Cindy Busby No stranger to the works of the period or to express strong and energetic women, but in When you want to call In season 2, she plays one of her most meaningful roles. As Nora Anderson, a pioneering lawyer in the 1920s, Busby entered an era when women were just beginning to break the barriers to the legal world. In this interview, she talks about the power of playing such a groundbreaking role, learning how to drive a real wagon van and stepping into a completely immersive suit.
Busby also joins a series already in the sport, her path as a role, and how to return Heartland Over the past decade, it has brought back a lot of emotions. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For the full interview, please watch the video above or check out our YouTube page.
I like shows set up at different times.
Cindy Busby: I mean, this is the best.
Does this make things easier for you when you put on those clothes and go to suits?
Cindy Busby: Yes, of course it’s like driving you away. You do all the work ahead of time on the role and all the work they come from. Then you remember the lines, then you finish your hair and makeup, then you see yourself in the mirror, then you put on that outfit, your posture changes, and then you start to feel it.
Then you appear in this set similar to standing. It just lives on this farmland in a field, each facade is built, so the interior is decorated with decorations and you can’t help feeling absolutely immersed in the world.
And, it definitely helps to see the background actors doing their things and see other actors, so of course certainly promotes some kind of ability.
Not long ago, I was in a Civil War movie and I had to learn how to load and shoot rifles, something I never thought of. Do you need to learn anything for this show?
Cindy Busby: I actually did it. I learned it, I think you would say driving a carriage, it’s cool.
I had to learn how to control horses with a van and a large van. They asked me to make eight circles. And it’s hard because it’s like a legitimate old van, so it has a poor turn radius. You have to really turn the rope slowly and gently so that the horse doesn’t maneuver too quickly because you can actually tip and they tell me later. I was like, “Thank you for not telling me in advance because I will definitely be under more pressure.”
But it’s very interesting. It’s really cool to do this, and I do think I’m good at it.
How long has it taken you to learn how to do it?
Cindy Busby: I think I might do it like a good hour or so. Then, every day I had to do this, they would always let me ride the van and rehearse the exercise with a horse.
I have to say there is no good suspension on these things, so you just jump around and then need to be like chiropractic adjustments.
It’s always cool to do this. I feel like as an actor we are always learning, like you said, the rifle thing, we are always learning the weirdest things that we don’t usually learn in life. So it’s very interesting.
What is the weirdest thing you have to learn throughout your career?
Cindy Busby: I had to learn how to shoot bows and arrows, which was actually very difficult.
And it’s cool.
Cindy Busby: And it’s cool. Then dance in the banquet hall, which is also difficult. I have to like fake skiing. I’m not a skier, but I had to do a little bit.
Oh, and also learn how to do dog performances, such as learning how to walk in a dog performance like a dog, which is actually complicated.
The show is scheduled for 1920 and your role is a lawyer. How did this shape play with her?
Cindy Busby: It’s a big deal when you start looking at it. In the 1920s, women’s liberation was the ability to vote and have their own money, and women were finally able to serve as lawyers and become lawyers. At that time in 1920, I read that there were only a certain number of lawyers in the United States, and 0.01% of lawyers were women. So, in the whole of America, there are only a thousand things. Really low. So it’s really important to be a lawyer. So it will certainly be shaped in it.
Protecting people is really important to her. She is really smart. It also means she is really determined and really drives her life. Her heart is very big, she wants justice in the world, she is really serious.
In many ways, it’s really cool to play such a pioneer character.
I saw you auditioned in season 1 initially.
Cindy Busby: Yes, I did it. A completely different character. It’s very close, but it doesn’t go my way, and that’s life. And we all went through about a thousand times.
I haven’t heard of this show in a long time. Then it came back, and then it came back. Actually, my initial audition for the season was Hannah’s role. It just didn’t work at the time because I couldn’t audition and it didn’t solve it. Then, Nora walked around and I auditioned for it, and this solved it, I’m here.
As an actor, it’s amazing to be a place to take you. It’s like one thing you’re thinking about and then take it in the next minute in another direction you’ve never thought about it.
You are Heartland for a long time. I’ve done a lot of theaters and played the same role for months, but what’s the evolution of playing the role for so long?
Cindy Busby: This is really very special. That’s the important reason I want to do When you want to call. I want to join a series again because, like you know, in the movie, you get one or two scenes, and there is an entire storyline where you have to create the entire storyline in one scene or a 90 minute movie. But in this respect, you are creating your whole arc.
Most of the time, you don’t know where it will lead, like a writer, figuring it out with your identity. Sometimes you can chat with them, but you do create a completely obvious person.
I feel like that kind of character grows with you, parallel to some ability, because you are going through something, maybe in the life you use. Use what you know, right? So you use it in that world.
I love it so much because you create many different situations because as a person you will have a good day, you will have a bad day, you will feel sad, you will feel happy, you will feel ecstatic, you will fall in love, you will fall in love, and you can experience it in a series, a small part.
And I think as an actor, it’s a dream to really embody a person, whether you like it or not, they’re going to be a part of you. Ashley will be a part of me forever.
Just over the past year, playing her again in Season 18…I haven’t played her for 11 years, and when they asked me to come back, I thought, “Oh boy, do I still want to play her?
Is she still there in me? Can I still be her justice? Where is she living now? What will she look like in 11 years? ”This is too much to consider.
But I just thought, “You know, I just want to do it for fans. What I want to do is go see my friends again. I’m glad I did it because I went away that suit and once I saw some old co-stars, Ashley lived in her own, more mature, more mature career, female way.
There are really interesting things to bring the characters to life and how this happens. Because it’s kind of like you. Sometimes, I’m just surprised by how it all happened.
I want to wear an old pair of shoes.
Cindy Busby: Complete, complete. A pair of ancient cowboy boots.
