The cast and producers of Madam Secretary spoke about inspirations during PaleyFest on Friday night. The crowd got a little inside look at the characters and the show they love.
Téa Leoni got to meet the former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright before she took on her role as Madam Secretary.
“She’s a hoot. I mean she’s a firecracker. She’s this tiny little thing. Rumor has it, she can bench 350. Which is like eight of her,” she said.
The actress said Madeleine was very helpful but was also a source of her fear. The former secretary of state had a list for Téa about what she wanted her to get across and it was very intimidating for the actress.
Madeleine wasn’t the only source of influence for Téa’s character. Her greatest influence she said was her father:
I fell like I really watched my father for this role. He was probably my greatest inspiration. He’s really the greatest diplomat I’ve ever known and been ruled by. He has a way of making you feel like you’re the only person in the room and that what you are saying is valid and what he has to offer is worth it. And I think I’m starting to see that that’s a lot of what Elizabeth is up to.
When you watch the show, that’s really what you see in Elizabeth. She’s so commanding but also makes you feel like your opinions are valid.
One of the biggest things you’ll notice on this show is how strong Elizabeth and Henry’s relationship is.
Tim Daly said the relationship is unique on television and not because it’s good and without its problems, but because they work through those problems. They see those problems as challenges to overcome and make their relationship stronger.
You can look at Elizabeth and think what a great role model she is, but Tim believes there is a different role model on the show:
“I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, in some ways the easy thing to say is madam secretary is a great role model for women but we’ve had three women secretary of states in the real world. I think in some ways and there are certain political candidates I think could learn from this. The real role model in this show is Henry because he is a man who’s strong enough and frankly has the balls enough to support his wife and to love her and not be threatened by her and try to undermine her in any way.”
With this statement from Tim, the crowd gave their biggest applaud of the night. In this day and age with women climbing the ladder, it’s nice to have a show to illustrate what a power couple is supposed to be. Henry has his own career goals and challenges and they work as a team with the kids. Elizabeth and Henry really are #relationshipgoals.
Tim met Hillary and Bill Clinton at the Democratic Convention.
Bill had to know how he can do the spy work too. He said he knows all about being married to the secretary of state but he didn’t get to do the spy work that Henry does. Tim offered to have him come on the show.
Then when Tim was in line to get his picture taken with Hillary, she got very excited to see him and said she loved the show.
While this election is going on, Keith Carradine has people come up to him all the time calling him “Mr. President.”
“The thing I’m not crazy about is when people come up to me and say I’m writing you in,” he said. “Not only would I never want that job for real but don’t waste the vote.”
While we have an election going on, there’s an election going on on the show too.
Zeljko Ivanek had some interesting words to say on the current story arc:
The balance always is at what point does maintaining power actually start to undermine what you’re’ trying to do. That’s one of the things I like about the election story is the one question, at what point are you staying in power for the sake of power and at what point are you doing it to do the right thing?
The crowd seemed to be stunned into silence in that moment before applauding.
Make sure to tune into Madam Secretary Mondays at 9/8c pm to see how their election story will unfold. Plus, you won’t want to miss the incredible relationship of Elizabeth and Henry.
