‘Elsbeth’ Boss Reveals Personal Tie to Dianne Wiest Episode That Goes Back 41 Years

“I hate to pick favorites,” Elsbeth showrunner Jonathan Tolins told TV Insider of his Season 3 guest stars, but he can’t help but feel a special connection to the upcoming Dianne Wiest episode, “And Then There Were Nuns.” The executive producer tells TV Insider that he worked with Wiest 41 years ago on a production that inspired the trajectory of his career. To have Wiest on Elsbeth is a full-circle moment and “a special thrill.”

Wiest guest stars in Elsbeth Season 3 Episode 7, airing on Thursday, November 20, on CBS. In “And Then There Were Nuns,” a pop star’s (Lindsey Normington) purchase of a failing convent turns divine real estate into a murder scene as Elsbeth takes on the Mother of all nuns (Weist). Meanwhile, Teddy (Ben Levi Ross) digs into Alec Bloom’s (Ivan Hernandez) past for a feature he is working on.

“We have Dianne Wiest as the Mother Superior … she is astonishing in this part,” Tolins told TV Insider in an interview conducted when the episode was being filmed. “Everyone’s just having such a great time. It’s a thrill, a special thrill for me because in the summer of 1984, I was an apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and one of my jobs was to do props for a production of Uncle Vanya that featured the young Dianne Wiest as Sonya. That production was really important to me, and I always say it was kind of the thing that made me want to be a playwright. So, to be working with her now in this capacity is just a special thrill.”

Michael Parmelee / CBS

Tolins brought this up to Wiest during filming, and they reflected on their memories from that production.

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“There’s no way she would remember me, and she didn’t pretend to, but she was touched by the fact that here we are 41 years later,” he says.

The episode will also feature the return of Sarah Steele, who reprises her Good Fight role as Marissa Gold in Elsbeth Season 3. She made her debut in Season 3 Episode 5, which featured William Jackson Harper as the killer of the week.

Marissa is now a campaign manager for Alec Bloom’s mayoral campaign, and she’s schemed a PR relationship between Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) and the would-be mayor for a boost among the electorate. The two did have a spark in Episode 5. Could this become a real relationship, or will Teddy uncover something sinister in Alec’s past?

Elsbeth, Thursdays, 10/9c, CBS

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