Jewel Staite is not only known for being one of the most successful and talented Canadian actresses, but in recent years, she has been recognized for portraying Abigail Bianchi in the series Family Law, where we see her sharing the screen with prominent stars such as Victor Garber, Genelle Williams, Lauren Holly and Zach Smadu.
The popular comedic show about lawyers and a somewhat peculiar family is back with its new episodes, belonging to the third season. Once again, the story continues with the family dramas of the Svensson clan, who, while trying to fulfill their duties, also help other people.
The 41-year-old female star who brings Abby to life spoke with Spoiler in an open-hearted interview and confessed about the creation of her character, how she has been involved in it, what the experience of working with the series creator Susin Nielsen was like, how important the filming in Vancouver was, what fans can expect and more…
Jewel Staite open heart: What did the actress say about Family Law?
Legal dramas have had quite a bit of success in recent years, and titles like Better Call Saul and Suits have become popular. What do you feel is different and special about the story of Family Law?
Family Law is about layers working in a law firm, but for the most part it is a show about a family. So, the cases are there for sure. They’re very topical. They’re fun to watch. Sometimes they’re heartbreaking to watch, but for the most part, the show is about this family who is very reluctantly working together. They’re all a hot mess. They all have all kinds of trauma. They all have unspoken things that they should have said to each other a long time ago and it creates this very messy work environment. So it’s a family show more than anything, but a very flawed family.
Many actors infuse their own personalities into their characters. Do you feel that Abigail Bianchi is similar to you? In what aspects? What do you have in common?
Well, I think we have the same sense of humor. So I feel like over the years, the writers have written a little bit more comedy for me to do, which is so fun for me. I love that part of playing the character. I love that she’s just willing to say whatever she feels like saying. I wish I could be like that. I always say that I have more tact than Abby. Just a little bit more, not a lot more. But yeah, I think that we both use humor to get through tough situations in life. And I just love that about her.
Fans are looking forward to the new episodes. So, what can they expect from the relationship between Abigail, her father and her siblings? Will there be more drama, or will the plot shift towards comedy?
There’s a fair amount of drama in season 3, I’m not going to lie. I think it’s time for a reckoning to happen with a lot of the characters. We’ve been building up this tension, right? Building up these stories. There’s tension between Abby and Daniel. There’s tension between Daniel and Harry, and it’s getting worse. So, season three, we finally get to see it come to a head. There are some really explosive moments.
There’s some really emotional moments that I think needed to happen between these characters, where we get to see their vulnerability finally a little bit more. These people are so unwilling to be vulnerable with each other. And a lot of the time I’m going like, God, if only you told him how much he’s hurt you and how much that hurts to hear that, but they’re just not willing to do it. Right. So finally the walls come down a little bit.
And then of course, there are outside factors that happen. Everyone’s getting into new relationships. So there’s a lot of that going on. There’s these new love affairs happening that bring out all kinds of challenges. And with Abby in particular, she is faced with a really difficult decision near the end of season three that I found really shocking. Reading the script, I thought, oh my God, I hope we have a season four because we can’t leave it like that. This is an awful way to leave the show. So luckily we’ll be able to go back to the story and wrap that up for the audience. There’s just no way we can leave people hanging like that. So yeah, there’s definitely more drama for sure this year.
From the beginning of the series, we saw how Abby’s character has evolved, and she is no longer trying to save her previous life but rather attempting to rebuild it. What awaits her this time? Will she have a bit of peace, or will problems not be far behind to find her?
I think it took Abby a long time to admit that she had flaws. And once she did admit that she had flaws, I think it took her a long time to figure out what to do with that, how to heal from that, how to navigate that. And the key to that has been choosing to stay sober for herself rather than anyone else. In the beginning, she was choosing to stay sober to get her family back together.
That was like her only goal was to get this family back together. But I think what she didn’t realize was how unhappy she was in that family, how unhappy she was in that marriage and how unhealthy that marriage was. So that realization really hit her hard and gave her the strength to walk away and to figure out how to be happy, truly happy within herself. I think she also realized it was better for her kids too, for her marriage to not be the thing anymore, to stop fighting for this thing that was already dead.
So yeah, she’s on a different journey, but it’s not over, you know, there’s a lot of pain there that she is still masking and she’s going to be challenged and try to figure out whether she wants to stay on this path of healing, of making the right decisions, or if she’s going to go back to a more predictable sort of way of being and veer off the path.
What was it like working with Susin Nielsen?
I love Susin. Susin’s a genius. She’s just like, she’s just, she’s the best boss. She’s like a mom. She cares about us very much. She’s very sensitive, which I love about her. She’s emotional like I am, so the two of us are like, you know, we have these great conversations about the characters and she’s an amazing writer but she’s also really secretive. So people ask me like did you have any input or did you know what was going to happen? I don’t know what’s going to happen ever, ever.
I get the script and I’m seriously reading. Everyone laughs at me because I’m on set and we’re filming and I’m like reading the script between takes and they’re like are you reading? What are you doing? I’m like I need to know. I need to know what happens. Are you dying to know? Yeah, because she doesn’t tell us anything. So it’s always a surprise to us how the story unfolds.
So far, the show is set in Vancouver. For you, as a Canadian, was it an important factor that the production showcased the best of Canada?
I was surprised that I finally was reading a show that was based in Vancouver and wasn’t going to shy away from it. I think I’ve only had that once before in my career, where it was a show that was willing to be set in Vancouver and play the city for what it was. So as a local, it’s really fun for me. landmarks in the city and certain restaurants that are really popular here.
It’s really neat to just be able to see Vancouver showcased in this really beautiful way. They have these beautiful shots of the city looking incredible. And have people see it and be able to appreciate it for what it is. It’s just this lovely hidden gem that a lot of people don’t know about.
Is there any episode of Season 3 that is your favorite?
I’ve got a couple. There’s a really, there’s a beautiful, very sad one about a family with an autistic child that really got me. It’s a toughie to watch, but also a really important episode for people to see. And I think our finale is bananas. It’s um, there’s a lot going on. And thank God we’ll have more episodes after that at some point, because I feel like every single character in that episode is in some sort of turmoil. It’s just like, you know, emotional bombs going off everywhere. So I can’t, can’t wait for people to see it, because I gasp reading it. It’s a shock.
Could you indefinitely develop the character? Were you able to add your touch to it, to Abby?
A little bit. I mean there are certain things I think the writers see within us as actors that they love to adopt into the character. They get to know you as you’re filming and they go, okay that’s interesting. So they start to write certain isms, certain, you know, things that we naturally do that sometimes we’re not even aware of. Those get inserted into our characters.
But things like wardrobe, we have a little bit of input into that. Things that I feel like Abby would wear. Things that make me feel like I’m more in character. I’m a big fan of high heels. One of our producers was like, he’s always shaking his head at me because he’s like, why are you wearing those shoes? Those look like the most uncomfortable shoes known to man.
I’m like, you don’t understand. It’s a thing. Like when I put on the shoe, I feel more powerful. Like I feel, you know, when I’m strutting around in a courtroom, I need to have a good shoe on and a good suit to make me feel like I’m in power. Certain things like that we have some say for sure. And I get to keep the shoes at the end.