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By Suzanne

Interview with Piper Perabo of "Covert Affairs" on USA Network 6/27/12

I was on this call, and Piper seems very nice.  She is very enthusiastic and friendly; clearly a people-person. It was really great hearing her talk about her show.

I watched the season premiere, and it is great. Some things completely change for Annie at work! Someone dies that will shock you.  Of course there is the usual great interpersonal/relationship stop as well as tons of great action. Also, it has romance and sex, and a great cliffhanger-ending!  You will enjoy it. Don't forget to tune in.

Moderator: Amanda Altschuler
June 27, 2012 11:00 am CT

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Piper Perabo conference call. Through our presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterwards, we will conduct a question and answer session. At that time, if you would like to ask a question, please press star than the number 1 on your touchtone key pad.

If you would like to withdraw your question, press the pound key. As a reminder, the conference is being recorded Wednesday, June 27. Thank you. I would like now like to turn the call over to Amanda Cary.

Amanda Cary: Hello, everybody. Thank you so much for joining our Covert Affairs Season 3 conference call with Piper Perabo. Covert Affairs returns for its third season on Tuesday, July 10 at 10 pm on USA Network. With that, I will turn it over to (Melissa) to start the Q&A with Piper.

Piper Perabo: Hello, everybody.

Operator: To ask a question, please press star 1. Your first question comes from the line of (Jamie Ruby).

Jamie Ruby: Hello, Piper. Thanks so much for doing the call.

Piper Perabo: Sure, it’s my pleasure.

Jamie Ruby: So can you talk about both your character and Auggie’s characters are being reassigned this season. So a lot of things are going to change. Can you kind of talk about you know that overall change in the season, how it changes dynamics of everything?

Piper Perabo: Well, yes. Both Auggie and I are reassigned this season. And Auggie - we both go into more secretive departments, so, but different departments. And my office where I go to work is sort of in this bunker in the basement and he’s working with the really high up powers of the CIA. And so we’re not only physically very far apart from each other whereas we used to be our desks could see each other.

Now we’re physically very far apart. And also because of what’s going on in our personal lives, we start you know seeing less and less of each other. And it causes, as the season goes on, that causes all kinds of problems because you begin to realize that having Andy and Auggie together is kind of - they support each other in a way that ends up solving things.

And when they’re not together, things just - wires get crossed all over the place.

Jamie Ruby: Right. Do you enjoy the dramatic part of the show or the action part?

Piper Perabo: Well, I enjoy them both. I mean, I’m - I like the acting you know. That’s really where my heart is. But this show, I like how we do action on this show. It’s a real Doug Liman style where we’re real run and gun with handheld 5D Canon cameras. And when we shoot in the - when we shoot internationally, most of the time, we don’t block off a street. You know we don’t have cops to shut it down.

We just go. So the whole world sort of comes - I’m sorry, my alarm’s going off to say don’t forget to do the call with you guys.

Jamie Ruby: That’s okay.

Piper Perabo: Okay, I think it’s off. The whole world starts invading our set. And then we’re on foot. And the camera boys are used to it. So, it gets - the action has a great acting component in the show because of the way we shoot it. So, I like some balls.

Jamie Ruby: Great. Thanks so much.

Piper Perabo: Sure. Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Jamie Seinburt).

Jamie Ruby: Hello. It’s such a pleasure to speak with you.

Piper Perabo: Hello. Thanks for doing this today.

Jamie Steinberg: Well, I was wondering will Annie and her sister get to any more trouble these - this season?

Piper Perabo: Well, I can’t tell you exactly what happens with Danielle this season. But there is a big thing that happens in Danielle’s life. And it sort of puts a strain on her relationship with Annie. Annie Dudek who plays Danielle, you know she went on the road with us and traveled at the end of season 2 and got involved in Annie’s mission.

So now she’s really waist deep into the spy world with Annie. She knows how dangerous it is. She knows what’s going on. And so it makes Danielle worry even more now that she realizes the great risks that Annie is under. So when Danielle’s life gets complicated, it puts a lot of stain on the sisters.

Jamie Steinberg: Is the dynamics of Auggie - I mean you just touched on this a little bit. But does the dynamics of Annie and Auggie’s friendship change now that she’s realized she has feeling for him and he’s with someone else?

Piper Perabo: Well, it definitely puts a strain on the friendship when one person feels more strongly than the other person. At least, that’s my personal experience. So the problem is I mean you know it’s sort of - it’s Auggie - the fact that Auggie’s blind in some ways mirrors his relationship with Annie. And it’s fun to play the scenes with Chris Gorham because you can sort of be in love with him.

And as long as you’re not saying anything, Auggie doesn’t know. So there’s a lot of moments in the opening especially where Annie’s trying to sort of keep her feelings under wraps. But it’s you know it’s plain as expression on her face. Just that Auggie doesn’t know. It’s really fun to act it actually. And Chris Gorham’s constantly laughing because he could see me sort of peripherally while he’s acting Auggie.

And then he’s like, “come on, gosh. Everybody would feel that smile coming at them.” You know he’ll tease me a lot about how I look at Auggie.

Jamie Steinberg: Is there any chance for the crossover with White Collar and Covert Affairs?

Piper Perabo: I hope so. I was texting with Matt Bomer. And he’s in New York. You know and I live in New York. And I keep wanting to get home so I that could see him. It would be such a perfect crossover, although I haven’t seen the script idea for it yet.

Jamie Steinberg: Well, thank you very much for your time.

Piper Perabo: Sure.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of (Joshua Maloney).

Joshua Maloney: Hello, Piper. Thanks for your time today.

Piper Perabo: Sure, thanks, Joshua.

Joshua Maloney: You know, Covert Affairs, it’s such - it’s such a fun show to watch. And you know I can’t say enough good things about your performance. Why do you suppose this is such a good fit for you?

Piper Perabo: Well, I mean it was luck initially. You know, I was looking - I wasn’t looking for a television show. But I’m always sort of looking for a strong female lead. And so when the show came up, what I really liked about Annie is her - she’s true to her moral code even if it’s not the sort of the rules of the game.

And I thought that’ll be a fun conflict to play. And then I feel like, the writers room and the creators, Matt Corman and Chris Ord, we all have a similar esos. And sort of with a similar sense of humor, we get excited about the same things. So I feel like our imaginary world - my imaginary world and the writer’s imaginary world overlaps in a lot of ways.

We like the same things. So I think somehow that makes the show kind of mesh together.

Joshua Maloney: Right. You know obviously as an actress, you know you’re called upon to do a lot of different things. You know, running, jumping, sliding and all the different languages you have to speak. Was that easy for you to pick up? Or if it wasn’t, has it gotten easier for you as the show has progressed?

Piper Perabo: The languages were not. We’re up to 18 languages that Annie speaks. And I told the writers they have to sort of put a lid on it because it started to get a little ridiculous. Although, you know some languages have gotten easier. At the beginning, Annie didn’t speak any tonal languages. And now she speaks Mandarin. And so, the tonal languages are still really difficult for me.

But the European languages and Russian I sort of have a handle on. So at one point, the boys were saying if we - if we could find a way to justify it, we could do a whole act in a foreign language. And so, I think that’s such an exciting idea. And I don’t know what language we’d do it in. But, I just hope it’s not Mandarin.

Joshua Maloney: Very good, thanks, Piper. I appreciate it.

Piper Perabo: Sure.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Heather Malachi).

Heather Malachi: Hello, Piper. Thanks so much for talking to us today.

Piper Perabo: It’s my pleasure. Thanks, (Heather).

Heather Malachi: So I love - with the pilot - the pilot, the premiere, it changes the game for Annie in terms of taking her completely out of her comfort zone. And we knew when the show started that she had moved around quite a bit. And that’s part of the reason that she had all of these abilities. What have you learned about Annie kind of going into this world where she’s setting her own missions?

And the chain of command has changed and she doesn’t have Auggie as a sounding board? So there’s a lot that changed for her right of the gate with the premiere? What have you learned about the character as that’s happened this season?

Piper Perabo: Well, it was interesting. When the - when the writers’ room started talking about this change that was going to happen for Annie, you know we never wanted her to get too expert too fast. And when she was going to get all this sort of economy to make decisions on the - out in the field and make decisions about her own missions, one of the ideas that came up was the idea of like a teenager who just got their driver’s license.

And after they’ve been driving for a couple of weeks, they think they’re a great driver. And that’s when teenagers get into accidents. When they think you know they really know what they’re doing. And so that idea of the person who has newly acquired power, that thinks they’ve got it all under control and how colossally dangerous that is because they go sort of way too fast.

And so, I think Annie’s just right for that kind of problem because she never looks before she leaps. And she often solves problems on the fly. So economy is not necessarily that useful, at least in the beginning. So it’s going to cause a lot of problems for her.

Heather Malachi: Okay. Thank you so much.

Piper Perabo: Sure. Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Tobi Jeffrey Greer).

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: Hey, good morning.,

Piper Perabo: Hey, good morning (Tobi).

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: Or good afternoon to you.

Piper Perabo: (Unintelligible). Thanks.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: One of the things I really enjoy about the show and I guess enjoy is kind of a sick word to use is that the fight scenes look really, real and accurate. You actually look like you’re getting the crap kicked out of you.

Piper Perabo: Sometimes, I am.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: Or that you’re kicking the crap out of someone. The 2 that come to mind is in the first season on the subway platform.

Piper Perabo: Yes.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: Also the scene at the rowing club and the garage and the storage room with...

Piper Perabo: Oh, yes.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: I mean that is - I looked at husband and I’m like, “if she walks away from that, that’s a miracle.” But well, I was wondering what kind of toll does that take on your body. And have you ever actually been injured in any of those.

Piper Perabo: I was injured in the first season in a fight - in a fight scene, injured my leg. And then there’s usually you know - not usually, I shouldn’t say that. But in - like the boathouse sequence, I hit a guy with a crew rowing boat. And there was one take where I did clip him with the boat. I mean when you know we shoot, we always talk about Born and how the Jason Born fights are sold by Doug Liman and how it’s messy and hand held.

And we’re always sort of aiming for that kind of visceral feeling of a fight as opposed to a cleaner, choreograph style. And so you are when you start moving fast, it is more dangerous and you have to be really alert and really rehearsed in a way to make it get it messy.

By the end of the day, you definitely can use a you know a cool bath and a beer because you’re, you’re tired. Because you just don’t do the fight once, you know you do it so many times from so many different angles. So the good thing is we have great - we have great stunt people on our show. And so I always feel really safe. And we now have like a stunt fight room where we block out the whole thing.

And we rehearse fights in there. And it’s fun to make it up and to think about who you’d be fighting. And what’s in the room? And how would you defend yourself because she’s a woman. And then I’m you know I’m smaller than a lot of people I fight. You’re constantly looking for weapons. And it’s really fun.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: And what do you do in between seasons to stay in fighting trim? Do you, you know keep up your training or do you just grab a bag of Doritos, lie in a hammock and say “screw it.”

Piper Perabo: I wish I could grab a bag of Doritos. Usually, I mix up my training a lot. Just because I get sort of bored doing one thing all the time. There’s a gym in New York called Tracy Anderson which is the kind of mix of like dance and pilates. And I do a lot of that recently. But in the last hiatus, I did a - a bear hunting movie called “The Red Machine.”

And so we’re in the mountains east of Vancouver. And we were hiking in the mountains and the snow with packs on. And so you don’t need to go to the gym at the end of the day after hiking all day.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: Okay. Thank you so much.

Piper Perabo: Sure. Thank you.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: Okay, bye.

Operator: The next question comes from the line of Suzanne Lanoue.

Suzanne Lanoue: Hello. Nice to talk to you today.

Piper Perabo: Hello. Nice to talk to you, (Susanne).

Suzanne Lanoue: I was wondering, are you going to Comic-Con this year?

Piper Perabo: I don’t think we are going to Comic-Con. We’re traveling so, I know. We’re traveling so much this year that we’re having to try and fit as much filming days as we can on our stages. In fact, tonight we leave for Paris. So, yes we’ll film in - you know we’ll film all day. And then literally, the crew wants (unintelligible) travel, we bring our suitcases to work.

We film all day on our stage. And then we all go to the airport and get on plans and fly to. This season, we’ve gone already to Morocco, to Spain, to Puerto Rico and now to Paris. So, Comic-Con’s not going to fit in the schedule this year.

Suzanne Lanoue: Oh, wow. That’s...

Piper Perabo: Although I know the Psych boys are going. I know Dule is going. He keeps talking to (unintelligible). He said he was going. So I’m sure I’ll hear all about it from Dule.

Suzanne Lanoue: So, wow. You get to travel a lot.

Piper Perabo: Yes.

Suzanne Lanoue: Most actors I think.

Piper Perabo: When we have guest stars on the show, they’re always so excited because we’re like, “well, we’ll do you know this many days here. And then we’ll meet you in this country and do that many days there.” It’s really different from most shows.

Suzanne Lanoue: I’m imagine. It is hard to keep relationships going that way when you have to - you’re gone all the time?

Piper Perabo: Well, you know as the life of an actor, especially working with much, you know my life has been that way a lot because I’ll do a movie in Vancouver. And then I’ll do a movie in Louisiana. And then I’ll go to LA. And then I’ll go to New York. So the people in my life are - are kind of used to it. And you get more time off then someone who has a regular 9 to 5 job.

So although maybe I don’t see everybody you know every evening, then I’ll have 3 weeks off in the middle of a random month and so it sort of pays off in different ways.

Suzanne Lanoue: Alright, well thanks a lot. I enjoyed the season premiere.

Piper Perabo: Thank you very much. I’m glad you liked. I haven’t even seen me yet.

Suzanne Lanoue: Oh, no.

Piper Perabo: I know. I’m jealous.

Suzanne Lanoue: Well, it’s got a great ending.

Piper Perabo: Thanks.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Melissa.

Melissa: Hello, Piper. How you doing today?

Piper Perabo: I’m good. How are you?

Melissa: I am good. Ready for the next Toronto heat wave this coming?

Piper Perabo: Well, luckily, I’m going to be gone at least tonight for Paris. So and it supposed to be cool in Paris. I can get out of the heat for a second.

(Melissa9: Oh, that’s good.

Piper Perabo: Yes.

Melissa: I watched the season premiere. And I was just totally blown away by it. I noticed that over the course of the seasons, that Annie’s moral grey area just keeps - seems to - it keeps getting bigger and bigger. And especially in this episode, I noted that she’s taken way more risks then she ever has. And maybe just kind of throwing caution to the wind.

Are we going to see that kind of continues throughout this season, a more ballsier, more risk taking Annie than ever?

Piper Perabo: I think it is. I mean I think the moral grey area getting bigger is a good way to put it. I think as Annie gets given more missions that are higher security clearance and more personal and intimate, if you want to get into these places, you have to find a way.

And sometimes the way in is morally ambiguous. And I think to be that level of operative, you need to be willing to blur the lines. And so I think Annie’s ambition to you know really play in the big leagues is going to come up against her - her moral code.

Melissa: Okay. Well, thank you so much. Can’t way to see the rest of this season.

Piper Perabo: Thanks. I’m glad you liked it.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Carla Day).

Carla Day: Hello, Piper. How are you?

Piper Perabo: I’m good. How are you, (Carla).

Carla Day: Doing good. So to follow up on what (Melissa) just asked, at the end of the premiere, Annie kind of makes a decision to - that involves the shower. That to me showed kind of her just making a decision or maybe the lack of a decision and just kind of going with the flow. Will some - will that play into kind of - how will Annie handle the aftermath of making that decision?

Piper Perabo: Well, you know we’re - right now, we’re filming Episode 8. And Annie is still dealing with the aftermath of what happens at the end of 1. I mean it’s such a blurred line. And I think she makes a decision in the season premiere without really thinking it through. I mean she doesn’t have time in that moment to really sit down and think it out.

She’s just kind of as is Annie’s way, she just sort of leaps before she looks. And so, the emotional fall out from that goes for quite a while. And I’ve only read up to Episode 9 because the writers they keep it so secret. So I don’t even know where she’s going to land in this. I mean it gets really confusing for her.

Carla Day: Did her decision have anything to do with the new handler played by Sarah Clarke and the conversation that they had?

Piper Perabo: I think so. I mean...

Carla Day: That relationship?

Piper Perabo: Yes. Well, you know Sarah’s part of Lena is she’s super ambitious and she doesn’t care about the rules. I mean way beyond Annie. Annie you know Annie will disobey Joan, but she still has moral integrity. She still tries to obey the laws best she can. Lena just is (unintelligible) about getting the op done at all costs.

And I think being around someone like that, it’s sort of like. I always think of Lena as like when you’re in high school and there’s that really cool girl who all of sudden invites you to a party or something. And she’s never talked to her before. Even though you’re not supposed to go to the party, it’s so exciting that that cool girl asked you to go. You think, “well maybe I’ll just get in trouble and do this. I’m so excited she wants to hand out with me.”

You know and I think Lena’s sort of like that. And she’s so talented. She’s so highly regarded. She’s so cool, that she starts having an effect on Annie.

Carla Day: Excellent. Well thank you. And I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.

Piper Perabo: Okay. Thanks.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Karen Batista).

Karen Batista: Hello, Piper.

Piper Perabo: Hello, Karen. How are you?

Karen Batista: Good. Glad to see you finally joined Twitter.

Piper Perabo: Thanks. I know it’s been so fun.

Karen Batista: I know. That’s one. We’ve got to get everybody else on there.

Piper Perabo: I know. Actually, I have a little thing to share with you guys. Chris Gorman and I decided that we’re not going to be together for the premiere. But so that we could be together, we’re going to Twitter live during the premiere together so we can talk about it with the fans while they watch the premiere.

So we’re sort of like we’re watching it with them.

Karen Batista: Very good. All right.

Piper Perabo: Yes. I’m excited to try it.

Karen Batista: Yes, me too. Alright, so my question would be back to the Annie and Auggie relationship. A lot of times when shows go there, it kind of ruins the whole like tension that goes on between the two...

Piper Perabo: Yes.

Karen Batista: And I just wanted to know you know what your thoughts are. Do you want to them to go there? Do you want it to like never go there? Or do you want them to just do it a little later?

Piper Perabo: Well, I feel the same way. And so, like if I was watching the show, I always have that feeling when I watched shows, like I want them to go there. And I never want them to go there because I love watching them think about going there. But, I mean with Annie and Auggie at this point, we’re pretty far from them going there because with his relationship with Parker, it’s going to go far away from there before it possibly swings back around.

So I don’t know. Annie’s going to have to try and work a little harder if she wants to get Auggie’s attention now that Parker’s in the picture.

Karen Batista: Well, with that being said, then is - how do I want to say this? Is Annie going to - to like just try to tuck those feelings away and pretend like they’re not there for a while? Or are we going to see her like dealing with - with that like (unintelligible).

Piper Perabo: Well, I just shot a scene. I can’t even say all of this, but I just shot a season of Episode 8 where Annie is supposed to have all those feelings tucked away in a little box that she’s supposed to leave on the top shelf of the closet. And then Auggie turns around and does something and literally Annie.

It’s like, you know when you’re just so in love with someone and you have to be silent about it. And once in a while they do something that just sends you overflowing. Auggies does something like that in Episode 8. And it just - it’s so cool to watch him do it. And it’s so fun to play it that he can’t see her.

Because and the girl, you can just melt. And he doesn’t know. So, it - it starts to become undeniable to Annie. I’ll tell you that.

Karen Batista: Okay, alright. And my last question, are you going to be driving his Vette or what?

Piper Perabo: I know. I get - there was an episode that was a couple of episodes back where I was like, “hello, this is the perfect opportunity to drive the Vette.” And their like, “it’s a little bit conspicuous, Piper.” And I was like, “that’s the point. Let’s get - like let’s put a high red shoe on and drive in the Vette.” But I know I’m driving it when we come back from Paris. So don’t worry.

I’ve been thinking long and hard about what kind of dress I want to be wearing when I drive that Vette.

Karen Batista: Yes. Because you know as it stands, we’re all going to be waiting to see the Vette - the Vette and you know take it whether it’s Auggie’s in the car with you taking it for a ride. I don’t know, but we want to see the Vette.

Piper Perabo: I can promise you this. When you see the Vette, it’s going to be - when I read the scene with the Vetter, I was like, “this was worth waiting for.”

Karen Batista: Alright, well thank you.

Piper Perabo: Sure.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Sana Roven).

Piper Perabo: (Sana).

Operator: (Sana), your line is open.

Piper Perabo: Hello. Oh, (Jen), they can’t hear you.

Operator: We do have a follow-up of...

Piper Perabo: Okay.

Operator: (Jamie Ruby).

Jamie Ruby: Hello, again.

Piper Perabo: Hello.

Jamie Ruby: So you mentioned kind of so many different places. Can you talk about that and maybe some of you know your favorite places that you’ve been for the show.

Piper Perabo: Well, like you saw in the - in the season premiere, we’re in Marrakesh. And to me, that was - I mean we’ve been in so many beautiful places. You know the light in Paris is so outstanding. Venice is so good for it’s architecture. I liked Berlin just because the art was so amazing. But I have Marrakesh and the spy local is so perfect.

It feels far away. It feels fantastic. The souks make for these incredible chase scenes where there’s shacks of light and darkness. And I think that Arabic is such a beautiful language. And it has this kind of curvaceous and still strong feeling. So I - I don’t know. I - for me Marrakesh was incredible for the show. And I really like, you know we’re always filming our scenes earlier.

We’re always with no lockups out in the street with boys with handheld cameras. And so, we eat a lot of street food when we’re filming on location. And Marrakesh has the most incredible street food. So, (Jamie Barbara), the DOP and I are often while they’re picking out you know how - which side of the street, they want to be on, he and I’ll be sitting there eating fried eggplant and French fries on the curb and just waiting for them to make a decision.

And it’s one of the funniest parts of filming abroad is eating street food with (Jamie Barbara).

Jamie Ruby: Alright. Is there any special guest stars that you’d love to see on the show if you could?

Piper Perabo: Well, I keep saying that I want my friend, Lena Heidi to be on the show. But Game of Thrones keeps overlapping. And they’re doing so well on Game of Thrones, I can’t seem to get her off it. Everybody keeps watching it. And (Peter Dinkels) loves her so much, I don’t how I’m ever get her over on to my show.

And she did one episode of White Collar. So I don’t know why she can’t make a little escape. But apparently, they really need her over on Game on Thrones. So, I’m missing Lean Heidi. I wish she was on our show.

Jamie Ruby: Okay, thanks so much.

Piper Perabo: Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Jenny Rudner).

Jenny Rudner: Hello.

Piper Perabo: Hey, hello, (Jamie).

Jenny Rudner: It’s (Jenny).

Piper Perabo: Oh, hello, (Jenny). I’m sorry. Everybody has different accents.

Jenny Rudner: Well, and I couldn’t tell a while ago if they said my name. It sounded like (Jana).

Piper Perabo: It sounded like (Jama).

Jenny Rudner: I know.

Piper Perabo: And then it sounded like (Jen). And I was like, oh no.

Jenny Rudner: Well, anyway, so most of my questions got asked of course. But you - you talked a lot about the change in the you know positions with the dynamics between Annie and Auggie. But I want to know some about how that’s going to affect Annie and Joan. Because there the other relationship in the show that to me is - is really special.

Piper Perabo: I agree. And Kari and I - Kari Matchett who plays Joan, we had a bigger scene yesterday in Arthur’s office. And you know, as much as it can be contentious between Annie and Joan, I think Joan in a lot of ways is Annie’s sort of touch stone of a woman who’s done it right.

And so, when she comes under - under the guidance of Lena, although it’s really - Lena’s division is really cool. They’re a bunch of bad asses. Nobody has a desk. They sleep on the floor. They fly to Cabo for 2 hours and they fly back out. Like it’s so rock and roll over at Lena’s it’s kind of dangerous. And I think you know Joan and Annie, it gets contentious with Joan and Annie because Annie takes to Lena.

But - but I think Annie will come to realize what a kind of rock Joan is for her even though you know some - sometimes it’s not so buddy, buddy with Annie and Joan. But Joan really does care about Annie. And I think Annie’s going to start to realize that.

Jenny Rudner: Yes. I think there’s a respect there from both - both sides which is what makes the relationship so interesting to watch.

Piper Perabo: Exactly.

Jenny Rudner: And we will - we’ll actually get to see interaction between. And this was part of the question that I had or somebody already asked, but between Annie and Joan or Annie and Auggie, even though they’re not working directly with each other anymore.

Piper Perabo: Oh, yes. And it’s.

Jenny Rudner: Okay.

Piper Perabo: Not only do you see interaction between them, but they’ll (unintelligible) places in our (unintelligible) that we’ve always just like walked through like hallways and elevators and atriums and stuff like that that are usually just like part of a walk and talk when we’re going somewhere. All of sudden, all these scenes start getting shot in those places because Annie’s constantly trying to find Auggie, pulling him into a corner in the hallway, trying to copy him.

Trying to speak to Joan for you know the length of an elevator ride because it’s her only chance to see Joan. And so all - we’re shooting in these different places all in our set because we’re having all these kind of secret conversations with Lena’s secret agency. So it’s so funny like cause (unintelligible) were shooting the scene in the doorway like and we’d pull each over into a corner and we’re talking in the hallway.

And we’re looking to see who’s in the hallway. And I’m like, “with so much shit going on, I could just come to your office.” It’s not that way this season.

Jenny Rudner: Right, right. Well I love the premiere and I love the show and I love you. So, I can’t wait to see the rest of the season.

Piper Perabo: Thank you so much.

Jenny Rudner: Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Alison Ebner).

Alison Ebner: Hello, Piper. Thanks for chatting with us today. Hello.

Operator: Hold one moment please.

Woman: Did we lose, Piper.

Operator: Yes, Ma’am, we did.

Woman: Okay. Just give us one second.

Woman: Tweets I guess. I told him he should do one too.

Woman: I think we lost Piper.

Woman: We’re just getting her - her line dropped off. So we’re just getting her back. Just be one second. Sorry, guys.

Operator: Okay, Piper has rejoined us.

Piper Perabo: Sorry, guys. I don’t know what happened. (Alison) is your line still open.

Operator: Yes, her line is open at this time.

Piper Perabo: Great, Hello, Alison.

Alison Ebner: Hello, Piper, how are you?

Piper Perabo: Sorry about that.

Alison Ebner: No problem. You know you mentioned a little bit ago about reading that script for the scene with the vette. But especially with the changes in this season, what’s you know your general reaction when you get the script for the first time. Is there something you know that you’re always on the lookout for or anything like that?

Piper Perabo: Well, we’re doing a lot more long arcs this season, so characters, you know quest starts come in and they stay for many episodes. And the story of who they are unfolds. And old characters come back. So I do a lot of cracking of you know how much information certain people know because certain people only have certain security clearance.

So I have to sort of think about how much they already know and where we’re going and cracking the guest starts this season because of the way their writing. Also, I think as we come up to the end, we’re you know getting there. So in the end of the summer season, things have gotten really dangerous. So I’m always sort of curious to make sure everybody’s still safe by the end of the story. (Unintelligible) it gets really dangerous here at the end.

Alison Ebner: Definitely, definitely. And I mean it certainly sounds like Annie has you know a lot on her plate as usual, but especially this season. Is there you know a piece of advice that you would give her?

Piper Perabo: Gosh, that’s such a good question. Well, I mean this season, she kind of - this season is so explosive and so fast. I mean if Annie would just slow down a little bit, she might see things more clearly. But she just doesn’t want to slow down. She’s so - she gets a little excited and drunk on the power that she’s given under Lena’s division.

So if I was her friend, I would tell her to slow down. But since I get to play her, I don’t want to tell her that because it’s really fun to just go you know running towards a burning building.

Alison Ebner: Absolutely. Well thank you so much. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds.

Piper Perabo: Thank you.

Operator: And we have a follow-up from the line of (Jamie Seinbert).

Piper Perabo: Cool.

Jamie Steinberg: Hello again.

Piper Perabo: Hello.

Jamie Steinberg: I’m going to ask you what do you like most about Annie?

Piper Perabo: Well, I mean I like that Annie is impulsive because acting wise, it’s - it’s very active do you know what I mean to sit and ponder the consequences before you do something is not - is not sort of active in a way. And what’s fun to act is someone who goes, and goes, and goes. It’s - it’ll get you into trouble faster which is fun to act.

And I don’t know, it just sort - it has like a kinetic thing that I really respond to. But I mean it sounds so girlie, but I also really like how Annie dresses. I love that they let her - that’s where the kind of James Bond comes out in Annie is her shoes and her dresses and her jackets. And there’s no way - I mean a character makes a joke about it in this season but.

He says, “you know how can you could you afford this many shoes on a government salary.” And it’s so true. It’s so beyond fantasy, her shoe collection. Oh god, it’s. As a girl, it’s so fun to walk into the wardrobe trucks in the morning.

Jamie Steinberg: What do you think it is about Cover Affairs that really resonates with (unintelligible)?

Piper Perabo: Well I think you know in the summer, it’s an escape. We travel a lot and it’s sort of high octane. And in the way that you know in the summer the blockbuster movies come out. And you want to go see Ghost Protocol. And you want to go see Prometheus because you want these kind of big blowout escapes.

And I feel like Covert Affairs really takes advantage of that sort of tone of the summer.

Jamie Steinberg: Great. Thank you again.

Piper Perabo: Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Heather Malachi).

Heather Malachi: Hello, Piper. You talk about the dynamics that she - that Annie’s on a new team. And she’s got somebody that she’s sort of indirectly reporting to. But I wondered can we trust Lena? Or are we supposed to sort of wonder whether she has another agenda that she’s running Annie on?

Piper Perabo: Well, I had those questions at the beginning too. But, I can’t really tell you the answer.

Heather Malachi: Okay.

Piper Perabo: But What I can tell you is I think Lena’s good for Annie.

Heather Malachi: Okay.

Piper Perabo: I think she needs a kind of push out of the nest. And she needs someone - you have to sort of - you know people can tell you how to do things until their blue in the face. But if you don’t experience something, you don’t really know how to do it. And I think Annie is ready to take on bigger missions. And although Lena’s methodology may be questionable, I think it’s good for Annie to be under that kind of boss.

Heather Malachi: Okay. And then on the guest casting question, so now that Sandra Berkley’s available, can we get Sandra Berkley to work with Sarah on the show.

Piper Perabo: Wouldn’t that be amazing? You know I keep hoping that he’s going to like stroll into the stage to like pick her up and maybe Nikita will be there. And like maybe they’ll just all roll into the DPD to pick Sarah up from what could happen yet. But it would be kind of bad ass. And then if a real fight broke out between Nikita and Covert Affairs, I’d like to see that brawl.

Heather Malachi: Thank you.

Piper Perabo: Sure.

Operator: Your next question is a follow-up from the line of (Carla Day).

Carla Day: Hello, Piper. I was wondering, we did Kris last month and he mentioned that Annie and Auggie go undercover as a married couple in Spain in the second episode.

Piper Perabo: Of course, I can’t believe he told you that. Man. Oh, my god.

Carla Day: I’m so sorry if that’s like - was too much of a spoiler. But I wish you could talk about - a little bit about that episode. And what it was like to you know for Annie to kind of pretend to be married to someone she does have feeling for?

Piper Perabo: Well, first of all Kris and I had been begging for Auggie and Annie to go into the field again. I mean their kind of in the field in the pilot. And then it doesn’t happen again. And their such an incredible team that to have them in the field, it’s just so exciting.

And then on top of it, to be married like when Joan gives us our wedding rings, it’s so intense. You know like when you like someone and by chance you just sat next to them in a meeting or you sit next them on the bus, or you happen to be at the grocery store, you know how you. It’s so exciting. And so if you like someone, and some says, “you have to pretend to be married to them”.

I mean Annie can barely control herself.

Carla Day: Awesome, thank you.

Piper Perabo: I can’t believe he told you. I’m going to get on him for keeping his trap shut. He’s supposed to be a good spy and keep secrets.

Carla Day: Thank you.

Piper Perabo: Sure.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Tobi Jeffrey Greer).

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: Oh, hey. Hello.

Piper Perabo: Hello.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: I thought I took my cell off the queue. I guess I didn’t.

Piper Perabo: Oh, shoot. Do you want to go out of the queue. We can just hang out a minute if you want.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: No, that’s okay. I’ll think of something else really quick. So, I love street food too. I lived in Cambodia and used to visit Vietnam a lot. So I’m an old hen at street food. And they had great street food.

Piper Perabo: I keep angling to try and get us into South East Asia because I think it’s so - because I think it’s so beautiful. And I think it would be such a - you know when we’ve been in Europe recently in the last season, there’s a certain light and architecture and crispness in Europe. When you get into South East Asia with the heat and the jungles and the sort of color story and color palette is so different.

Not to mention the street food that I keep angling to try and get Annie a mission down there so we can go.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: So do you have a wish list of places that you want to go?

Piper Perabo: Not only do have a wish list of places, I actually keep this list of things that I send to the writers. Like maybe every month, I send them a list of things that I wish would happen to Annie. And I know that it’s not up to me and I don’t have any control over, but I always hoped that by sending them the list where I say like, “how about an underwater chase scene? How about dirt biking through the Sahara? How about you know XYX” that when their sitting in the writers room, they’ll be that moment where they’re like, “wow, what did she do?”

And then there’s my little list sitting on the table. They can’t help but look at it. So, I do send them lists of places I’d like to go.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: How about a chase scene through Angkor Wat in Cambodia?

Piper Perabo: Exactly. Exactly.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: Great. It’s really rear for like spy shows that we get to see an operative from the very beginning of their career. But you have an - you have an ingénue (unintelligible) what’s an easy way up. So like and you know the first episode I think it was, Annie leaves her shoes behind in the hotel room...

Piper Perabo: Right.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: And has to go back and collect them. And now we’re up to where she’s producing her mark. So what do you think of Annie’s progress so far as an operative?

Piper Perabo: I mean I think Annie’s progress is pretty impressive considering how often she breaks the rules that she’s still alive. So I’m proud of her for not dying. I think most people would not have made it this far. And I also think you know progress wise, what she has to balance between life and work, I can relate to. I mean my job is not life threatening nor does National Security depend on it.

But it’s still hard to balance a busy career and family and social life. And I think considering how much stress she’s under, she does a pretty good job staying connected to the people she loves. And it’s - and it’s something that I admire in her that you know when she’s been away from Danielle or when she has spoken to her nieces in a while, it does weigh on her.

And that - that’s important to her and stays in the front of her mind amid such an ambitious career. I just like that about her.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: Right. Okay. And I have to ask. I mean we got to talk to Gabrielle and Lar last week. And several of my readers did make specific mention of the shoes and the running. I know you’ve been to Langley and I have to ask, do you actually see no operatives really run around in those ridiculous shoes?

Piper Perabo: Well you know, you know what I saw when day. When I went to Langley for the first season and there was a woman. I won’t forget. There was a woman walking down to the hall. I would say she was early 40s, smoking hot bod in a cherry red dress and heals. And she had on a security clearance tag which it’s a different tag depending on whether you’re an analysis, (unintelligible) technology or operative.

And she had an operative tag on. And I couldn’t believe it. But then later in the day, I saw a guy running down the hall. And I said, “what’s going on that somebody’s running down the hall?” They said, “Well some things are eyes only.” And Langley is so big, that you know if something’s happening in real time, and you need to see something eyes only, you’ll see people going running through the building.

And so women - some women keep sneakers under their desk for that reason. So if all of sudden something comes up that’s for eyes only, they’ll put their sneakers on and then run through Langley. So I’ve always wanted - it’s been one of the things that’s on my list in the writers’ room is that I want a for eyes only security clearance thing to come and you see Annie take off the Louboutins and put on her like her Janke gym shoes and then go running down the halls.

They really do that.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: That’s cool. Okay, thank you so much.

Piper Perabo: Sure.

Tobi Jeffrey Greer: Okay. Bye.

Piper Perabo: Bye.

Woman: We have time for one final question if there’s one.

Operator: Your question is from the line of (Janie Ruby):

Jamie Ruby: Hello again.

Piper Perabo: Hello.

Jamie Ruby: So I know, I know obviously there’s a lot of technical stuff you would have to stick too. But do you guys ever like some things improv or more loose with the dialogue sometimes?

Piper Perabo: Sometimes. It’s not really improv. But you know sometimes like things are written because the writer’s idea of the architecture of a space in a certain way. And especially with action sequences, you know when you’re doing a car chase or when you’re doing a foot chase through a building that’s complicated. Then it’s dialogue that’s written because of how the writer dreamed it would be.

But once you’re on the ground, like this street is like - we did a chase where a motor cycle has a sidecar and it’s a one-way street, so we go from an al - we go running from the alley into a one-way street. And that’s just the way the streets are in Barcelona.

So we had to change the dialogue on the fly obviously to make sense of the geography. And that happens a lot in the action sequences.

Jamie Ruby: Okay, great. Thanks so much once again.

Piper Perabo: Sure.

Woman: Great. I think that wraps up our call for today.

Piper Perabo: Thank you guys. Thank you so much. Yes, that was so fun. And I’m glad you guys liked the opener. And I just really appreciate your interest in our show. It’s so much fun to make. And I’m glad that you guys like it.

Woman: Thank you, Piper. (Melissa), can you take us back into private conference.

Operator: Thank you for joining today’s conference call, you may now disconnect your lines.

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