Emmy-nominated Ingram gets as much screen time as her Oscar-winning co-star and has just as many tantalizing dramatic scenes. “When I imagined myself being an actor, this was the kind of work I saw myself doing,” Ingram said. She invited many hustler single mothers she knew growing up in Maryland to take on the role.
Because Ingram only had about two weeks to prepare for the series — and she was parachuting into a shoot that required an extremely complex sequence, “I came to work scared every day,” she said. She filmed the following scenes without knowing how the previous scene would play out and had to completely trust Har’el to guide her. “She would say, ‘Okay, a little bit of this, a little bit of this, a little bit of this.’” When Ingram finally watched the first episode, she said, “I just cried, cried, cried , cried…It is truly the most fulfilling thing I have done in my career so far.”
Ingram had never met Portman before the project, but watched her movies “religiously” growing up — and name-checked Where is the heart? as a special hobby. (“I’m obsessed with the woman who gave birth in Walmart,” she laughs.) So it was incredible to not only be cast opposite Portman but also receive a letter of support from her.
“When I got the job, she sent me a lovely letter welcoming me to the project and expressing her confidence in what I could bring to the project. It’s always really great when you get into this atmosphere with people who don’t know you, but you get to know them so well when you watch them. But the idea that someone you respect so much is willing to meet you beyond the things she’s seen you play…” Ingram continued. “It’s good to be seen.”
Portman said that, due to the length of the shoot and the fact that Maddie and Cleo’s complex stories involved revealing past secrets in different timelines, filming was “incredibly more difficult.” times more than making a movie.”
“Cross-skating is probably television’s biggest problem,” Har’el added, outlining the show’s 489 scenes. “I come from shooting Honey, where the entire filming process was 19 days. This is 106 days. I was on the show for the first time and some of the scenes were murder mysteries, some were dances, some were musical performances and some were just character driven and deep into a dialogue . She is still recovering: “I want to celebrate because I can’t believe I survived. It took three and a half years.”
During the script writing, directing and performing process Lady in the Lake, Har’el has also become a mother, giving birth to a baby girl who she holds on her chest while editing the series. This experience, she says, brought her closer to Maddie and Cleo.
“This show is about two mothers, so I felt like I got to get into my characters in the middle and get to know them better,” Ha’rel said. “Things that might have impressed me from the outside when I started doing it…by the time I finished, I saw from a different, incredibly profound perspective the whole experience.”
