Last week Samantha Mathis took part in a roundtable Q&A session to talk a bit more in depth about the debut of her character on FX’s The Strain, Councilwoman Justine Faraldo. The following interview took place before the airing of 2×04 “The Silver Angel” and is assuredly Spoiler Free.
Mathis is recognized by most for her recent work on CW’s Under The Dome, and from films such as American Psycho, Little Women, and the Super Mario Bros. movie.
Be sure to check out season two of The Strain on FX Sunday nights at 10PM CL/ET time, and my reviews immediately following their airing here on The Young Folks!
We don’t know much about [Faraldo]. How much of what goes on within her is driven by her…need for power, and how much is just keeping her people safe?
Samantha: This is a woman who certainly has a past, as exemplified from the episode just this last Sunday night. She lost a brother and a husband in 9/11.
Certainly, Staten Island has received sometimes less than stellar treatment from New York City. So, I think that she is very protective of her people, and she’s very dedicated, but there’s always a potential, when you’re in a position of power, to be corrupted by it. I think that her intentions are really true to protect her people, but that was one of the aspects that intrigued me about playing this character.
It’s never black-and-white. I love that in a character, that it’s not black-and-white, because human beings aren’t black-and-white. Certainly, when it comes to being given a certain amount of power, the question is what do you do with that power? With power comes great responsibility, and we’re getting to see that Justine’s getting a little more power, and what will she do with it?
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