On Location with Elizabeth McLaughlin

by Natasha Wolff | September 7, 2015 10:00 am

When it came time for Elizabeth McLaughlin to go to work on the set of Hand of God[1], the new Amazon series that follows a judge as he begins to believe he’s hearing the voice of the Almighty, she never knew quite where she’d end up.

“It was kind of crazy, because we were shooting all throughout Los Angeles[2] and you didn’t know where you were going to go on any given day,” she explains. “It could be anywhere from right next door to your house to a good 50 miles away.”

Luckily, once McLaughlin got wherever she was going, the work always proved interesting. 

“My experience filming this show with this cast was easily one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had,” the 21-year-old actress says. “To me it was this really delicious, perfect combination of working on something that I’m really proud of while also working with just the best people. And it sounds contrived, like it’s just actor talk trying to promote a show, but our cast genuinely loves each other.”

At least, of course, off screen. In front of the camera, any number of the series’ characters are seemingly always at odds. It’s no wonder, considering Ron Perlman plays that newly religious judge, Pernell Harris, while McLaughlin and Pretty Little Liars alum Julian Morris play a priest and his sidekick who get tangled up with Harris.  

The character of Alicia was a bit of a mystery even to McLaughlin. “When we first meet her, she is a bit of a question mark,” she says. “We don’t know who she is really, but she makes a hell of a first impression.”

Still, no matter how dark or twisted things got for her character, McLaughlin says working on Hand of God never really felt like work.

“There were a couple of those rough, 16.5-hour days that were just nonstop, especially for me since my character was constantly in six-and-a-half-inch heels,” she says, “but being surrounded by people like Julian Morris and Ron Perlman, the levity and the laughter on set was pretty nonstop which was definitely refreshing.”

Source URL: https://dujour.com/culture/hand-of-god-elizabeth-mclaughlin-interview/