Eager fans are desperate to know more about the ferociously strong-willed Beth Pearson [Susan Kelechi Watson] in the finale of This Is Us. The newest episode, Bethany Clarke premieres on February 19th, and all of our burning questions will be answered!
We all know Beth to be the supportive, hardworking wife and mother but lately the fierce Beth that we all know and love is starting to break down. After losing her job and feeling a little lost with no purpose, it’s becoming more and more apparent that Beth has weaknesses and we need to know where they stem from. The Knockturnal was able to screen the episode and in true This Is Us fashion, it did not disappoint. We will be introduced to a young Beth as well as a teenage Beth but more importantly, we get to meet her parents! If you’ve been following the teasers, you already know that the iconic Phylicia Rashad will be playing Beth’s mother as Carl Lumbly plays her father. We will even get a little sneak of a younger, less guarded Zoe [Melanie Liburd] as well as a brief appearance of a bright eyed, shy Randall [Sterling K. Brown]. Without giving too much away, I can say we will learn about Beth’s passion for ballet and see the defining moment that changed her from a timid child to the strong woman that we now recognize. Following the screening, there was a panel discussion with Susan Kelechi Watson, Melanie Liburd, Eboni Freeman (the writer), Kay Oyegun and the episode Director. Be sure to check out the discussion below where we address what went into forming Beth’s back story, what the future holds for Beth, if we should get used to Phylicia Rashad being around and much more!
Eboni, I wanted to ask you a couple things. First of all, they always talk about how this show is planned out five years in advance, and so forth. This female episode seems so much like something so current that came out of last year. Did this evolve fairly soon, the idea of doing the show ‑‑ basically an all‑female show ‑‑ in front of the cameras and behind the cameras?
Eboni Freeman: Yeah, it was a pretty amazing experience, to say the least. But I think that, like Dan had mentioned earlier, that when we were talking about what we wanted to do for Season 3, I think a lot of people were yearning for a Beth backstory, just because everybody really loved the character and, she’s such a beloved character. And so, that was something that I think was heavily on Dan’s mind and Isaac and Elizabeth, our showrunners. And so, I think just in doing that and doing her backstory, and kind of pulling from Susan’s dance background and my dance background, it kind of organically came from there.
And then, as you thought it through, did any of that evolve from your own experience? Were your parents very encouraging of you to go, or were they ones who said, “This is a crazy dream”?
Eboni Freeman: I think my parents were very encouraging, but, yes, a lot of the story came out of some of my background in training for ballet. And actually, it’s been full circle because I was a student at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. And now Debbie Allen’s sister, Phylicia Rashad, is in this episode. So, it was really a full‑circle moment. But the difference is that I think I had my own realization, where I ended up quitting myself when I was a teen. And so, it’s a little bit different from what we decided for Beth’s backstory. But we really wanted to create this character with her mother and, really, the dynamic of their relationship and the differences between this father that she idolized and this mother who was a great mother, but she was just a lot more stern and strict and had a more ‑‑ a different approach to how she wanted to raise her children.
Can you talk about the casting for this episode and how you were able to find two young actresses that look like they could be Beth? And how long does that take?
Elizabeth Berger: Our casting department is incredible. We found our youngest version pretty quickly, and then, the search for teen Beth was really hard because, at that point, we really wanted her to, sort of, have elements of Susan. And, obviously, Susan gives such a specific, incredible performance, but, obviously, also brings her own stuff to the table. And it was really tricky. And we went through seeing a lot of people. And then, our wonderful casting guy, Josh, he sent us an e‑mail. I think it was actually called, “Sometimes, she just walks through the door.” And then, you know, he was very excited and already, immediately sold. And then, we met her, and we watched her read with Niles, and she had a little bit of Susan’s swagger. We were so impressed that we saw these, sort of, shades of her, and we just all fell in love with her. But it’s really a credit to how amazing our casting department is.
And Susan, do you get to meet them and spend time with them so they can, you know, get to know you and play you better?
Susan Kelechi Watson: You know, Rachel [Rachel Naomi Hilson], who plays teen Beth, said that she actually studied the show, you know, to study Beth. Because I was watching her, and I was like, “What”? “I do that?” And it was things that looked familiar to me, but I didn’t realize I do. We all do things that we don’t realize, and then, I don’t realize I do as the character, you know? And she was very much doing very specific Beth things. And so, casting is just phenomenal. But what Rachel did; I thought she was amazing. I mean, she’s beautiful. And they ‑‑ you know, hair and makeup is amazing because they found contacts with, the ‑‑ I have a mole in my eye, which is a very, sort of, specific thing, and they found that, and they put that ‑‑ and stuck that in her eye. And then, they had, a little mole on her face. And so, she helped to contextualize Beth for me, you know, aside from the beauty that was written on the page. That was such a help. It informed me to actually step outside of Beth and watch her so that I could be a bit objective because I’m so close to her. So, it gave me clues about who Beth is as well.
What is your favorite part of the character that you get to play with Beth?
Susan Kelechi Watson: I love her humor. I think that’s always fun to play. They always ‑‑ you know, every now and then, I get these lines that are just hysterical that make me smile, and it’s a joy to play. You know, I always think of Beth as, like, an every woman. I say it all the time, but I think representation is so important. And I’m so excited that I get to play a black woman whose just normal and just, you know, is striving just to do her best in life. And I think through doing that, it represents, you know, the every woman, no matter what ethnicity you are, but that there is a place just to be living your life and trying to find your dream and support your man and, you know, get your kids off to school. And those things that seem mundane and, sort of, ordinary are the things that ground us in this life; are the things that are of great necessity to all of us to, sort of, come from a healthy place, and there are all these, you know, beautiful ‑‑ I call them super women ‑‑ out there that do this very everyday thing. And I hope that, in some way, she honors those small acts, you know, that create these great ripples across the world.
For the writers: Can you talk about when you decided that Randall and Beth would have similar back‑stories in regards to losing their dads around the same age and how ‑‑ if that will be brought up again later on?
Kay Oyegun: It was, sort of, early on in the process of crafting and, telling Beth’s story. I think it will come out in this, sort of, bigger way, but we pretty much felt that way early on. We had a moment that we wanted to bond Beth with William. And we, sort of, tapped into a space that’s so carnal to our show, and this, sort of, identity and loss in parent and what that means. And so, we felt that grounding her that way, as we were still peeling back the layers of who Beth was, felt really interesting. And then, to bring that to full circle with her dad, with her heritage, and having that be a part of her core wound just really ‑‑ yeah, it was great timing that we always get to play around with.
So, Jack is, kind of, this figure that, like, looms over the series. And so, we’ve seen a lot of his relationship with his children, and we’ve seen a little bit of Rebecca in Kate, but I think this episode shows a different type of mother‑daughter relationship. And I’m wondering if you could talk a little bit more about showing that relationship and, kind of, providing this other experience?
Elizabeth Berger: Sure. Yeah. I mean, obviously, there’s big differences between the two. Obviously, Rebecca is a woman that stayed home and devoted her life to taking care of her kids. And here, we’re seeing a woman who loves her job. And it’s a really big part of herself. That’s a part that Rebecca had to sacrifice. But in both women, I think you see this, sort of, strong, loving core. And we really love what Phylicia brought to the role because I think all of us were imagining it a little bit harsher, and Phylicia brought this really brilliant mix of love and strength that surpassed our dreams for the role. So, she’s playing all of these things at once that just blew us away.
Susan Kelechi Watson: In the sense of no nonsense: The first scene ‑‑ remember the first scene that we shot?
Melanie Liburd: Yeah. Terrifying. She was, like, “Oh, my God, I grew up watching you on TV. You’re amazing.”
Susan Kelechi Watson: We were searching for the key under the plant pots, and Phylicia comes out, and she says, “Hey, Ma,” and then Zoe says, “Yeah, you know” ‑‑ something about her hip, and she says, “Now, look.” And I was like, “Okay.” That was amazing.
Melanie Liburd: Yeah, that’s funny.
I don’t think I have to tell you how unusual it is to see six women on a panel for a hit show.I’m wondering, is this a very special episode of the sense of how it came together, or is this what things look like, sometimes, around “This Is Us”?
Elizabeth Berger: It’s really not ‑‑ I mean, it is very special to us, and I think we all feel this episode so deeply because of the acting and the direction. In terms of the editing ‑‑ Bjørn’s here tonight. But in terms of the writing, it’s not. We have eight women out of twelve people on our writing staff. That’s the way our writers’ room works. It’s just ‑‑ it’s always a group effort. We have wonderful men on our staff put together ‑‑ our staff was put together by Dan Fogelman who wasn’t afraid to have eight women on his staff. And that’s the way it goes for every episode we make.
A little philosophy I wanted to ask you, for anyone up there. We’re always, kind of, obsessed with having couples meet who have everything in common. Computer dating tries to have everything in common, but what works about Beth and Randall is that they’re so different, and what works about Beth’s mom and her husband was that they were so different. Somehow, people who are different seem to be better couples than people who aren’t. So, anybody, if you have any thoughts on that general subject.
Susan Kelechi Watson: I found that what I love about Beth and Randall is, they’re what each other needs. They’re the part that the other doesn’t have. Randall is, sort of, very meticulous. He wants to be perfect. You know what I mean? There’s so much thought that goes into what he does that when he doesn’t get it right, that’s an extreme anxiety. And where Beth feels, to me, more like somebody who takes it as it comes and kind of open to whatever the next moment brings and feels like we can handle it. You know what I mean? It’s not as premeditated. And she’s looser where he’s tight. You know what I mean? But he has her when she needs it. She’s not so strong that, you know, she can’t be vulnerable with him. And so, there’s these complements that they have. And I find that that’s a lot of the reason for me why they work. Like, they’re just able to be objective for each other in certain moments because they’re not the same. So, they can see the person more clearly, but also, they fill in each other’s blanks, you know? So, they come together in this easy, you know, puzzle‑piece way that really makes their love so endearing. You know what I mean? There’s just something I find really lovely about the way that they are there for one another, and they truly give their all to do that for each other.
All right. For the writers: Was there any specific reason why you gave Beth a Jamaican‑American heritage? And Susan, did you incorporate that into how you portrayed Beth?
Susan Kelechi Watson: Yeah. And they were so good. They were so good about ‑‑ because I grew up, man, hearing some chopped‑up Jamaican accents, or what people call Jamaican accents. I don’t know what it is. It’s not Jamaican, but they were so good. I mean, it’s really ‑‑ it honors my culture in such a deep way. We talk about representation, but the specificity of where I’m from, it honors it so much in Carl Lumbly playing this role because he is authentically Jamaican. The man was born there; he’s there four times a year, you know? So, what we’re hearing is an Americanized Jamaican, which is a lot of what, you know, second‑generation, first‑generation Jamaicans grew up around, especially Jamaicans who marry, you know, an American. You’re not going to hear as much Patois, but you’ll hear the Jamaican accent. And that was just so important. And so many people are going to applaud for that, you know? So, that was just ‑‑ I just really thank you guys for that, you know, because that was such an amazing thing to care about. Like, they really cared about doing that. And so, for me, as a Jamaican‑American ‑‑ both my parents are Jamaican, and I’m first generation. My older brother is a Jamaican; everybody’s Jamaican. So, for me to be Beth, sort of, on screen to be, you know, Susan portraying this, I’m always taking, you know, my Jamaican‑ness with me. It’s part of who I am; I think it’s part of the flavor, you know, that goes into it. Everything is that perspective, and that’s a joy for me to get to represent, you know, for my people.
Beth and Randall had some, kind of, shaky moments a little bit this season. What does this breakthrough of hers mean for them going forward?
Susan Kelechi Watson: More shaky moments.
Elizabeth Berger: Yeah. I mean, I think, obviously, this is a really beautiful moment for them. That being said, life goes on. And, you know, we’re on the verge of Randall launching into this new political career where he’s going to be a councilman; we’re on the verge of her having finally figuring out what she wants to do. And her schedule is going to be changing; you’ve got three girls in the house. So, as exciting as this is for them, real life is going to continue, and there are still going to be, challenges that come up along the way.
My question actually ties right into that. The one thing I kept thinking is that these were two, kind of, power players who found their passion. Neither of which pays much. I mean, is that going to be part of something that’s addressed? Because they live a pretty nice life, and they have three girls now to send to school. So, I’m just curious.
Kay Oyegun: Logistically, Randall was a highly‑paid weather trader, and Beth was an urban planner for a massive firm. So, they have an amazing nest egg. So, to everyone in Twitterville… But, with that said, to answer that, there will be a fork in the road that they’re going to have to, sort of, answer those challenges coming up.
Elizabeth Berger: Yes. And we are going to be talking, sort of, directly to that now. This is a very different situation in this house, in terms of two incomes that have drastically changed.