NEW YORK, April 3 (UPI) -- Coup! and Good Sam actress Skye P. Marshall swears she hasn't told anybody how Season 1 of Matlock will wrap up because she wants viewers to enjoy the suspense and the resolution of the CBS drama's big central mystery.
Airing Thursday nights, the show has already been renewed for a second season.
Matlock follows wealthy, married, retired attorney Madeline Kingston (Kathy Bates) as she poses as Matty Matlock, a folksy divorcee, who is actually trying to bring down the prestigious law firm Jacobson Moore from the inside because she blames it for covering up crucial reports about the drugs that killed her daughter.
Marshall plays Olympia, the brilliant and stylish junior partner at the Manhattan firm, while Jason Ritter plays Olympia's ex-husband and colleague Julian and Beau Bridges plays Senior, a managing partner and Julian's father.
"None of us wanted to know who was responsible. No matter how hard you try, some actors just want to twist their mustache," Marshall joked to UPI in a photo interview Monday.
"I didn't know if it was me. I didn't know if it was Julian and I didn't know if it was Senior until we read it on the page and we all gasped," she said.
"Most people think they have it figured out and they don't and that's going to be the joy. I am usually not a safe space for secrets, but I am joyfully keeping this one to the chest. My husband doesn't know. None of my relatives know. My best friends don't know."
She described the situation as a "trauma bond" between her and castmates who understand how difficult it is to NOT tell people pleading for an inside scoop.
"It's like, 'Guys, we're the only ones who know!'" she laughed. "I'm sure the crew is sitting on their NDAs going: 'Come on! Let's air this thing already!'"
Marshall said the role was everything she ever wanted and she fought hard to land it.
"I could only dream of this being pitched to me. I was sitting at home, unemployed, scrolling through the trades on IMDB Pro and all I saw was: CBS, Kathy Bates, Matlock and I almost jumped out of the window. I could not contain myself," Marshall recalled.
"My husband [Edwin Hodge] and I had just come off of Good Sam. That [show] only lasted a season, but it was enough for me to get in bed with the best network on prime-time television," added the CSI and NCIS mega-fan. "I always, which a lot of my friends know, had 'CBS procedural drama' on my vision board since I started pursuing acting."
The actress said that when she finally got her hands on the script for the pilot and saw the character of Olympia she became "deeply obsessed" with playing her.
"By the time I got to the end and I saw the twist [about Matty's real identity], I was like, 'You have to be kidding me!' Now, I was just blown away by the writing, the characters, the overarching mystery," she added.
Fortunately for Marshall, Jennie Snyder Urman, one of the executive producers on Good Sam, wrote and was executive producing Matlock.
Marshall said she went in for the audition and told the people seeing her: "I know you have some heavy hitters going in for this role to play opposite Kathy Bates. I understand that I may be the underdog, but just put me in the ring and I've got it from there."
"I've already heard and saw the shortlist and, yes, you have some goons, but I'm no joke either," she remembered telling the casting directors. "But I did it from the bottom up. I did a self-tape and then I had a producers' session and then I had to fly to LA for a chemistry read with Kathy Bates."
Marshall said she fell in love with Olympia because she is vivacious and exhibits gumption while demanding justice for her clients.
"She has such fight and she is intentional and that's how I am in the world," she said.
"It's not just about the money. Even for me when I choose the roles I want to play or audition for," she added. "I want to move the culture forward. I'm not mad at actors who want to play a slave. Congratulations! I don't want to do it. I think P-Valley is a great. I don't want to be on it."
Instead, Marshall said she wants to play roles that are more aspirational.
"Playing a cardio-thoracic surgeon as my first series regular role on Good Sam and now playing a high-powered attorney is such a reward for me," she said.
"To have these young Black and Brown kids, in general, but then, also, young women of any color, any race, coming up to me and saying that my character has inspired them is so fulfilling," she added. "It makes me feel like I'm living on purpose. I'm not just an actor doing a show. What I do matters."
The fact that Olympia is always impeccably dressed was icing on an already delicious cake for Marshall.
"Jennie wanted a monochromatic look and great designers and the tailors were incredible. Our whole costume department is fantastic," she said.
Accessories that Marshall suggested incorporating into Olympia's wardrobe were coordinating Telfar bags.
"That was very important to me," she said.
"Telfar is a purse line created by a phenomenal Black designer and they are affordable. They are luxurious. Beyonce wore one and they were sold out online for a very long time," Marshall added.
"I challenged my costume department to get as many colors as possible to match her suits because I want to be able to wink at the culture and let them know that while Olympia may be standing here in this Boss suit in the top law firm in Manhattan, she does not forget where she comes from and she still supports Black artists."
