Annie Wersching is a die-hard Cardinals fan.
The St. Louis-born actress, who now lives in Los Angeles, often travels the country to catch a game, even stopping in Arizona this year to watch the Birds take on the Diamondbacks. Between cheering on her hometown team, filming hit TV shows, and spending time with her two young boys, Wersching keeps busy.
You might recognize her from such popular series as 24, NBC's Timeless, General Hospital, and The Vampire Diaries. She's also guest-starred on Castle, Hawaii Five-0, Supernatural, and Charmed. She'll next appear in the new Marvel series Runaways, which debuts on Hulu November 21. The show, based on the comic books of the same name, follows six teenagers who discover their parents are part of a cult-like, super-villain group known as "The Pride." Executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (of such successful shows as The O.C., Gossip Girl, and Chuck) have adapted the comic books for TV.
Below, Wersching dishes on her "creepy" Runaways character, growing up in St. Louis, her favorite local spots to visit, and how she once played softball with Jon Hamm.
Was it intimidating at all when you knew Runaways was part of the huge Marvel universe? Oh, 100 percent when the word Marvel was attached. It was, one, incredibly exciting and, two, a little daunting. That’s a big conglomerate in the entertainment world. But mostly exciting.
I’m sure it helped knowing you were in good hands with executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. What was it like working with them? Working with Josh and Stephanie has been amazing. Every show they’ve had has been a big hit: The O.C., Gossip Girl, Chuck. Also, it’s nice to know they’ve done these big, ensemble pieces before successfully, where they can merge the parents’ storyline and the kids’ storyline in a way that, whether you’re an adult or a young adult watching, can keep everybody interested. That’s huge, knowing that we’re in good hands with them.
Tell me about your Runaways character, Leslie, and what about her interested you. Leslie Dean is a fantastic character. She is the head of the Church of Gibborim, which is a very sleek, sort of new-age, modern celebrity church in Los Angeles. On the surface, Leslie is a very charismatic leader who has a lot of power in her community and does so much good for the community. Deeper down, though, there are secrets lurking. She has a lot of hidden agendas, and she can be very manipulative.
It’s cool because in the comic books, it was the kids, and the parents were in there a little bit, but Josh and Steph have taken it to a place where it’s equal. So the parents really get developed so much more. It’s really fun, because [Leslie’s] so multi-layered. And she’s actually a little creepy [laughs].
You also do great work on NBC’s Timeless. What was it like during that period where it was first cancelled and then actually picked up for a second season? Oh my gosh, it was crazy. I was so sad when it got cancelled. We always knew it was 50/50, that it was a bubble show. But we knew that it had such a huge online fan base that I thought it would sway toward getting picked up. I was pretty shocked when it got cancelled. And then even crazier, when it was only three days later that all of the sudden it was un-cancelled. It’s a testament to the fans. They’re hardcore about that show. Kudos to them, because they totally did it.
Will we be seeing your character, Emma, in season 2? Yes, Emma Whitmore will be back. She closed out the first season with a bit of a bang. I’m sure her story needs to be resolved. [Spoiler alert:] It was revealed that she is working for Rittenhouse as opposed to hiding from them in the past. There’s a lot of mystery involving Emma, to me as well. I can’t wait to get the first couple of scripts, when more details are revealed about her. I’m looking forward to starting again. I get to go back to that just a few weeks after we finish Runaways. Also, Timeless shoots in Los Angeles now instead of Vancouver, so that’s great.
Annie Wersching goofs around on the Timeless set with co-star Goran Visnjic.
A lot of people also know you as Renee on 24. What was the most valuable thing you learned from that experience and being on that set? Most of my scenes were with Kiefer [Sutherland]. I was able to observe him, and he’s such a hard worker, and he really, really is invested in his character and the show in general. I feel like I just learned good etiquette for how to be on set and about giving it your all and being into it at every single moment.
Renee herself was such a wonderful character to get to play, because she had the tough side and the action. But she was also conflicted about stuff, conflicted about what she was doing. She had a beautiful arc that first season. From where she started to where she ended was so interesting. It was a pleasure to play her.
How often do you make it back to St. Louis? Pretty often. I’d say maybe three or four times a year. I’m a diehard Cardinals fan, so I follow them all over the country. We saw them in Arizona this year. I definitely have my roots deeply stuck in St. Louis. I actually just had some friends that came to visit here, and they brought me Provel cheese and some Imo’s salad dressing [laughs].
When you come back, what are the places you love to visit? I have two little boys now. I have a 4 year old and a 7 year old, so most of my visiting now—not that it wasn’t this before—we do the zoo a lot. We did the science center last time. We actually did the art museum too, which I loved. It’s funny because it’s kind of like being a tourist for a second but not really obviously. I was an Irish dancer growing up in St. Louis, and so we usually hit up McGurk’s, where a friend of mine works. Any and everything in Forest Park—we always go to the Boathouse. The kids love feeding the fish and the turtles there. Sometimes we stay with family, and sometimes we stay at The Cheshire, which is fun. And Busch Stadium, of course.
You mentioned you were an Irish dancer. How was that experience? There was a really hardcore Irish dancing community in St. Louis growing up. There were five different schools. I was with The Mayer School of Dance. We were also called the St. Louis Celtic Stepdancers. It was my life. I traveled and competed in it. That and theater were the things I did all the time when I was growing up in St. Louis.
Did you always know you were interested in acting? I never really had a moment where I was like, “This is what I’m going to do.” I went to New City School in the Central West End, and my music teacher there, Diane Davenport, very ambitiously put on the show Cats when I was in fourth grade. I always think that’s such an ambitious show to do with elementary school kids. That was the first show I did, and I did a bunch of shows growing up. I went to Crossroads [College Preparatory School] for high school and did a lot of shows there, and then just went on to college. It was just always what I did.
How has growing up in St. Louis influenced you and your career? Growing up in St. Louis, and being from the Midwest in general, has given me a pretty good head on my shoulders. I feel like I can be on set and work with all these different, awesome people, but I still maintain that down-to-earth, Midwest thing that is kind of hard to put your finger on. I can’t tell you how many times people are like, “You are so chill.” They’re always like, “You must be a Midwesterner, huh?” That happens a lot. There’s a really great thing about the Midwest and people from St. Louis that is very down to earth and real and authentic. I’m insanely proud to be from there.
Have you ever connected with other St. Louis-born actors? When the [MLB] All-Star Game was in St. Louis in 2009, they did that celebrity softball game the day before. There was me and Jon Hamm and Jenna Fischer. Those were the main two that I talked to the most. I’m still friends with Jenna Fischer, so that’s fun.
What are you working on next? We’re just finishing up Runaways. We’re on the last episode. And then I have about three weeks off, and then I start Timeless again. So keeping busy. And the two little ones are definitely keeping me busy too [laughs].
