‘Rooster’ Star Connie Britton Breaks Down Elizabeth’s Arrival at Ludlow as She Teases Return

Rooster welcomed a new face to the Ludlow roost in the latest episode, “Mr. Razzles,” as Greg’s (Steve Carell) ex, and Katie’s (Charly Clive), mother, Elizabeth (Connie Britton) dropped by the university for a special dedication ceremony. Fair warning: There are spoilers for Rooster Season 1 Episode 5 ahead!

As viewers already knew, Greg’s history with Elizabeth is complicated by the fact that she cheated on him, effectively ending their marriage. The mirroring of the situation between them and Katie’s own predicament with her husband Archie (Phil Dunster) isn’t lost on the plot as the episode saw Katie turn to her mother for advice surrounding the infidelity. Despite their differing roles in each scenario, Katie doesn’t discredit any advice Elizabeth could give her.

But it takes longer for Greg to warm up to Elizabeth, still hung up on their relationship, which looked different through each of their eyes. As a former student of Ludlow, Elizabeth was on campus for the dedication of a space named after her, but she also vowed she had plans to return more frequently. While viewers will have to wait and see how that unfolds, Britton breaks down Elizabeth’s arrival in Rooster‘s latest episode below, including reuniting with her Spin City colleague Bill Lawrence, as well as navigating the relationships her character has with Greg and Katie. Scroll down for the full interview, and see what Carell, Clive, Lawrence, and executive producer Matt Tarses have to say about the complicated family relationships at the center of this comedy in the video above.

Katrina Marcinowski / HBO

This role as Elizabeth reunites you with Bill Lawrence after working together on Spin City. How did the part come about, and what did you enjoy about getting to work together again?

Connie Britton: Well, the role came about where literally Bill reached out to me, I swear, the day before he wanted me to come. He sent me an email or a text or something, and he goes, “Hey, remember me? I’ve kind of become a big deal.” And then, “Can you come in and play this part?” I was like, “Dude, who fell out? [Laughs] Why are you asking me so last-minute? I haven’t talked to you in 25 years.” But listen, it’s Steve Carell, it’s Bill Lawrence, who I have just been watching his trajectory and have been so proud of him… I have a lot of people, actually, in my career that I feel so proud of, Michael B. Jordan, for instance. So I really jumped into this very last minute, but Bill and I, when we were together on set, we both [kept saying], “Wow, this is crazy, you got really good at this.”

We both recognized Spin City was each of our first TV shows. I did like a little guest spot on the Ellen show, but other than that, that was my first [real TV job]. I was one-hundred percent learning on the job in front of the cameras, luckily being taught by the most incredible cast and crew, led by Michael J. Fox. Same with Bill. That was his first thing, too, and he was such a dude, such a bro, and he would always do these very dude-centric jokes, but he was cutting his teeth with Gary David Goldberg, and so having watched him with all of his successes and coming back into this world with him, I just was kind of like, “I’m so proud of you.”

He has become a great, great showrunner and creator, and the way that I know that is because the entire set is a wonderful experience. There’s so much freedom for everybody to really discover and make the story as great as it can be. It’s a really cool thing to see people come into their own, and for both of us to look back and say we were so lucky that we had those early formative years… you just feel so much gratitude for that, and I felt so grateful that he brought me, and of course, Alan Ruck is on the show too. It’s kind of like you can’t forget where you come from, and I’m really glad that Bill didn’t.

HBO

One element of Elizabeth’s arrival that’s fascinating is Katie’s eagerness to get advice from her mother about her marriage, despite the fact that Elizabeth was the cheater in her and Greg’s relationship. Why do you think that is? 

I really love that scene, and what I really enjoyed learning about Elizabeth is that she has a deep love for both Greg and Katie, and she sees them for who they are. And so, in that scene, she’s very straightforward about who she is, and [tells her daughter], you should be more selfish, but she doesn’t say it in the way of, oh, you should be more selfish and go out and have affairs, but [you] always wanna make sure that [you’re] happy and, that’s kind of a revolutionary thing to see a woman say that on TV and particularly a mother say it to her daughter.

Thanksgiving is brought up in the episode, and Elizabeth mentions planning to be around campus more frequently. Will we see you back before the season is through?

Well, we are gonna see her again, so I can tell you that much. Every single thing I got to do on this show, I loved doing so much, and Elizabeth is just going to go in and be Elizabeth, but I’m not going to give any spoilers as far as what’s going to happen, but we’re definitely going to see her again.

Elizabeth doesn’t have a tough time being around Greg until Katie brings up a photo hanging in Greg’s house. What is so triggering about the image from their past for Elizabeth?

I think that it represents a lot to him. But I think it also represents her heartbreak because he’s holding on to this idea of her, literally this picture of her. Whenever I create a character, I’m always like, what’s going on inside? It’s not just that she was like, I don’t really care about him and I want to cheat… We all want true love, you know? So I’m like, well, what broke her heart? Something broke her heart, too. It takes two to tango, and so I feel like for me that photo represents for her how she was always a projection for him. She wanted to really be seen by him. He was never able to do it.

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Despite the obvious problems surrounding their family, it’s enjoyable to see Greg, Elizabeth, and Katie together as a trio. What did you enjoy about cultivating their dynamic?  

It was interesting coming in and discovering immediately she can still hang with him, you know? It wasn’t really written in where we have to play this awkwardness or undercurrent of pain, which I really, really liked. It just immediately gives you information about each one of those characters that they have, in whatever time that’s unfolded, been able to keep the links between all three of them intact enough so that they can have a genuinely loving relationship.

That doesn’t mean everything’s jolly and wonderful, and we’ve come to find that. But this little family has chosen to be better in this situation that they’re in now, to be better as divorcees, and better parents and better friends to each other. It’s an interesting dynamic, so it makes those scenes really fun with the three of them because it’s like, oh, you guys are great together, but you wouldn’t be great together if you were still married.

Rooster, Sundays, 10/9c, HBO 

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