The Blacklist has raged on as one of the finest entries in the crime-drama genre, with James Spader leading it as Raymond Reddington alongside Megan Boone’s Elizabeth Keen, and continues to do so even after getting off the air with its tenth season. However, as loved as the show was, shooting it wasn’t all that easy, especially for Boone.
For the actress, this was her first major role in her entire star-studded career, and thus, settling into it and giving the performance of a lifetime wasn’t all that easy for her in the beginning. But this was exactly when her Emmy-winning co-star stepped in to offer her a piece of advice worthy enough to make the entire show a breeze for the actress.
James Spader’s advice made making The Blacklist easy for Megan Boone
Even though Boone’s career had started years before it, she didn’t earn her true breakthrough in Hollywood’s entertainment industry until the role of Elizabeth Keen in The Blacklist came along. That said, obviously that role was a big one for her, and she didn’t have all that easy time in the beginning while preparing herself to tackle the role.
In an interview with Daily Actor, she confessed the same: “Actually, when we were shooting the pilot, it was the day we were diffusing the bomb and I was having a difficult time and you know, I was kind of spiraling down this very serious mindset because it’s a drama, so you think, you’re shooting a drama, you should be very serious about your work.”
Needless to say, the Accused actress was pretty worried about how she was going to perform before her co-star and Raymond Reddington actor James Spader came into the picture. This was yet another major role for the already commendably-achieved actor, thus, he offered a very important piece of advice to Boone to calm her nerves.
As the Step Up Revolution actress continued to share about how Spader helped her out,
He just came up to me and he put his hand on my shoulder and he looked at me for a good minute. It made me feel like he was going to say something very, very, very serious. I kind of leaned in and he goes, ‘Just have fun. It’s the most important part.’
At the same time, Boone also pointed out that this was “one of the most difficult experiences” that she had faced till that date because her character wasn’t an easy one: Playing Elizabeth Keen required Megan Boone to funnel “the fatigue, the exhaustion, the feeling of being overwhelmed” and dump all of it into the scene work as much as she could.
But “maintaining that inquisitive, joyful feeling for the work” throughout it all, as Spader taught her, was exactly what had her going smoothly through the eight seasons of the series in which she played Keen. To say the least, the 64-year-old Emmy winner’s advice and presence turned out to be so helpful that it taught her one of the most important lessons of her life.
James Spader’s advice taught a very important lesson to Megan Boone
As it turns out, Spader’s advice affected Boone so much that she realized that it wasn’t restricted just to that particular role of hers; it applied to all fields. If anything, it brought her to the realization that all she needed was to have fun while working, or else the curiosity to explore further the respective role and genre she was working in died.
During the same interview, the About Cherry star shared the same, saying, “Ever since that point, his presence is kind of a reminder to enjoy myself in the process. I think that, you know, no matter what genre you’re working in, even if it is a high space drama and a thriller, if you’re not enjoying yourself and you’re not having fun, then the curiosity dies.”
That being said, she didn’t hesitate to emphasize that Spader himself had an “abundance” of this very feature before continuing to praise him, saying, “He’s always, always working further into the story and there’s just so much I can learn from working with him, so the joy, the fun and the way that he really is present, he brings that to the work.”
Well, for one, James Spader most certainly seems to channel that very energy, considering how pretty much all of his performances have been nothing short of iconic. And teaching that advice to Megan Boone also seems to have played out perfectly in their favor, since almost all the episodes the pair have starred together in the respective series have been nothing short of iconic.
The Blacklist can currently be streamed on Netflix.
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