Pop-Culturalist.com

Caitlin Bassett is an emerging storyteller who is captivating audiences with her nuanced and layered performance in her breakout role as Addison Augustine in NBC’s Quantum Leap.

Nearly 30 years have passed since Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now, a new team led by physicist Ben Song (Raymond Lee) has been assembled to restart the project, with the hope of unraveling the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it.

Everything changes, however, when Ben makes an unauthorized leap into the past, leaving the team behind to solve the mystery of why he did it. At Ben’s side throughout his leaps is Addison (Caitlin Bassett), who appears in the form of a hologram only Ben can see and hear. She’s a decorated Army veteran who brings level-headed precision to her job.

At the helm of the highly confidential operation is Herbert “Magic” Williams (Ernie Hudson), a no-nonsense career military man who has to answer to his bosses who won’t be happy once they learn about the breach of protocol. The rest of the team at headquarters includes Ian Wright (Mason Alexander Park), who runs the Artificial Intelligence unit “Ziggy,” and Jenn Chu (Nanrisa Lee), who heads up digital security for the project.

As Ben leaps from life to life, putting right what once went wrong, it becomes clear that he and the team are on a thrilling journey. However, Addison, Magic, Ian and Jenn know that if they are going to solve the mystery of Ben’s leaps and bring him home, they must act fast or lose him forever.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Caitlin about Season 2 of Quantum Leap, the jaw-dropping cliffhanger at the end of Episode 208, what’s ahead for Addison, and more.

PC: The cliffhanger at the end of Episode 208 creates so much complexity for your character, who has spent years finding solid ground again. After everything that’s happened, that stability is now shaken up with the possibility of Ben returning. You brought so much nuance and depth to her journey. As an actress, how did you create the space for yourself to dive into that emotional arc, especially in a medium where you’re learning new things as the episodes are being written?
Caitlin: You’ve got to stay as flexible as possible. It’s really an exercise in what’s happening now and figuring out who this human being is and how she would get there because everything has to make sense. People don’t do things unless they feel like they have a reason to do them. That’s my job.

The writers might be steering the ship, but I have to make sure it gets there. It’s been exciting. It’s been a gift. I really appreciate the writers’ trust. This is my first big job. They’ve been like, “Let’s give you this incredibly complex, emotional thing to deal with throughout the season. Have fun. There’s so much trust that they’ve placed in me, and I’ve tried to return that trust to them.

PC: They’ve thrown so much at Addison, and you’re incredible in this. There’s also such a powerful moment in Episode 204 where Addison is able to open up about everything that she’s been through to Ben now that his memory is back. It’s such a turning point for both of these characters and their journeys and rediscovering what this friendship/relationship is now. What was your reaction when you read that scene? How has that preparation and collaboration with Ray [Lee] changed this season, given all of these developments?
Caitlin: We had to change our relationship. We got very close by the end of the last season. We spent almost every day together. Throughout the whole season, the characters got closer and closer, and then by the end of it, we knew what was coming. So we had to say goodbye to that version of us. We just wrapped the season yesterday, and it was very sad. By the end of it, Addison and Ben are never going to be the same. Three years have passed. There’s a whole other relationship. There’s Hannah. There’s a lot that’s different now. But as you start to see in Episode 8, they’re building a new version of their relationship. By the end of the season, we’re just as close. It’s a different version. We had to say goodbye again. [laughs] And that sucks. [laughs] But it’s been amazing.

That day that we shot the scene that you’re talking about, we couldn’t speak to each other. Ray knew that I couldn’t do it. We don’t sit apart from each other, we’re buds. But we didn’t talk to each other the whole morning. We rehearsed. I went that way. He went that way. Never did we pass. We had to meet on the scene and do it because I couldn’t be his friend in that moment. I had to be an Addison defender. All I had to do was defend Addison in that moment. It ended up being my favorite scene to film at least in that first half.

PC: Something that’s special about the show is the chemistry among the cast and how you’re all there in service of telling the best story possible. How have you all been able to build that chemistry offset? As you’ve stepped into this new season, was there a relationship outside of Ben and Tom that you were most excited to delve deeper into?
Caitlin: I love the HQ chemistry. I love Mason [Alexander Park]. I love Nanrisa [Lee]. I love Ernie [Hudson]. I loved that this season gave them more. You’re going to get more time with them, hopefully, in Season 3. I think any of those relationships are things that are fun to explore. I also think getting to play Addison outside of a romantic relationship. There’s a version of yourself that you have to show up as when you’re in a relationship. You can take some of that off like my relationship with Mason and I, and how we would needle each other. That wouldn’t work in a romantic relationship, but it does work in a different type of relationship, which is fun to explore. So I hope for more of that.

PC: As an actress, this is also the longest that you’ve lived with a character. What’s been the most surprising part about this journey thus far? What’s been the biggest takeaway?
Caitlin: All of it. This is my first job. It’s all new. Even this part, wrapping up a season, and not knowing if there’s going to be another. I’ve never done that before because we got a Season 2 pick up during Season 1. So it’s all new. It’s nothing like what you would expect, but it’s so much better, amazing, different, human, broken, and perfect. I couldn’t pick any one thing that stands out except that this has been the greatest experience of my life.

PC: I was shocked to learn that this was your first role and that’s a credit to the trust that you’ve built with the writers’ room where they can throw so much at Addison. At the end of Episode 208, we think that Tom is going to propose, but we get a different reveal instead. We know you can’t say too much about what’s ahead, but what can you tease about Addison’s journey for the rest of Season 2 and her relationship with Tom heading into the back half?
Caitlin: My favorite part across two seasons is the next part that’s coming up. Addison had to absorb a lot of other people’s decisions like Ben leaped and now he might come back. There are so many things that she’s had to react to where at the end of the next episode you start to see her driving her own ship. That’s been the most fun to play as an actress. I think it’s one of the best things that we could have done for the show.

To keep up with Caitlin, follow her on Instagram. Quantum Leap airs every Tuesday at 10/9c on NBC.