Pop Culturalist Chats with Trial & Error’s Amanda Payton

Amanda Payton became an actress to explore the human experience from different points of view. She’s played a wide range of characters showcasing her incredible versatility on hit shows including Animal Kingdom, The Big Bang Theory, NCIS, and CSI: Cyber. This summer, she’s stepping into her first series regular role on the laugh-out-loud comedy, Trial & Error, playing Nina Rudolph, a podcaster who leaves the Big Apple for East Peck with a mission, but things don’t always go to plan.

PC: Tell us about Trial & Error, your character, and what drew you to this project?
Amanda: Trial & Error is a crime-spoof mockumentary. Season two chronicles the trial of alleged murder, Lavinia Peck-Foster played by Kristin Chenoweth. The season tips its hat to the podcast, S-Town, and some of the murder documentaries that are popular right now. Season two is specifically inspired by The Jinx and season one, The Staircase, which is out on Netflix now and getting a lot of play.

My character, Nina Rudolph, comes to East Peck from New York City to chronicle Lavinia Peck-Foster’s murder trial for her podcast, M-Town, which is similar to S-Town. When she arrives, a little love triangle ensues.

As soon as I saw the audition come through, I was excited right away because I knew season one 
and was actually a fan, so it worked out really well. I was familiar with the writing and satirical nature of the show. I’m also a huge Serial fan and love all of those murder podcasts—murder podcasts, murder documentaries, super into all of that!

PC: You and Kristin are two new cast members joining this season. Did you two immediately bond over that? How daunting is it to join a cast who already has one season under its belt?
Amanda: I was pretty nervous about joining the cast, but as soon as I met them, they all opened their arms to both Kristin and me. They’re the kindest cast I’ve ever worked with. Every single person in the cast took me aside to welcome me; it was an amazing experience. Kristin and I immediately jumped into the cast’s group text chat. In fact, texts are coming in as we speak. It’s such a close-knit group and Kristin is such a sweetheart. I don’t know if it’s our love for theatre or if it’s because we were both new, but we did bond right away.

PC: How much of yourself would you say is in your character?
Amanda: I think in any character you always bring aspects of yourself. Nina is not so far from me. She’s very driven and excitable, but she’s a little more grounded than I am. I do, however, call on that grounded part of myself. She’s really the eyes and the ears of the audience in Trial & Error. All of the other characters are so out there—East Peck, as a place, is so out there. Everyone seems to accept it as it is except Nina, who questions everything. I, too, question everything, but it’s like what came first? Did I bring that to the character or was that written into the character? It’s hard to tell sometimes when the stars are merging. [laughs]

PC: We learned that as part of this role you recorded the actual podcast, which the show is planning on releasing. How early on did you learn that was the plan? 
Amanda: I didn’t know anything about it until the last week of shooting and I was so excited! I got a little hint two weeks before but it hadn’t been solidified, so, I didn’t know throughout the show that I was going to be doing this. We actually did all of it on the last, last, last day on set. It was such an amazing way to wrap up my experience there and I had a blast with that. I’m obsessed with podcasts. I’ve always wanted my own podcast. I don’t know what I’d talk about, but… [laughs]

PC: You said you’re really into podcasts. What are your go-tos?
Amanda: Well, the first one that I ever listened to was Serial. After that, I became obsessed with murder podcasts. My all-time favorites would be the Serial podcast and S-Town, but I’m partial to the first Serial podcast. My favorite murder documentary of all time would be The Jinx.

PC: Did the creators have any idea how into podcasts you were and how fitting this role was for you?
Amanda: No! They didn’t even know me. [laughs] They didn’t even know me until they saw my tape. I was secretly so thrilled and I genuinely think it helped my audition. Immediately in the audition, there was a section where I had to do a piece of the podcast. You know, we sometimes get these auditions the day before, so if you’re not familiar with the material, you don’t have much time to memorize all your lines and do a lot of research. I ended up doing it in a similar but satirical way to the way that Sarah Koenig [creator of Serial] speaks.

PC: What can you tease about your character’s arc this season?
Amanda: Nina goes to East Peck on a mission to make a really, really good podcast. That’s her most important goal. While there, things shift around and goals open up a little bit. There’s a love triangle between Nina, Josh Segal (played by Nicholas D’Agosto), who’s Lavinia Peck-Foster’s lawyer, and Carol Anne Keane (played by Jayma Mays), who is the DA. Carol Anne Keane may or may not be pregnant with Josh’s baby—we don’t know. Nina doesn’t know. Josh doesn’t know. Carol Anne Keane doesn’t even know until the last episode. It’s a pretty sticky situation.

PC: As an actress, is there a particular genre or role that you’re attracted to?
Amanda: I love comedy, but I really want to work in all the genres. I’ve been so lucky thus far in my career to do all types of shows. I seem to do a lot of comedies. Earlier this year, though, I did Animal Kingdom, which is so not a comedy. I’ve also done NCIS. I love it all. I love all types of characters, as well. I became an actor because I want to explore the human experience from all different viewpoints.

PC: Do you have a dream role?
Amanda: All of them? [laughs] I’m not kidding. I want to do Shakespeare in the Park, Broadway, musicals: I want to do it all! It’s really hard for me to choose just one. Maybe next, it’d be fun to do a super gritty, independent movie.

PC: How about someone you’d like to work with in the future?
Amanda: I’ll give you two! Meryl Streep, obviously—I’m sure most people say that—and Oprah. I’m so impressed with Oprah because she’s a transformational actress who has a harder time because everyone knows her as an icon, yet, we turn on the movies she’s in and we forget it’s her. She did a movie, Beloved, twenty years ago and it’s amazing. It’s so different from any other movie I’ve seen her in. Not only do I love Oprah because of her acting, but also because of what she does with her platform. It’s so amazing. She knows what platform she has, so she encourages other people and gives back in such a personal way. She’s such an amazing artist and human.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Amanda: Queer Eye and Grey’s Anatomy

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Amanda: Zoolander

PC: Favorite book?
Amanda: Women Who Run with the Wolves

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Amanda: Musical is Rent and play is Tartuffe.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Amanda: There’s a lot of Michael Jackson.

PC: Last show you binge-watched?
Amanda: Season two of Glow

PC: Hidden talent?
Amanda: I can ride a dirt bike.

Make sure to follow Amanda on Twitter and Instagram, and check out Trial & Error every Thursday at 9/8c.

Photo Credit: Sergei Bachlakov/NBC