'Political Animals' Star Carla Gugino on the USA Series' Sex Scenes: 'It Should Push Those Limits' (Video)

3:01 PM PDT 7/13/2012 by Erin Carlson

0
0
0
0
0
Email
Print
Comments

The actress portrays a Maureen Dowd-esque journalist on the political-themed soap opera.

USA Network is not exactly known for greenlighting TV series with racy sex scenes. Which is why Political Animals, its new primetime soap blending Washington politics, family drama and various sexcapades, seems like such a departure.

Carla Gugino Joins USA's 'Political Animals'

'Political Animals' Star Sigourney Weaver on Channeling Hillary Clinton (Video)

"It's definitely a new kind of show for them, and they I think are very excited about that as well," Carla Gugino, who portrays an ambitious DC journalist, tells THR. "But, yes, it is a show that you might have seen more on an HBO or a Showtime or an AMC in the past."

She adds: "It should push those limits ... it's a sexy, dangerous, fun, smart, show."

Gugino co-stars opposite Sigourney Weaver in the series, which premieres Sunday for a limited run. In her first-ever regular TV role, Weaver portrays the Hillary Clinton-esque Secretary of State Elaine Barrish, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to a younger male rival. The first episode begins with her demanding a divorce from former president Budd Hammond (Ciaran Hinds), whose charismatic persona, history of philandering and Southern drawl exudes shades of Bill Clinton.

PHOTOS: 22 of the Best Presidents in Movies and TV

Gugino plays Susan Berg, a tough-minded, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who's profiling Barrish, with whom she has a contentious relationship.

"There's this sort of animosity because of the two sides of the tracks that they're on in terms of a reporter and the politicians," says Gugino, comparing her character to The Washington Post's Bob Woodward. "But ... as we begin this journey, you kind of see that she starts to sort of be ingratiated in the family a little bit more."

As for the parallels between the Clintons and the Hammonds, Gugino raves: "As soon a Sigourney opened her mouth and said one word, I just forgot about that completely."

Watch THR's Gugino interview above.