Actress Julie Tolivar chatted about starring in the TV series “Fleishman Is in Trouble.”
‘Fleishman Is in Trouble’
“I can’t say enough about the entire team of Fleishman,” she said about the series. “The producers, directors, crew and the cast; everyone was kind, collaborative, and supportive. I think everyone genuinely had a great time working on this show. It’s rare that a show can be about so many serious, uncomfortable subjects and find a way to not take itself too seriously. The script is amazing and I feel like everyone knew they were working on something special.”
I had to go in before I started shooting so that we could get my jaundice makeup right. The many shades of yellow that we tried before the final result were pretty intense. We wanted it to read and be medically accurate but without looking like a yellow highlighter, and I’ll just say that took a little figuring out. It was the first time I’ve had a 5 am call and wasn’t worried about looking rested.
“Jesse Eisenberg was a pleasure to work with,” she said. “He is a very unassuming, intelligent person who took a real interest in getting to know the people he was working with.”
Portraying Karen in ‘Fleishman Is in Trouble’
On playing Karen, she said, “I really like how Karen is such an important part of Toby Fleishman’s journey even though she is in a hospital bed for most of the show. She represents this idea that Toby has about what he thinks the perfect wife and mother might look like and is then faced with the reality of her humanity.
“It was also fun that the first day on set, I was posing for stills from Karen’s Vegas trip—doing shots and licking a stripper and the next I was in a hospital bed, practically dead. I love that the story allows her to be a full person and not just a stereotype,” she elaborated.
“There is a lot more in the book that was originally in the script about Karen’s inner life, the struggles in her marriage, and what her trip to Vegas was all about, that was originally in the script but didn’t make it into the show because of the production schedule,” she added.
Future plans
On her future plans, she shared, “This phase of my life really excites me as it’s really new territory in a way— being a mom of two now and feeling like I am ready and enthusiastic about a new chapter in my creative career. It keeps you on your toes because you never know what new projects are around the corner when you are an actor.”
“My plans include waking up every day and doing the best I can: to be a good wife, mom, person; to be open and pursue the things that are important to me, to breathe in and out and honor myself and those around me. Other than that, I try not to draw my roadmap with permanent marker because in my experience things can change in an instant,” she explained.
The digital age
On being an actress in the digital age, now with streaming and technology being so prevalent, she said, “If I’m being honest, it feels the same to me. Acting is acting and the creative work is the same for me.”
Balancing motherhood and an acting career
On balancing motherhood and an acting career, she said, “The great thing about acting is a lot of your career is dictated by your own limitations. I chose to take some time off from working and auditioning after each of my kids were born because I wanted to be fully present. I have a bad case of FOMO about lots of things in my life and I didn’t want to look back on the first months of my children’s lives and feel like I missed that precious time.”
Tolivar continued, “When I work, it’s important to have some kind of support system to help out because the balance is hard. My husband has been incredibly supportive and present despite his busy schedule. He has also been known to set up my lighting for my auditions and I have booked a few different jobs when he has been my reader.”
“It’s so funny because I’ve been told you shouldn’t read with your spouse and he’s not even an actor, but I guess there’s something to be said for how comfortable I feel with him and how much fun we have filming sometimes,” she said.
“I really do think it’s important to continue working and pursuing my own goals outside of being a mom to set an example for my children, especially my daughter. I want her to know she can be a mom one day and have a career. It’s all possible,” she added.
Dream acting partners
When asked about her dream acting partners, she responded, “I don’t really have any ideas about ‘dream acting partners.’ There are plenty of actors I admire and enjoy watching but I haven’t really thought about it in those terms. I seem to gravitate towards actors who play a broad range of genre and emotion. Actors like Steve Carell, Rose Byrne, Julia Garner, and Bobby Cannavale are fascinating to me.”
“There are also so many solid female powerhouse actresses out there who blow me away every time—Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, and Viola Davis. I loved Julianne Nicholson’s work in ‘Mare of Easttown,’ and I think Nina Arianda and I would have a blast working together,” she said.
Success
On her definition of the word success, she remarked, “I don’t really like the word success much anymore. It has a connotation that is relevant to how other people view your accomplishments or lack thereof. Or maybe it is just that I used to measure my ideas of success around a certain standard that was outside of myself.”
“I feel that success is measured in moments and not broad sweeping ideas of grandeur. Yes, I’ve had success in my career and sometimes I have felt the opposite. I’ve also had success as a mom—maybe I put my children to bed without any tense moments or organized the toy shelves. But maybe I’ve also failed in other moments. Let me rephrase that. I know I’ve failed in other moments,” she elaborated.
“I do feel a prerequisite for success is showing up—over and over again,” she added.
Closing thoughts on ‘Fleishman Is in Trouble’
Tolivar concluded about the series, “It’s about life and marriage and friendship and middle age— stuff we can all relate to. Plus, the performances are incredible. Jesse Eisenberg, Claire Danes, and Lizzy Caplan are just absolutely devastating. And I mean that in the best way.”
To learn more about actress Julie Tolivar, check out her IMDb page.
