Michelle Forbes Fans United!

Michelle Forbes greets fans at Newsroom Premiere at Archlight in Hollywood

Nanouk — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:01:44 GMT

Kristin & Michelle Award Bino

Nanouk — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 12:58:54 GMT

Emmywatch: The Killing, actor Michelle Forbes

Nanouk — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:25:19 GMT

Emmy's Michelle Forbes arrives

Nanouk — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:24:28 GMT

Emmy Roundtable: Six degrees

Nanouk — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:23:36 GMT

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Emmy roundtable: Six degrees of an Emmy nomination?

It's a small world. For actors, the world is even tinier.

So it makes sense the group of first-time nominees we gathered to take part in an Emmys roundtable -- Michelle Forbes ("The Killing"), Josh Charles ("The Good Wife"), Johnny Galecki ("The Big Bang Theory") and Walton Goggins ("Justfied") -- have a bit of history among them.

Galecki is the godfather of Goggins' son and Charles and Forbes worked together in the HBO drama "In Treatment." And the connections don't end there. Charles' costar on CBS' "The Good Wife," Christina Baranski, has appeared on Galecki's "The Big Bang Theory" as Sheldon's mother.

"The next thing I do, my character will be named Galecki or I won't do it," Goggins joked. (For more, see the video below)

The roundtable was moderated by Los Angeles Times TV critic Mary McNamara last week in anticipation of Sunday's 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. Goggins and Charles are nominated in the supporting actor in a drama category. Forbes is up for supporting actress in a drama category. Galecki received his first Emmy nomination for lead actor in a comedy.

Showtracker will post additional clips from the gathering so check back for more.

Here is the video: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2011/09/emmy-roundtable-six-degrees-of-an-emmy-nomination.html

Michelle Forbes Makes a 'Killing' as a Character Actor

Nanouk — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 09:53:06 GMT

Michelle Forbes Makes a 'Killing' as a Character Actor

By Jenelle Riley

May 30, 2011

Photo by AMC

In her varied career, Michelle Forbes has played her share of authority figures. From a tough medical examiner ("Homicide: Life on the Street") to a presidential aide ("24") to a space admiral ("Battlestar Galactica"), steely determination comes easy to the Austin, Texas, native. But on AMC's mystery procedural "The Killing," Forbes plays Mitch Larsen, the grieving working-class mother to a murdered teenage girl. It's the type of role that has evaded Forbes until this point. Asked why she's never cast in such parts, Forbes says with a laugh, "I think it's the eyebrows."

Indeed, her exotic beauty has made her a natural for roles as wide-ranging as a Bajoran alien in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and, most recently, on "True Blood" as a magical creature that seduces the entire town. "I'm tall and I have a deep voice," Forbes continues. "So I get cast as a lot of authoritative, upper-class people. This was a welcome change."

Other facts about the versatile actor:

1. Mitch wasn't the only role she was considered for.

Casting directors Libby Goldstein and Junie Lowry-Johnson originally told Forbes to look at two roles; in addition to Mitch, they wanted her to consider Sarah, the female cop heading the investigation. Though Sarah was the lead role, Forbes responded to Mitch. "I could not get Mitch out of my head," she says. "I'd been looking, maybe even on a subconscious level, to play a working-class mother, for some time. I don't often get cast in those roles. Also, I was coming off of 'True Blood,' where I played a sex-mad seductress, and I always like my next job to be different. And this story fell into my lap."

2. She embraces the nomadic lifestyle of an actor.

Because "The Killing" focuses on one crime for the season, the odds are good that Mitch won't return for a second season, unless the case isn't solved by the finale. But Forbes has a habit of joining shows for shorter runs: She played a patient on the freshman season of "In Treatment" and knew when she signed on to "True Blood" it would only be for a limited time. In addition, she turned down the opportunity to reprise her "Star Trek" character in the spinoff "Deep Space Nine." Says Forbes, "I'm usually quite happy to move on to the next project, even when it's an extraordinary group of people. I just enjoy my freedom so much, and I'm always excited to move on to the next project. I've always wanted the career of a character actor and the freedom to play as many different characters as possible."

3. She landed her first agent at age 16.

As a teenager, Forbes attended a performing arts high school in Houston. But her big break came while she was visiting her elder sister in New York. "Honestly, it was so long ago, I can't even remember how it all happened," she says. "I was talking to somebody at a party, and they introduced me to another person, and it went on and on, and before I knew it, I wound up in the office of a guy named Leo Bookman at William Morris, and he was talking about me moving to New York." A few weeks later, Forbes made the move to the city, but work didn't come immediately. She spent a few years "living on couches and floors and staying in crazy lofts on the Lower East Side" and waitressing before she landed the dual roles of Solita Carrera and Sonni Carrera Lewis on "Guiding Light" at 22.

4. In her first film role, she starred opposite Brad Pitt.

Forbes played a photographer involved with David Duchovny in the 1993 thriller "Kalifornia," in which the pair find themselves on the road trip from hell with a strange couple, played by Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis. Forbes says it was evident to everyone on the film that Pitt had a bright future. "There was just something extremely special about him," she recalls. "And I think what I always really admired about him is that he was being really pushed into being that pretty-boy, leading-man guy, but he was all about the work. He was an incredibly hard worker. He didn't care about anything else. He didn't care about the fame; he didn't care about all that nonsense. It really irritated him, as far as I recall. And I really admired and respected that about him."

5. She's still learning new things about acting.

One of the reasons Forbes loves acting is that she's always making new discoveries. "That's the most gorgeous thing about what we do, is that it's bottomless," she says. "There's always something you can learn about working with the camera, and how you fit into that frame, and how you're fitting into that cinemagraphic language." She adds that she particularly enjoys working with children and nonactors. "Then, you really learn something. On 'Homicide,' they used a lot of nonactors, and it was amazing to watch them do it for the first time and not bring any of that intellect to it—to just play pretend. And they're actually more open and less cynical than a lot of actors who've been around for a long time."

Outtakes

– Other films include "Swimming With Sharks," "Escape From L.A.," and "Perfume"

– Received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for her work on "Guiding Light" in 1990

– Cites casting directors Libby Goldstein and Junie Lowry-Johnson (who cast her in "The Killing") as longtime supporters through her career. Among the shows they've cast her on: "Star Trek," "In Treatment," and "True Blood."

Michelle Forbes on Her Most Difficult Roles

"They're all difficult in different ways. The format of 'In Treatment' was stressful; we didn't know if it would work. Two people sitting in a room and having to learn 26 pages of dialogue with no rehearsal, all in close-up—that was terrifying. 'The Killing' has been difficult because of the relentlessness of the grief involved. And 'True Blood' was extraordinarily difficult in the sense that when someone tells you you're going to seduce an entire town and be completely blissful with no attachments to violence and death—well, that was probably the most terrifying. It's easy, as humans, to tap into grief and suffering and loss—we understand that. If you ask anybody if they really want to be happy, they'll tell you they will. But if you offer it to them, they wouldn't know what to do with it."

Michelle Forbes is making a ‘Killing’ on cable

Nanouk — Fri, 13 May 2011 09:07:14 GMT

On AMC’s new drama "The Killing,” Michelle Forbes dives into some heavy material as Mitch Larsen, the grieving mother of a murdered teenage girl. Surprisingly, though, the 46-year-old actress finds the role to be one of her easier ones.

"It’s not a pleasant place to go, but it’s actually an easy circumstance to deal with in the sense that it’s so heightened, so emotionally affecting and so horrifying,” she says.

"The Killing” is based on the popular Danish television show "Forbrydelsen,” and although Forbes had the option to watch it before filming the American version, she chose not to.

"You’d never want to poach another actor’s hard work, and you also don’t want to be intimidated by their performance,” she says. "I found it best to just interpret the words as they came at me.”

And she’s able to do so, she says, thanks to the creative liberties that come with a cable show.

"The major networks, they’re having to appeal to a broader audience and so they can’t be as risky with their writing. ... I think cable just gives you more freedom.”

FRANK OCKENFELS/AMC

Michelle Forbes plays the mother of a murdered teen on "The Killing,”?airing Sundays at 10 p.m. on AMC.

Laughter cures what ails 'The Killing' star Michelle Forbes

Nanouk — Fri, 13 May 2011 09:05:06 GMT

Laughter cures what ails 'The Killing' star Michelle Forbes

Michelle Forbes plays a grieving mother in "The Killing." (AMC)

By Curt Wagner RedEye

12:03 p.m. CDT, May 6, 2011

Someday, TV viewers will see Michelle Forbes smile.

"Eventually, one day, I’m gonna hit a comedy. What do you think?” she asked during a recent phone conversation.

She might have to after "The Killing,” the gut-wrenching AMC drama in which she gives a shattering performance as Mitch Larsen, a mother so lost in grief after the murder of her teen daughter that she can barely function. The series, which airs at 9 p.m. Sundays, is based on the Danish hit "Forbrydelsen,” and follows the investigation into Rosie Larsen’s death by Seattle detectives Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman).

It’s become AMC’s latest critical and popular hit after such dramas as "Mad Men,” "Breaking Bad” and "The Waking Dead.”

Unlike most U.S. police dramas, "The Killing” closely examines how violent death affects those left behind. Both Forbes and Brent Sexton, riveting as Mitch’s husband, Stan, show the pain, anger and desperation of parents struggling with such a heartbreaking loss.

"The Killing" was just the kind of project Forbes was looking for after playing the orgy-loving maenad Maryann in Season 2 of "True Blood.” Unlike many viewers, Forbes thought that role was fun ("I was having the time of my life”). She wanted something more dramatic—and found Mitch.

"I just became obsessed with Mitch and just felt that I had something to offer this woman in inhabiting her…,” she said. "I guess there is a bit of a masochistic tendency in actors … but it takes a very odd person, I suppose, to want to put yourself in that position, to inhabit a soul who is in such deep grief and bereavement.”

A few years ago, Forbes won praise for playing another mother dealing with grief—in a completely different, more violent way—in the spellbinding Canadian drama "Durham County” (see it if you can). Although she loves the challenge of such difficult roles, it does take a toll. And that’s where laughter comes in. Forbes, a fan of British comedy, has a surefire way to decompress after "sleeping and breathing” a character for a five-month shoot.

"For me, it’s always about laughter,” she said, citing "Fawlty Towers,” "That Mitchell & Webb Show,” "Peep Show” and the American comedy "Strangers with Candy” as the shows that got her through "The Killing.”

"I think the danger is that you can flip too far into [the character]. I’m not a method actor, trust me. But it has a way of just seeping in and before you know it, your shoulders are still up around your ears but it’s a beautiful Saturday afternoon,” she said, laughing. "So yes, I lean towards farcical and absurdist humor.”

Forbes, whom I met a few years ago at San Diego Comic-Con during The Mighty Boosh Bash, a performance by the British comedy duo Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding, talked more about her comedic tastes, working on "The Killing” and our mutual love for "H.R. PufnStuf.” Please check out the full Q&A below.

Stan (Brent Sexton) and Mitch Larsen (Michelle Forbes) prepare for their daughter's funeral in "The Killing." (AMC)

I thought of you when I read that "H.R. PufnStuf” was coming out on DVD.
Get out!

I remember how you described The Mighty Boosh as "‘H.R. PufnStuf’ and glam rock on LSD and mushrooms.” So I thought of you. [Read "Michelle Forbes explores dark side in ‘Durham County’"]
[Laughs.] I loved "H.R. Pufnstuf” as a kid! That’s probably what led me down sort of my absurdist, surrealist aesthetic, as a matter of fact. You had the big evil Witchiepoo. It didn’t scare kids; it was very funny. Yeah, it was also very funny. I loved that show.

You in one of those roles completely opposite of that right now. It’s funny because, well, you’re fun. I’ve hung out with you; you’re fun. And we don’t see that on the screen with you, ever. I guess Maryann had fun in her own way, but nobody else thought that was fun.
Nobody else thought it was, boy yeah. [Laughs.] But I was having the time of my life.

It looked that way. I’ve seen some of "The Killing,” and wow. Gut-wrenching.
I haven’t seen any of it.

Well guess what? You’re really good in it.
[Laughs.] Well, if Curt says so.

How did you find it?
I’d been looking for something completely antithetical to Maryann and when this sort of found its way onto my lap one day, I just became obsessed with Mitch and just felt that I had something to offer this woman in inhabiting her and really looking—[laughs]. This sounds silly to say, but hey, I guess there is a bit of a masochistic tendency in actors, I’m discovering. ... It takes a very odd person, I suppose, to want to put yourself in that position, to inhabit a soul who is in such deep grief and bereavement and to sit in it for five months is, as I’m nearing the end of it, I’m looking back and thinking, "This is a very odd way to earn a living.”

And having been through it on "Durham County,” you’d think I would have learned my lesson, but this was so different to Pen even, that I really wanted to play someone who was an every woman. And how something that is this brutal and heinous and random, how it affects not only her in her grief, but her family. How the family fragments after this event. How it affects each of them differently and how everyone grieves differently.

Right. She seems such a force and confident and a no BS type of gal early on, then she completely shuts down. It’s shocking.
Yeah, and I think that’s something that I was somewhat aware of and what I wanted to do. But you still don’t know exactly what’s coming down the pike. I think what’s been interesting for me playing Mitch is [that] we all have these ideas of ourselves and how we will behave in certain situations, [like] being, perhaps, a victim of random violence yourself, or how you’ll be when you experience loss. And I think no one is more surprised than Mitch at her inability to really continue functioning.

She’s someone who has always thought of herself as being capable and is the matriarch of this family and has held this family together against all odds. And I think in her own mind she’s rather formidable and I think when this platelet shift happens in her life, she’s really struggling for, not consciously, but she’s really struggling for her own identity again because she’s become somebody she doesn’t recognize herself. And it’s no more surprising to her than it is to anyone else, which is an interesting thing.

We talked about how in "Durham County,” playing Pen, it was sort of the exploration of female rage. Is this role sort of the exploration of grief?
Yes. I think what’s interesting about Pen for me was that it was grief coupled with the fracturing of her soul and her mind on top of it. I would almost say that that role was more difficult because it was so, Laurie’s writing, it was so tricky in what she was trying to convey. And to carry that rage and that grief and that self-loathing was incredibly hard. And I think in this, it is just very straightforward grief. And that’s difficult in its own right, challenging in its own right.

There are certainly cinematic similarities in the sense that it is very broody, and I think the pace is slower. And I think that once you get outside of America—because this is adapted from a Danish series—like a lot of the BBC copper shows, the pace tends to be a lot slower. There’s a Swedish show called "Wallander” which, again, is very cinematic and it’s a much slower paced. And "Durham County” was the same. You can really focus on telling a deeper, richer story when you’re telling a story over say, 13 episodes or six episodes and you’re not having to sort of fill in 22 hours.

Right. I really want to ask you if she snaps out of it and comes back into her own, but I also don’t want to know that.
[Laughs.] It’s a journey. I think like anyone experiencing bereavement, you’re in and out of it. And what’s interesting for me, what I really was hoping to explore and wanted to explore was the different ways in which we grieve. And sometimes within a family or within two people, the rhythms are different. That can cause conflict and confusion when everyone’s sort of in shock. And there are still children to take care of and businesses to run and you must deal with everyday life, and yet, who functions and who doesn’t and does that change as time goes on. Everyone has their own rhythm and their own grief. And that’s why, I mean, in life I think, at every moment we’re constantly assessing and judging each other to some degree.

But in the world of bereavement and grief, I would never have an ounce of judgment in how anyone goes about it because we’re all just such different animals.

Is it cathartic, I guess, to be able to let that kind of stuff loose?
Sure, I mean, once you’ve done it, it’s good to get it out of your system. Once you’ve sat there for X amount of months with these images in your head and start imagining what this woman is going through to finally get out onto the stage and sort of get it out of your system, release it, is… that’s a relief, absolutely.

And you do sort of live with that for a while before you do it? You think about it? You do a lot of prep in that way?
Oh sure. Sure. I mean, you end up sleeping and breathing it. You just have to make your imaginary world your first world. And make those images and those spells real to you and by the time you get to set, you’re just [laughs] you’re ready to expel it and get onto the next thing. And that’s why I think "Durham County” took a toll on me physically as well, but that was just three months. This has been five months. You just don’t realize the toll that it takes on your body, carrying this grief. I mean, not to sound like a sissy, but after a while when your shoulders are up around your ears and your stomach is sort of in pain, yeah, after about four months of that, you’re like, "Oh heavens. When’s the end of the schedule? I want to go back to watching ‘HR Pufnstuff!’”

It’s tough to watch; I can’t imagine your end of it. So what is your way to decompress? Do you go kick a tire? Do you find as much laughter as you can?
You know, for me, it’s always about laughter. "The Mighty Boosh” got me through "Durham County,” and for this one I found that I went high farce and I watched both seasons of "Fawlty Towers.” And I’ve watched every season of "Strangers with Candy.”

Oh, that’s great.
That’s where I went. I think that’s what I need to just sort of pull myself back into that sort of like that high, absurdist humor. And there’s also, if you don’t know about this duo, you should: "Mitchell and Webb.”

Oh yeah, yeah.
Another British comedy duo. Yeah, right? And "Peep Show,” I was watching some of them. I was watching "Peep Show” on You Tube. I think the danger is that you can flip too far into it [the character]. I’m not a method actor, trust me. But it has a way of just seeping in and before you know it, your shoulders are still up around your ears but it’s a beautiful Saturday afternoon. [Laughs.] So yes, I lean toward farcical and absurdist humor.

You really like that British stuff, don’t you?
I would say that I probably the only person who knows more about British comedy history than me is Scott Adsit. [Laughs.] It’s impressive, how much he knows.

These days what role are you most recognized for?
I would say these days, Maryann. I think ["True Blood”] just had such a massive audience and it’s still on the air. I think it was such a fantastical, over-the-top character as well. I would say these days, that one.

You haven’t really been series regular in a long time. You’ve been on for a season, but not forever, so to speak. Do you prefer not to be?
Yeah. I think I have a commitment issue. [Laughs.] I really do have that gypsy heart and I’m always anxious to get onto the next story.

It’s gotten better. I think as television writing has gotten better and the stories have gotten better, I’m less terrified of signing on for a seven-year contract, but there’s something just terrifying about being attached to a show, to one story, not to a show in particular, but to a story for seven years. It’s a marriage.

I tend to be a bit restless by nature, so I like to sort of go and explore all of these different worlds. I mean, to play a psycho admiral in space ["Battlestar Galactica: Razor”] and a frustrated housewife on "In Treatment,” and you know, a pagan sex goddess who has claws. [Laughs.] Yes, I feel very fortunate to jump in and out of all these different things and just keep switching it up.

I mentioned on Twitter that I was talking to you and some of the responses I got were: "Don’t accept any of her pies.”
[Laughs.]

"Don’t bring extra towels” and "her performances are always high quality” and "one of my top 10 favorite actresses.”
Oh, that’s so sweet.

You do these one-season parts and have all these fans, which is great.
Well, I’ve just been really fortunate to land in all these really great shows, too.

Thanks again for talking and maybe I guess this isn’t the kind of show that would be at Comic-Con, but who knows, maybe we’ll see each other again sometime.
[Laughs.] Yeah, probably not. Maybe at Murder-Con or something. But I’ll tell you what, when we finish the season, I’m going to be ordering that "H.R. Pufnstuf” DVD immediately.

Michelle Forbes on The Killing, Rats, and Her ‘New Hero,’ Dan Harmon

Nanouk — Fri, 13 May 2011 09:03:26 GMT

Michelle Forbes on The Killing, Rats, and Her ‘New Hero,’ Dan Harmon

5/12/11 at 10:45 AM
11Comments

Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Over her almost-25-year career, Michelle Forbes, the Texas-bred actress, has popped up in pretty much every conceivable genre of television — sci-fi (Battlestar Galactica), camp fantasia (True Blood), action (24), drama (In Treatment), comedy (Seinfeld). These days, the perennial guest star can be found in another drama, AMC's The Killing, playing Mitch Larsen, the glassy-eyed, grief-stricken mother of a murdered girl. Vulture asked the 46-year-old ex-punk rocker to walk us through her wily, winding career.

When was the last time you were recognized?
The other night at a restaurant one of the servers was glaring at me, and I thought What have I done? He's like, "Ohmygawd it is you from True Blood. You scared me so much." With Maryann [True Blood's maenad], I think a lot of people tended to get scared by my presence. I had no idea that's what we were doing — I thought she was hilarious.

She knew how to make an entrance.
When Alan Ball [the show's creator] offers you an entrance where you're standing naked in the middle of the road with a pig, you're like, "Yeah, let's go bring it." I'll do it standing on my head if you like. But if I am at a party, people are disappointed I'm not concocting some sort of orgy.

Speaking of debauchery, what was it like moving alone to Manhattan's East Village when you were just 16?
I went to New York on a holiday, and I just ended up staying there. It was pretty brutal in those days. Being an old punk rocker, I pulled a lot from that period for Maryann. That whole period was just about breaking down boundaries and pushing the envelope of morality. New York is so different now. I barely recognize it. There were buildings that were burnt out and boarded up, and there were burning trash cans and rats running through the streets.

There are still rats!
When I was shooting The Killing, I was living in this fantastic little loft in [Vancouver's] Gastown. It was this old brothel with a breezeway by the entrance. I walked into the breezeway one evening and a rat sort of raced at me. And I thought, Aw, it's just like New York back in the day. I felt weirdly nostalgic.

On The Killing, we're starting to see a change in your character, Mitch — maybe something darker?
I think what was good about Mitch's journey is that she's not only dealing with the gutting heartbreak of losing her child, but she also starts to be betrayed by everyone around her. She starts to realize that everyone is lying to her on some level. And it's maddening. You can't get to the bottom of your grief and find any closure, because you have to deal with yet another betrayal.

So where is this leading?
I can't give anything away. I must tell you that once we finished filming, I went into voluntary amnesia.

You have to do a lot of crying for the part. What do you think about to get the tears going?
I don't have kids, but you think about your daughter being stolen from you. There were times I couldn't stop crying. Loss on any level can be paralyzing. In a strange way, that's far easier to play than, say, Maryann, who is completely in her bliss. I think that's more foreign for us than wrapping your head around sorrow. That is a very comfortable emotion for us. We all say we want to be happy, but if that was really offered to us, how terrified of it would we be?

You've come a long way since landing your first role, on Guiding Light, in 1987. How did playing a schizophrenic Venezuelan psychiatrist prepare you for this career?
[Laughs.] I do recall I ran around in a Catholic-school uniform quite a bit. Um, and I had a cigarette and a gun inside the uniform. And there was a goat on set for some reason. He came over and started urinating on my shoe. I remember thinking, Is this really the path you wanna go down? And I said, "Yes, yes it is!"

You've also appeared on Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and a couple of Star Trek series. Is it safe to say you have a geek following?
I guess so. It's an odd thing, because people equate me with the sci-fi world, but in truth, I've only done fourteen hours of science fiction. I think the sci-fi fan base is so massive and so committed. Some [encounters] are ultimately embarrassing. Once, this person got down on their knees, and I was like, "Oh my God! Get up!" At a convention you would expect that, but this was so bloody random.

As a veteran of television, are there series that you're pretty addicted to yourself?
I think one of my favorite shows right now is that damn Community! Oh my God, where did that come from? I don't know who Dan Harmon [the creator] is, but he is my new hero. I met that cast at an awards show, and I loved each and every one of them. Both the paintball episodes were just fantastic! Those writers are such wonderful nerds, and they're obviously movie geeks. And the show sort of came out of nowhere, didn’t it?

'The Killing's' Michelle Forbes does a 180 from 'True Blood'

Nanouk — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:22:06 GMT

In AMC's new series "The Killing," Michelle Forbes plays a woman whose teenage daughter has been murdered, and it delves deeply into her and her family's grief.

So in other words, she's about as far removed from Maryann Forester on "True Blood" as it's possible to get.

"That was indeed the point," Forbes tells Zap2it with a laugh.

"The Killing," which premieres April 3, follows the aftermath of the killing of a 17-year-old girl named Rosie Larsen (Katie Findlay) in Seattle. It follows the homicide detectives (Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman) who catch the case, a city councilman (Billy Campbell) who has a connection to the case, and Rosie's family, including parents Mitch (Forbes) and Stan Larsen (Brent Sexton).

The family "is part of this very sad kitchen-sink drama," Forbes says in the video above, which we shot with her Monday (March 21) following her appearance on the KTLA morning show. "It takes each [episode] as a 24-hour period. You really get to experience grief as it happens moment to moment, as opposed to glossing over the bits that are ugly to watch and uncomfortable to watch."

Forbes -- who's also appeared on "24," "Battlestar Galactica," "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Homicide" -- says that while she was looking for something different after "True Blood," she's not always looking for a changeup.

"Sometimes there's somebody you want to work with -- like on 'In Treatment,' I heard [director] Rodrigo Garcia and [series lead] Gabriel Byrne, and I just sort of jumped at the chance to do it," she says. "Sometimes there's a new genre you want to look at ... it really all depends. And in this case, when I read the story, this character, Mitch, just jumped out at me. There was no getting away from her. So sometimes I think it chooses you."

Hit play on the video above (as well as the one below, from KTLA) to hear more from Forbes on "The Killing." The series premieres at 9 p.m. ET Sunday, April 3 on AMC.

Click here for the video's at the website