ELSBETH: Gloria Reuben Previews Her Debut as Claudia

The ELSBETH world is expanding on Thursday, April 11 as Gloria Reuben makes her debut as Claudia Payne—Captain Wagner’s (Wendell Pierce) wife.

“She is absolutely a very social person and loves people, let’s just put it that way,” Reuben tells Give Me My Remote of Claudia.  “And really loves her husband. Right from the start, Wendell and I, our energies are so simpatico that we didn’t even have to work on that…one of the things I love about their marriage is that marriages, especially long-term ones, can be interesting at times. Not everything is roses and pumpkin pie.”

Though little tidbits about their family life have been sprinkled into the previous episodes, this marks the first time we meet Claudia, who comes to visit her husband at work to discuss their upcoming foundation gala. 

When Reuben was first diving into the ELSBETH world, “the information that I was given was in the script—I didn’t have any of the backstory or any of the previous episodes to take a look at,” she says. “But I loved the scenes and I knew, of course, I was going to play Wendell Pierce’s wife, so that was a big almost right out of the gate, ‘I’ll do it,’ because I just adore him. He’s so incredible.” 

“I’ve known him for a long time—our paths have crossed many times, however, we’d never worked together before,” she continues. “So once I got on set, then things became a lot clearer [about the character] and I could ask questions. And Wendell and I spoke quite a bit about that relationship. We started coming up with ideas and their history, etc. So that’s been a great creative process in that way, which I love…it was wonderful in the way that our chemistry just meshed, kind of aligned up easily, effortlessly, and in a very similar way. So everything else kind of flowed from there. It’s been great, great fun.”

Claudia also gets to meet Elsbeth (Carrie Preston)—who, unbeknownst to everyone, is quietly investigating Wagner—and invites her to the foundation gala.

“I think for anyone who is introduced to Elsbeth, whether on the screen or in a scene for the first time, it’s kind of a lot,” Reuben says with a laugh. “Talk about great energy, very who she is, as a human being. A lot of positive exuberance—this natural exuberance that comes through in the role. And it’s written so perfectly.”

“The first meeting [between Elsbeth and Claudia] is a lot,” she continues. “It’s a little bit…a lot. Bright colors and a lot of exuberance and just this kind of energy that it’s just, ‘Wait a minute, what’s really going on here?’ Which I think makes it not just fun to play off of, but makes it a very unique character, as well, because Elsbeth is not flippant. She’s very grounded in the reality of situations, that’s for sure. So, because she has this kind of light energy, she can sometimes be underestimated. It’s great fun to work with her.”

ELSBETH, Thursdays, 10/9c, CBS

RELATED:

• ELSBETH: ‘Love Knocked Off’ Photos
• ELSBETH: ‘Reality Shock’ Photos
• ELSBETH: ‘A Classic New York Character’ Photos
• ELSBETH Post-Mortem: The Team on Elsbeth’s Secret Mission and That GOOD WIFE Reference
• ELSBETH: What You Need to Know About the Series Premiere
• ELSBETH Showrunner Jonathan Tolins on Crafting ‘a Procedural with a Wink in its Eye’
• ELSBETH: Carrie Preston on the ‘Almost Unreal’ Joy of Bringing Elsbeth Center Stage
• ELSBETH Exclusive: CBS Encourages Viewers to ‘See Things Elsbeth’s Way’ in Cheeky New Promo
• ELSBETH: Jesse Tyler Ferguson to Guest Star
• ELSBETH: CBS Releases New Key Art for Carrie Preston-Led Drama
• ELSBETH on CBS – First Look
• CBS Sets 2023-24 Schedule
• CBS Orders MATLOCK, ELSBETH, and POPPA’S HOUSE

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page or our Instagram.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases made through links/ads placed on the site.