy with. And then I was
really I really looked out working with Susanna and Wally
and Layton. I really uh and and Eleanor was a
screen I mean I liked her when she was more evil.
(13:49):
I enjoy it. So yeah, I just thought I just
found an opportunity for her to be very selfish and
that would be the problem, Like, if you don't love me,
you're gonna pay for it. So anytime I felt like
Blair's character didn't love me after being abandoned by my
you know, gay husband, I would punish her one way
(14:09):
or another, I would I would punish her. So um,
and that was that was fun. But I do think
that they there was a huge love between Eleanor and Blair.
I mean I think there was. I just think she's
very selfish and for good reason. She's you know, her life,
her life just fell apart, right, And the more that
we saw those difficult moments with the two of them
than the sweet moments were very resonant. We saw one
(14:30):
we were watching, but we've been doing rewatching episodes and
we saw one recently that was a nice moment sort
of just the two of them in the mirror. And
you know, when you have those little lovely moments, you
see that relationship and it's very real and relatable. I mean,
I think so many people have those kind of relationships
with their parents. So and the first thing I want
to do is stand in front of a mirror with
(14:50):
a knockout young woman like Layton Master and and and
being the same shot with her, matching our bodies up.
That's my idea of a good When you the way
(15:16):
you played her, there would be times where like and
be like, oh my gosh, ouch that that was hard,
Like when you had Serena be the model instead of Blair,
like and and obviously the competition that Blair and Serena have,
you know, whether it's subconscious or consciously throughout the whole series,
that was like devastating to watch this like high school
(15:37):
girl like who she already kind of battles and feels
like she's in the shadow of Serena when you did that.
But there's something away the way that you play eleanor
that you never were like pissed at you are like
wanted Blair to like come up and like hate you,
like you just you always wanted them to somehow find
that connection again and that love that is there. And
I think that it really has to do with the
(15:57):
way you and Layton played that, because it could go
very wrong if you just leaned into the selfish uncaring,
you know what I mean, it wouldn't have been as
fun to watch or as much or or to be
able to connect to or fight for them or love
them when you do see the moments where you really
are coming through for her. So I just want to say,
like it's just really great. And there's something about when
when the outside when you get the exterior shot of
(16:21):
the penthouse and you know you're gonna come in, and
whether the scene would be with you two or with
Blair or with Wally, it was just very you knew
it was going to be very exciting, something interesting, and
that doesn't happen on a lot of shows sometimes if
it's not one storyline that you've been watching and so
dialed into, when it goes to another home or another set.
(16:41):
You kind of check out, like, oh, this is when
I'm gonna go get my you know, fill up my water.
This is when I'm gonna use the restroom. That doesn't
happen often on Gossip Growing. It really when it was
going to be the walldor Penthouse, it was exciting because
you just knew because there was the comedy was there
with with that family, the truth with like the relationship.
It was just a very I just loved it. I
(17:02):
loved it. I wish Vanessa was there more, even though
she really shouldn't have been, but I do. Uh yeah,
it was. It was also this like um no blessed oblige.
It was more money than you knew what to do with.
People got into college without really studying you know. Uh
you know again that the kids had the run of
the city. Um, and I would dump eleanor would dump
(17:25):
the parenting off onto Deronda all the time. But like,
the clothes were great, the lighting was great, the set
was gorgeous. So and we had that amazing staircase, you know,
that amazing you know way to play an entrance no more. Yeah,
as your true But I think I think shows make
a big mistake when I when I was coming up,
(17:47):
I was nineteen and I was on the edge of
Night and I was with Kim Hunter, played played my mom,
you know, Stella in Streetcar named Desire, and also she
just was off the planet of the Apes m movies.
So there I am with his Academy Award winning legend
huge stage actors, studio member stage were you know, huge, huge,
and and a bunch of other people of her generation.
(18:10):
And then you get the new people and you learned
how to behave on a set from those older, established,
brilliant actors. And I'm not brilliant like they were, but
I'm I have a body of work, so you kind
of really enjoyed. I really enjoyed. I loved learning from
those people when I was young. And I think the
(18:31):
really best shows that land the test of time have
the kind of multi generational aspect with people that are
very new to the business, with people who who know
their way around, uh, you know, as Susanna set comedy
and drama and timing and how to behave on a set.
So I think that's really it was wise on the
(18:52):
part of the c W and and the people that
I got to work with in particular picked it up
and ran ran with it as well. They wanted to
put their best foot forward. Margaret, you also have such
a you have so much experience on stage as a
as an actor in the theater, and you've done all
these incredible roles. And I think, you know that's another thing,
is like bringing that sensibility, you know, to be an
(19:14):
actor who's versed in acting in all genres. You know,
not everyone are gossip girls that had had those kind
of experiences. And I'm wondering, how are you and more
in love with working on camera on stage or you know,
do they hold different places in your heart? Where where's
your like original soul? I think I was most enamored
(19:35):
as a as a youngster of you know, the the
great Betty Bicall and Betty Davis and and you know
Bewitched and that Girl those shows when I was a
kid and in school, and I could catch those legendary
movies of the forties and the fifties, and then those
TV shows that were so positive, women driven. Um So,
(19:56):
my first inspiration to work probably came from seeing these
women on television telling telling these stories. But I went
to school, a public school on Long Island and Baldwin
and we had an amazing budget and amazing um volunteer
group of teachers and parents, so we did a school
play every year. So as soon as I knew I
(20:17):
could get on stage at kindergarten, yes please, oh yeah,
oh yeah. Telling another story, The Little Old Lady who
Loved Noise was my stage debut and I was the
title character. So um yeah. Mostly I can say I
want to work with the best people that I can
(20:37):
with the best material, So that goes back and forth,
depending on the waves of the business. Both of them
have a special place in my heart. And certainly, you know,
the need to stay viable in the business, the need
to get challenging roles, the need to put food on
the table, those are all, you know, really big factors
in a long career. So um the quickness of television
(21:00):
is delightful. The opportunity to create a role in a
rehearsal hall and develop nuance and go deep and create
history is uh invaluable. So they both are. They're both
pretty great, and then sometimes they just really want to
make some freaking money, right, I love it. You you
(21:20):
started or at least had a lot of experience in
the soap world right back in which is just which
is like a whole other world. And so I wonder
if you are so able to work on the fly
and like learn all this stuff and just be really
present because of the training, because it's pages of dialogue, right,
don't don't they film? Like I mean, it's like when
(21:42):
when I found out what they did, I'm like, I
don't even know how that's um as. You know, I
was a half hour, so it wasn't that many pages,
um as. The world charged was an hour. So we
would sometimes get sixty pages new every day, sometimes on location.
So short term memory is a really good thing. I mean,
(22:06):
Margaret and I sixty pages, yeah, but you know, you
shared it with the rest of the company. My husband,
Justin D's, would frequently get on all the soaps that
he was on. More than three times they dedicated the
entire hour to his character, so he would do the
sixty pages and yeah, a summation speech in court, or
(22:28):
sometimes he played his own mother and father and that
was prosthetics and shooting all three sides and then they edited. Yeah,
yeah was an animal. He's just wild. So you shall
the amount of time the pages with everybody else, but
it's really kind of read adator, drop it. Okay, let's go,
you know, and then and then and then like all right,
and then and then and you can do pickups in
(22:50):
daytime like you can with nighttime. You can all right,
let's take it from there, you know, and then you
start again, or you can do yeah, running a running
take on it, so they just keep going to get
it down. But yeah, the the Again, I worked with
really great people on those shows, so watching them um
focus on the story that they were telling. So yeah,
it does the working fast and and and finding the
(23:12):
character and finding something to hang your heart on so
that you really want to play this character. That definitely
came from my early work on television. It's we've already
talked about how that's what I like to do with Eleanor.
It's like it wasn't necessarily written that she was belligerent
and and needing to be you know, needing loyalty, but
that's what I found in the lines to play and
(23:33):
I yeah, that's definitely come from a lot of time
in front of the camera. Wow, actually speaking of that
the whole and this is spreash in my mind because
I just rewatched it. There's a moment that something happens
with you and Cyrus about his ex wife, and Blair
uses it to come tell you the information, obviously because
she needs something, But then you kind of find out
(23:54):
the whole thing is because of your trust issues, because
of what happened with your gay husband. Um, and I
just want to talk a little bit about the relationship
with Cyrus because when when that came on, the dynamic
of YouTube was so lovely and great, and he's obviously
an incredible actor as well. Did you know right away
were they casting all around? I don't. I don't really
know the story with how he was cast, do you
(24:14):
guys know? I don't. I think it was an offer.
I think I'm sure it was an offer. Uh. And
I think once I knew that there, Cyrus was introduced
as I recall, and uh, you never got the scripts
way ahead of time, did we ladies know? So? So
then you just looked on the fall steet on who
was playing it and uh and I had known Wally
(24:35):
from mutual friends and of course you know I have
his aunt Damnon and Lemon play right here. So sign
he's a player eight and a stage actor and a
film actor as well, um, so I I knew him
socially a little bit through mutual friends, and then we
we knew it was a big site gig because I'm
(24:56):
five ten and he's not, and there's a big age
there's a big age difference. So we knew that they
were going for that. But both of us just sank
our feet very plant very firmly planted on the idea
that this was mutual respect and a lot of love.
They were both financially very comfortable, but it was mutual
(25:18):
respect and a lot of love, and I think that's
what made the relationship work great. Right. Also, we had
a chance with that relationship to see eleanor a little
softer sometimes giddy, you know, and those were really thrilling
moments to see, uh, to see that almost girl like quality.
It was just just being in love. So that was
one of the more pure love stories. I would say
(25:38):
on the show. It really was, and you really felt it.
It was like when he would talk to Blair about it,
I'm like, oh my gosh, he's like madly in love
with her mother. Like it was sweet, really sweet, right,
So that and that was they wrote that and then
Wally just you know, committed to it, and that that
I was very grateful for what I wasn't so grateful for,
(25:59):
wasn't they We danced at some party I don't remember.
I don't think it was my set, but they said,
uh okay, uh Wally and Eleanor dance which puts his
head right in my boobs and and then he dips her. Well,
I don't know, ladies, if you've been dipped, how often
you've been dipped, But when the guy is up to
(26:21):
your boobs, it's really hard to be dipped over in
his arms, right. So the director comes up and we're
approaching the scene. It's not the first thing up in
the day. And the director comes up and she says, well,
I didn't bother staging this because you know, I knew
your actors would would know how to handle it. And
I'm looking at her, going, oh, similar to what they
(26:42):
say with the sex scene. You guys, go ahead. I
didn't bother picking my shots to just do what you do.
Oh I should just do what I do. My husband
will be so pleased. So so like, oh, all of
a sudden, you're abdicating your job as a director. You
don't have a shot, you don't have any idea, So
you actors can just do what you do. Wally said,
I don't dance right, and he walks away. So the
(27:03):
directors throws her hands up, and I'm like, oh, well,
I dance a right. So I'm like, I don't know
what we're gonna do. So they're they're humming around and
walling around, and I'm going, this is this is hysterical.
Everybody's I called my husband. I say, how is while
I supposed to at me? My husband tells me how
to shoot it and how to do it. So I say,
(27:24):
while I came here, put your arms around me in
a in a in a dance position, one around my waist,
one in my hand, and then just walk about back
and forth to like this. You go and you can't
find the beat, and he won't find a beat, and
so I just say, step step, step step, So he
does that, I said, and now back me up towards
this couch. So I said, when I say knee, put
(27:49):
your foot on the couch bench, you know, put your
bent knee on the couch. So I go, step step
step step knee, and he put his knee on the
couch and I bent myself over and over. So and
then and then I stood up, and so so you
have to put the camera behind the couch and Wally
(28:12):
and I while he has his leg has to be
out of frame. And then it just looks like I'm
he's dipping me. And then I come up and we're great.
So I teach this to Wally. I show it to
the camera department. They're like, terrific. The set people move
the couch over so that we can do this. We
practice it twice. Wally feels like he's king of the world.
I'm like, that's pretty good. Director says terrific. We go
(28:34):
and get touched up. We come back and they have
put people on the couch, so there's like four inches
for Wally's foot. He's never gonna find that. Mark and
I told them, okay, great, this is how you want
it by you can find somebody to do this, Like
all right, They go, alright, alright. I said, get all
those people off the couch, get him all off couch,
(28:54):
and okay, So basically, you did direct it? I did
I do. You were like a savior. You came, you
had the shot mapped out. You know that's right, Mark
Hobby Hobby to the rescue. Have Wally bend you over
his Nate thank you. Yeah. I mean thinking about it
(29:15):
when you watch a scene where someone's dipping someone in
that it is mapped out and it is step by step,
and you have that you can't just be like, okay,
let's just do it, because it's never. Never. Even sometimes
when it's a simple dance, they have like instructors they're dancing.
Is very exhausting too, because like when they when you
have to dance on camera, you have to dance seven
million times. So that's the other thing I remember we
(29:37):
had because like I feel like Gossip Girl, we had
a lot of weddings. We had a lot of those
kind of parties and parties. Yeah, there was a big
um when I the episode I where Deronda got married
to Vanya, there was like a balloon dance where they
had to dance like the couples held a balloon in
between them and danced and you had to dance without
popping your balloon and really last couple standing one And
(29:59):
we did that for you know of course, So that
was you know, so it's like you get a lot
of it's fun for a minute and then you know,
but those scenes like on Gossip World have always been
so fantastic because there's so many background actors and you know,
one of the my favorite episodes is Deroda's wedding, which
was a big, a big one with Eleanor and Cyrus
(30:19):
because they were the ones who kind of you know,
Cyrus walked Roda down the aisle and and Eleanor had
to kind of concede to you know, treating Deroda like
part of the family, which was always you know, got
stuck in our crawl the time, you know, and they
bought um Deronda and vonyan apartment. So we had a
lot of really cute scenes you did there that that's
(30:40):
coming up in this it's coming up in this season.
And you know, also Dorota has babies and there's a
great scene with Eleanor and Cyrus where uh Dorota asks
them to be the godparents and they you know, are
there for the birth basically, which was a really fun
scene to shoot with Margaret and Wally uh Us in
the Little Newborn Babe Be So that was too. So
(31:03):
we had a lot of adventures, I mean, that's a
lot of stuff. Yeah. See, Eleanor was a sweet, sweet woman.
That was a nice thing to do. That kind of
brings us back around to this idea of Thanksgiving, which
(31:26):
is the season that we're in here in real life.
And also it was so present on Gossip Girl, and
you know, we had um such big Thanksgiving festivities, like
they went all out in the Waldorf household. Do you
have any memories of those Thanksgiving episodes, Margaret, I remember,
lots of turkeys, have lots of food. They're keeping your
spirits up with the endless. Eating is always a challenge,
(31:48):
the endless, it really. Yeah, twenty four people around the table,
twenty four different setups, you know, right, Yeah, lots of
coverage those are you know, Margaret, I'll remind you because
as the when the cool thing that we had about
Thanksgiving was the the Waldorf kitchen set was on location
and we would shoot those in that mansionette over by
(32:10):
a central park, and it was those guys had they
had I believe they had like the largest private collection
of Rodan and they had, um what yes, So the
lady of the house, I mean, the woman who lived there,
had a private gallery of Rodan statues and paintings. And
then there was Norman Rockwell in the breakfast nook. And
(32:31):
so we got to experience a really fantastic Gossip Girl
esque you know that was lampic, Yes, that was they had.
The holding was frequently the holding was we had our
trailers up on the street, but the holding was frequently
in the mansion and it was amazing. That was amazing.
I love that. And I think the last the last
(32:52):
thing where Blair is married and has a kid. But
the last thing we shot on location was there for
the like the season. Yeah, finally the final scene of
the finale. Yes, yeah, yeah, you're right. You and and
Whialie and I shot the last scene on the set
in the Gossip Girl. Yes, and we have cute, I
really cute pictures of it. Yeah. We were like in
(33:14):
bathrooms or something. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it was the last
it was. It was the end. Yeah, it's like sentimental
at the end, certainly. Yeah. I had a fun They
gave eleanor you know, because she was a designer. Um,
they gave her quite their career. And I remember having
a fashion Week episode where the fashion show went on,
and like you said, we had amazing extras and people
(33:38):
who had one line or something and they were so supportive.
We shot him one of these stunning buildings on the
west side, like Midtown. That was the whole side of
the building was like a wave of glass and it
was just an event space, I think. And they staged
Eleanor's um fashion show and I come out at the
end and I take this bow and it was, you know,
(33:58):
it was like very anchoring and very fun. And it
was because the extra is really most of the occasion.
They really cured and they got into it and they
called my name and then and then I hung out
with them quite a lot, so that when we had
to do it a couple of times, it was it
was even more fun. But that was that was a
really big kind of ego boosting highlight. It was a
lot of fun. And I remember this ridiculous line about models.
(34:21):
It's like hurting cats because and and and that was
one time that Blair and I were getting along quite well.
Because the models disappeared and I think she tried to
sabotage the fashion show. She had them all leave, and
I was like, where did they go? How do you?
How do you lose models? They wrote it really really
really like how do you lose models? Yes, I remember, hilarious.
(34:43):
It was hilarious. Well, and I think all behind it.
It was Jenny was there, she can't find the models,
But I think it was really Blair trying to do
that because of the whole thing was Serena. It was
like because I betrayed her. Yeah, there was a lot
going on in that episode. But the fashion looked amazing.
All the dresses were so I think kind of when
(35:03):
you look back at the show, that's one one of
the biggest fashion forward, like flashy, so exciting, the music,
Serena being in the fashion show. Your designs were great.
The designs from Jenny were really good. That Eric did
it just was very like dialed in and like glamorous. Yeah,
it was fun. Margaret, did you did you enjoy the
(35:25):
high fashioned aspect of playing eleanor are you a big
like glamour puss in your regular life? Or was it
fun dress up? Or was it stressed? Oh you know
the answer to that, girl, You know the answer to that. Yeah,
it was spanks hell. It was like, oh my god,
not another one. And and but the clothes he made me,
Eric made me look amazing. The whole creation creating of
(35:49):
the look I loved. Do I do it in my life?
How do you know it? Don't you know? I don't like.
You know, you never know, you might have a walking
around when you're stilettos, you know, for things I do
addressed for Thanksgiving at home, Margaret, I wear red when
(36:10):
I when I wear a lot of red as sooners
Thanksgiving through New Year's I'm in velvets as much as
I can, and they are very old velvets because they
make me feel but yeah, yeah, because it's fun. It
feels like Christmas. And I'm a mom, so I've borrowed
clothes for openings. My husband's very generous with lots of clothes.
(36:30):
Um expensive, gorgeous stuff. But um no, I've never worked
with a stylist or a designer or any of those things.
I like to look. Well, you have an inherent sense
of style, you do. You have really great Yeah, you
just just seem fashionable. So I love it. Okay, it
was like, I really believe that you're a fashion designer
(36:51):
at heart. So that was good. Being from New York,
I think, and I'm not from there, but I do think.
Out of a lot of shows and movies that I've watched,
I think they did a really good job with the
city and the show. Um do you feel like that
being from there, Yes, like there was something special about
it with with Gossip Girl, I think yes, I think
it was very heightened, very beautiful, very twinkly. A lot
(37:13):
of those hotels aren't there anymore, which I'm really thrilled
that it was captured. Um that the beauty of the bridges,
the way the city looks like a jewel box lit
up at night. Absolutely, But I I I constantly tell
when somebody else will scream out, you know it's Blair's
Wait a minute, you're that actress. Just like, are you
watching the show with your mother? Are you watching it
(37:36):
with an adult? Because they're not the values you know
they're they're just not It's not really like loaded up
with the good things that you want young women to
model themselves after. So I just keep saying, to watch
it with your mom. Let somebody tell you if this
could possibly ever happen, or if you think it's a
(37:57):
good idea. I mean, I remember Blair, Blair gets pregnant
or she thinks she's pregnant, and I'm like, oh, good luck,
and I send her off to her father in Europe.
And that was like sort of under the radar, like
we never spelled it out but it was like it
was with all the sex that all those kids were having,
you kids were having, and there's no talk of contraception.
(38:17):
There's no consequences. There's well there's plenty of heartbreak, but
there's no real consequences. So I was always you know,
and I remember Eleanor was really terrible. I don't even
remember how that story resolved. So the one that we know,
she didn't have a baby. So I don't either. I
don't know if that's come up yet. Yeah, we haven't
seen that yet, Margaret. Do you think that of all
the roles that you've played, and you've played some really
(38:38):
high profile roles and big movies and stuff, Uh, where
does Eleanor rank in terms of recognition on the street.
Do you find that you get a lot of gossip
girl love? I do. I get a lot of gossip
girl love a lot. I don't paint up usually in
my life. I've painted up for you gals, but I don't.
And then because I thought it was at noon, I
(38:59):
was all ed it up and ready to talk to you,
and then I had three hours to go, Oh you
got a face? Hould gonna do? So? Of course I
go to church because I go to church a lot,
and then on the corner are all these volunteers for
the A s p c A. And as I'm walking
past because I'm all painted up, they go, that's that's
that actress. That is a blairs mom, Blairs Mom. They
(39:19):
start screaming, and I'm like, waiting, gotta got a charge,
got a church. And then I'm then I'm voting today.
Everybody go vote um. And then we went to Yeah,
we went to lunch. My husband and I went to lunch.
And then people in the restaurant were going, uh, you know,
I love you on Gossip Girl. You know I hate
the fanboy about that. So usually I get away with
(39:41):
a lot of being anonymous until they hear my voice.
I just gonna ask that because it's so specific and
beautiful beautiful. Well thanks, but but because I don't paint up,
I'm usually pretty cash in my life, and they don't.
They don't. Yeah, if I stay quiet, then I'm anonymous.
If I talk, watch out for me. It's always when
(40:02):
I have my hair up in a ponytailer back then
I look more like de Rota. Otherwise it's not you know,
it's it's it's funny and you know, I have to
fan girl out on one other aspect of your career, Margaret,
because like I, you know, was a huge fan of Veep,
and like your your work on VIEP was so awesome
and so funny. So you have to tell us just
(40:22):
a little bit about what that was like and working
in and that I assume there's some improv and some
you know, a different format there than you know most television. Yeah,
you think. Um, they did write the script and then
the group of riders there would be on the sound
stage while you were shooting, obviously, and they'd be handheld
(40:44):
cameras going around and also stationary cameras going around, and
it moved really, really really fast, and then they would
shoot one and then they would power out. Twenty riders
would power out, including Julia Louis, even if she wasn't
in the scene or working that day, she would be there.
And then they would come up with it, Uh, let's
try it this way, Let's try it that way, let's
let's let's go faster, let's do all right, let's just
(41:05):
do half the scene again. It was it was fast,
and it was it was really surprising to me how
quickly I joined their world because they're not nice people.
The characters are ruthless, and I was like, I'm havitaball,
So yeah, I actually enjoyed it. And a lot of
those guys are stand up comedians, so the level of
intensity is quite high, and the quickness, the facility that
(41:30):
they have to come up with stuff and commit to it,
and in being such a high quality was throwing. There
was throwing. I had a blasts recognized from that, which
is probably good since she's one of the angriest people.
I love it. I love it, but it was your
nice winning a sag Award for it, I'll tell you
(41:51):
that much. That was lovely. But see that's you like,
I think you have comedy in your in your blood
because there was scenes too with even Eleanor that you
made funny that necessarily it probably wasn't that funny on
the page or had someone else kind of read it.
You brought a comedy to even Eleanor with with some
of this not so great stuff about Eleanor, you really
(42:13):
brought things that were we're great with her. Thank you, hone,
thank you. Yeah, you guys, you're so flattering. I don't
I don't deserve happens price. But I'm so thank you
for all the lovely things you said, and none of
it's true, but you're all a lot. You're both delightful
and I'm so happy to re visit a really happy
time in my life and to see that beautiful those
(42:33):
beautiful faces. And I just enjoyed working with you so much, Tosanni.
You gotta know that it was. We just had a
really great time together. Thank you, you really did. It
will always be very dear to my heart, and I
hope it happens again for me. I hope to get
another gig and walk in and Margaret, Me and eire Um.
So thank you so much for talking to us and
(42:54):
for being the most fantastic eleanor and bringing all of that. Yeah,
you brought so much to that role, and you brought
some much to the show that still means a lot
to a lot of people and they're watching it stuff. Yes,
I'm sure so many people are thrilled to hear you
today and to hear some of your behind the scenes
and your voice. It's such a beautiful, very specific voice.
But yes, thank you for joining us, and thank you
(43:16):
for your stories and just yeah, you brought a lot
of smiles to everyone's faces on the show. I know
that obviously everyone in the Waldor family loved working with
you and anyone I did too. I know we didn't
get too very much, so I agree with and I
hope that I book a show sometime soon and we're together.
That would make me very very happy. That was very,
(43:36):
very very blessed. So I wish you girls are lovely. Thanksgiving. Yes,
happy Thanksgiving to you. Also, do you have any any
projects you want us to be looking out for that
you want to share with everyone listening? Apparently I've done
my first Hallmark movie, Three Wise Men and a Baby,
and I am the mother of the three Wise Men.
(43:58):
And yes, maybe that's October on the Hallmark Chowel, so
oh my god, I love that alright. Yes, and if
you want another movie to watch, you can go and
watch my Christmas movie Designing Christmas that is streaming on
Discovery Plus. Okay, thank you, Margaret. Thanks by XO XO
(44:33):
is produced by Propagate Content and Meat Jessica's Or. Our
show is executive produced by Langley. Our producers are Diego Tapia,
Christin Vermilia, Emily car and Hannah Harris. Original music by
Moxie and Lun
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