Interview with Christine Baranski who plays Diane Lockhart

1 February 2017

How would you describe The Good Fight?

I guess it's been characterized so far as a spin-off of ‘The Good Wife,’ probably because you will see my character, who was on ‘The Good Wife’ for seven years continue in what is her story.

How does the world of The Good Wife carry over into The Good Fight?

The audience will recognize that we're bringing it, moving the energy forward from ‘The Good Wife,’ but it is a new fight. I love the title, ‘[The] Good Fight,’ because it almost sounds like wife. It’s like wife-fight, wife-fight, and a female lead which is – women are always fighting. More on the show’s connection to “The Good Wife.” It's also a continuation of other characters that we have seen on ‘The Good Wife’: Cush Jumbo, Lucca Quinn will be in the new show. And of course, we had a rather bad final scene in the final episode of ‘The Good Wife.’ And so there's that meeting of those two women.

Will the show present a fresh take on Diane’s story?

We had a great crew, we had a great happy family. And it was like, well, why can’t we just continue that? But how do we make it new? How do we make it the same, and yet different? And already with the shooting of the pilot, the first episode, I already feel like that's already been achieved.

What does it feel like to be back in Diane’s shoes?

I have played Diane for seven years, so it's wonderful to be in her skin again, in her psychology again.

Where does Diane’s story pick up on The Good Fight?

It begins with Diane rather at the peak of her success and her worldly power, and her newly expanded law firm. And what we see is the story of a rather swift fall from that fortune.

Tell us more on where we find Diane at the start of Season 1….

The Diane that you will see at the very beginning of this pilot is a woman who survived that courtroom scene, and whacking Alicia, and moving on with her life. And you see her in the South of France wanting to buy her dream home. She's estranged from her husband, who cheated on her. So, I think there's – you see a woman who just says, okay, I'm going to let the world go. I'm going to spiritually heal myself. I'm going to attend to my quality of life, my intellectual, my cultural – I'm going to have a certain kind of a life. And not even one third of the way into the script, she loses everything.

Do we see a new side to Diane in “The Good Fight”?

It's not like Diane didn't go through a lot of trauma. The whole seven seasons was always Diane always picking herself up and fighting a good fight. This is just a whole other level, where she actually loses the very thing that made her Diane, which was her stature, her integrity. You see her in free-fall in the first episode.

How does Diane lose her fortune?

She's lost all her money in a scam – kind of a Madoff scam. So, it's a swift emotional decompression. The character in one episode goes from very high to rock bottom. And it's kind of a breathtaking fall.

How devastating is Diane’s financial loss?

Imagine Diane Lockhart having to look for work and be unemployable. I mean, that's what the show is – so the first episode of ‘The Good Fight’ I would say is as dramatic a single episode that I have ever, ever shot in my life.

Does Diane’s loss go beyond money?

What Diane loses is her money, it's her finances, it's her reputation, it's her stature. And when you lose all those things that are a construct of your life, where are you? Who are you? So, it's much more than just having to fight at work to move forward. It's hitting rock bottom in a culture that values success and money and stature. When you've lost all that, where are you?

How does Diane cope with all the changes?

She gets a new job. She's not number one. She's not the head of the firm anymore. She's can barely – we don't even know if she can come up with the money for her capital contribution to be in the firm. So, the topography is like, it's all new.

What is the overarching theme for Season 1 of The Good Fight?

It addresses the psychological journey of a character or characters who have literally lost what completely defines them or what they thought completely defines them. They have lost it, and how do they come back and survive catastrophic loss?

 

What makes Diane’s story relevant for a modern audience?

The only firm that will actually hire Diane Lockhart is an African-American firm. And so we're going to be dealing with issues of not just, you know, women's issues, which a lot of ‘The Good Wife’ was, the woman surviving. It is going to be black-white America. And that is extremely timely now and worth examining.

How is Diane’s goddaughter, Maia Rindell (Rose Leslie), introduced?

After she graduates from law school, I give her a job. I'm sort of mentoring her until I retire. She is the daughter of the Madoff family that brings everybody down. So, it's her fall from grace. You see her graduate from law school, happily employed, and boom, the bottom drops out of her life.

How would you describe the first episode of the series?

Any first show that's going to launch a series that's moving forward has to obviously captivate an audience and pack a dramatic punch. There are a lot, lot, lot of big moments in the first episode.

What happens at Diane’s retirement party?

You see her at the party, and everyone is saying, why are you retiring? If you ever reconsider, we'd love to have you at our firm. These are the people who then she goes to and ask for a job, and they won't hire her, because she is in fact related to the Rindell Family, which the Rindells are our Madoffs. And as I said, what could be worse in our culture than to lose your reputation?

Why is Diane shunned by her friends and colleagues?

You're viewed in a negative way, so no one wants to be associated with you. It's the worst possible thing that could happen in our culture. I mean, losing

your money, yeah, but like – people don't want to associate with you. You have no place in our very materialistic, capitalistic world, no place to fit in.

Will The Good Fight tell strong female stories, in the tradition of “The Good Wife”?

I think that the show, without ever proselytising, or being overly feminist in tone – I don't think ‘The Good Wife’ was ever that. I don't think ‘The Good Fight’ will be that. But I think just in that you're going to have not one, but four very interesting strong female characters in the cast, all varied, but all strong, feisty women, will be a wonderful thing.

What do Creators and Executive Producers Robert and Michelle King bring to the show?

Because The Kings are such brilliant writers, and they write about the moral landscape of America so well, I think we're poised to do some really, really interesting, brave work.

What has been the fan reaction to your portrayal of Diane?

There's an innate strength and integrity in Diane Lockhart and it's something that women really responded to in her. I'd have women of all ages, I'd have women who were law school students saying, you're a role model, or, we look up to you. I had professors of law who were female say, my students look up to your character. I mean, it really speaks to how women want to be inspired, and think that the good fight is worth it.

How do you find strength in your own life?

I pray every day, something I've done for years now, but my first prayer of the day is thanks. And my second prayer of the day for my loved ones, and for the deceased that I have lost who I loved, but also praying for the world, praying for – many things need prayer these days, but I won't go through my list. But I find prayer is a source of strength to me.

 

Will Diane continue to deliver the fashion that fans have come to expect from her?

One of the reasons people tune in, and I know this, because I'm always stopped on the street, is to see what the women are wearing, and Diane was always the character who had the most money to spend on clothes, so I always looked like six million bucks. And that's not going to go away, because even if you lose all your money you don't get much money back if you sell your clothes. And how else do you crawl your way back? You’ve got to have good-looking clothes. Don't let them see – don't let them see that you don't look good. It's your image. It's what you send out into the world. So, I think Diane is going to work harder than ever to look great. And yes, we're going to continue to have great clothes. I'm not giving up those duds, no way.

What can fans of The Good Wife expect from The Good Fight?

More great writing, more incredibly intelligent, thoughtful, insightful writing that is character-driven, that is issue-driven, that's informed by what's going on in the world – probably more than ever now it will, because we're now moving over to an African-American firm, so we're going to be dealing with issues of not just age and feminism, but racism, and – I mean, I think we're just going to be dealing with all the issues that we've been dealing with.