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THE ‘BULL’

Congratulations are in order for the reason that Elisabeth’s new series on TNT Bull has gotten picked up for another nine episodes completing their run for their first season. And what a great feather in her cap for Liz to have two successful characters gracing the screen each week! "Yeah, totally. I’m really psyched that everybody’s going to cooperate and let me do Angel as well because I really love being there." Did you have a separate contract with Bull then? "Well, they’re just being nice," she states. "I think it’s also because Angel was around first and it was my first break. People can generally be very good and they know that I really care about this character and I love everybody there.

The Bull Cast: Christopher Wiehl, Elisabeth Rohm, Malik Yoba, George Newbern, Stanley Tucci, Ian Kahn and Alicia Coppola

I’ll go over to Angel when I’m not working and hang out. I really get alone with people there and my producer on Bull just said, ‘you want to do it and I want you to be happy. And you’re the one who’s exhausting yourself, so you tell me when you want to say mercy,’ " she recalls laughing. "He’s awesome, my producer. Both of them, David Greenwalt and Michael Chernachin, they’re awesome!"

Bull, the new one hour drama, follows the path of six ambitious investment bankers and traders who break away from an established financial firm and risk everything to start their own company. Also among the cast ensemble is Elizabeth Anne Allen, better known to Buffy fans as Amy ‘the Rat’ Madison. Bull airs on Tuesday nights at 10:00pm EST on TNT. Did you know anything about stock trading before you landed the part of Alison Jeffers? "No, not at all," confesses Liz. "Before we shot I did some research for a week down on Wall Street, but prior to getting cast I had no idea. My family is very business oriented and they know a lot about stocks and investments. My father’s a lawyer and my step-mother’s an entrepreneur and my mom is a writer. My mom is like the spiritual, creative side of me and my father and my step mother are more of the entrepreneurial business side of me." Liz goes on to tell about her encounter down on the trading floor and if you’ve never experienced it, it isn’t something you’re likely to forget. "I went down on Wall Street and I was like blown away by how cool it is! It is unreal, I mean you feel so involved in the world being on a trading floor. Because you’re witnessing a global situation. You’re witnessing the money and commodities and stocks and all aspects of commerce globally.

"I went down on Wall Street and I was like blown away by how cool it is!"

You’re seeing people make and lose money right in front of your eyes. Your finger is on the pulse of life. It’s bazaar and I walked out of there shaking. I had so much anxiety after the first day, I was so nervous I needed a drink. And I’m not that person at all. I was like, ‘I need a drink, I gotta relax,’ " she says laughing.

Liz portrays Alison Jeffers and although she has a few similarities to Kate Lockley the two are very different as we’ll see but first Liz give’s us a little insight in Alison’s character. "Basically I have a father that refused to acknowledge my existence. My mother was a secretary and had gotten pregnant to this very, very big person and she said ‘I’m pregnant’ and he said, ‘Go fuck yourself.’ So growing up with a very famous father that wouldn’t even acknowledge my presence kind of begins to come out about my story line. I think basically, that’s a big part of Alison. I mean, this girl has been so betrayed and has been so abandoned. She doesn’t trust anyone. It’s exactly why she ends up falling in love with Hunter Lasky (Stanley Tucci) because she gets into a situation where it’s not about love and vulnerability. It’s about messing with each other, manipulating each other. I mean, in a real loving relationship, which I hope to have one day, I believe that love is about safety and trust and you’ve got to be vulnerable for that and she’s not vulnerable.

"I have yet to meet a client who hasn’t walked away happy." ~ Alison Jeffers

She’s completely controlling the entire situation with him and everybody else. She doesn’t let anybody in, she’s very protected. But the thing is at the bottom of that type of personality is somebody who’s very much broken. But she’s very strong too, she’s a survivor. I mean, she is what she is. She’s very protected and cautious but she’s one heck of a strong woman."

A great opportunity for Liz, as an actress, is getting the chance to grow and develop and stretch with the character. "It’s really great because she’s got two sides," Liz agrees. "There’s the side of her that’s very tough and like, ‘you will not mess with me.’ And there’s the part of her that’s very raw because she’s been through a lot. So she can be very loving." Yet, at the same time does Liz worry about getting stereotyped into these strong, independent yet vulnerable female rolls? "I definitely feel I’m being given woman that are strong but damaged. Damaged is good, damaged is very interesting to play. But at the same time you want to be able to play everything. I don’t think that Kate and Alison are alike. I think this year you’re going to see a big change in Kate. And I think you were seeing it towards the end of last year. Kate went from being very vulnerable and very loving and wanting to love to being very protected and Alison’s going from being very protected to wanting to be loved. So they’re doing the opposite. Alison is more of a woman and Kate’s still more of a girl. And everything in life is about love and fear. Whatever motivates me in a moment could be the love of something or the fear of something. That’s just the human condition. I definitely think I’m getting stereotyped in the sense that I’m being put in woman rolls that are darker, which you've got to really fight against. The best thing would be to do some romantic comedy, right now just as a career move."

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