Iliza Shlesinger Interview: Spenser Confidential

Spenser Confidential, dropping on Netflix this week, brings back the classic buddy-cop action vibes of the ’80s show Spenser: For Hire. But while Mark Wahlberg and Winston Duke make an excellent comedic duo, they need Iliza Shlesinger’s Cissy to round out the team.

As a stand-up comedian and screenwriter in her own right, Shlesinger had a lot of influence over how her character was portrayed in the upcoming film. The actress spoke to Screen Rant about working with Wahlberg, perfecting the accent, and making sure Cissy was three-dimensional.

First of all, congratulations on this film. So much fun. Talk to me about how Cissy fits into the plot of everything that’s going on.

Iliza Shlesinger: Cissy plays the romantic interest. She plays, I think, the part of Spenser’s life that gives him the most stress, even though he’s always being beaten up. She’s the love interest, and I think she’s his partner in crime. I know she’s his partner in crime toward the end, and she’s his ride or die.

This isn’t your first time working with Mark, you guys did Instant Family together.

Iliza Shlesinger: “Together” is putting it strongly, but I was in the scenes.

Talk to me about your working relationship with Mark, and how maybe you stumbled upon Spenser Confidential.

Iliza Shlesinger: Well, I was, just like every actress, sent an audition. So, I went to the audition.

But once we got the role, you know, he’s Mark Wahlberg. He’s one of the biggest movie stars in the world, maybe ever. And so my focus was never to mess up. I was like, “When you are the least accomplished actor on a set, all you have to do is show up on time, know your lines, and not mess around.” And just watching him and the way he operates and the way he treats people and the way he’s so present in a scene and professional, it was a real lesson.

You’re a brilliant comedian. With Peter Berg’s style, were you guys given a little bit of freedom to improv your stuff? 

Iliza Shlesinger: We absolutely were. Peter was not precious about the dialogue. We had some great dialogue to work with, and we had our script, but he allowed us to improvise scenes. He allowed me to even write some of my own lines, and he allowed me to have confidence in creating this character and putting forth ideas. He was extremely collaborative, and he didn’t have to be.

This was an ’80s show back in the day. Robert B. Parker, I believe, wrote [the books]. Were you familiar with the show at all back then? 

Iliza Shlesinger: Honestly, I had never even heard of the show until I got the audition. So, I did my research just to know. But the movie and the books are worlds apart. That is the source material, but it’s a totally different thing.

Talk to me about the Boston accents. I can’t do one myself. I’m terrible at it. But how did you really perfect it? I think you have a great Boston accent.

Iliza Shlesinger: Thank you. So far, no one from Boston has said that, but that’s the way they are.

I’m from LA, so I wouldn’t know any better. 

Iliza Shlesinger: You’re like, “I don’t care.” Once I had the part – I know this sounds insane, but – I had no linguistics coach. I had no vocal coach. I just didn’t have it, because I guess they thought I did it in the audition well, so, “Oh, she must have it.”

But you don’t say every word in the audition, and improvising in someone else’s accent is a tricky thing. Because you have to think about how you’re sounding versus what you’re saying. So I ran everything through a filter of, “What would Peter Griffin sound like?” Because I know exactly what he sounds like; I’ve watched so many hours of Family Guy. It was the Peter Griffin method. And I just went through that; I took some of the nasal out of it and made it prettier.

And then, on some things I wasn’t sure about – because the whole thing can get jumbled – I would ask other people on set who were from Boston. My driver every morning was a Union guy, just a dad who did this for fun. And I’d be like, “Read these lines and let me hear what it sounds like.” I would just get help from local Union guys, teamsters, police officers, cops, MMA fighters – there were a lot of dudes on set.

I love the resources you used to really get that Boston accent. 

Iliza Shlesinger: What guy wouldn’t want, like, a girl in a tight dress is like, “Can you help me?” What guy is gonna say no?

You have a writing background, as well. Can you talk to me about how that may have helped inform your performances as Cissy?

Iliza Shlesinger: Well, you want to honor this woman. As a woman playing another woman, I didn’t want to make her one-dimensional. And I didn’t want her to ever just be this ranting, raving psycho. Because women don’t want to see that anymore, and it doesn’t do a service to anything.

So, I just wanted her to have some levels and to be multifaceted, and I wanted her to have softness when necessary. Because if she’s up here, ranting all the time, you’re gonna get tired of her. So I wanted her to be complex, as women are.