Posted in: CBS, TV | Tagged: Elsbeth

Elsbeth: Carrie Preston, Wendell Pierce Check In From Season 4 Filming

With production on CBS's Elsbeth now underway, Carrie Preston and Wendell Pierce had some fun checking in from filming Season 4.

Published Fri, 14 Aug 2026 17:37:08 -0500

by Ray Flook

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When we last checked in on how things were looking with EPs Robert King and Michelle King and Showrunner Jonathan Tolins's Carrie Preston-starring Elsbeth ahead of its fourth-season return on October 8th, Preston was kind enough to share a video of the team reuniting on set for the first day. "WE ARE BACK, BABY! First day of filming for [Elsbeth] season FOUR!" Preston wrote as the caption to the behind-the-scenes video she shared, which you can check out on her Instagram account. Now, Preston and Wendell Pierce are back in full Elsbeth and Capt. Wagner mode for Season 4, checking in via social media to let us know that production is rolling along – and walking us through a "Master Class" in acting by sharing the news via a series of emotions.

And here's a look at Preston sharing some thoughts on her Thursday night "neighbors" beginning in October:

@cbs
Carrie Preston is passing the Thursday night CBS torch in style 🔥💙 Catch @Elsbeth followed by #Cupertino Thursdays this fall on CBS and streaming on @Paramount+!

♬ original sound – CBS – CBS

Elsbeth: Carrie Preston on Season 4 Hopes, Guest Stars; Dianne Wiest

Checking in with the Los Angeles Times' The Envelope podcast, Preston opened up about why working with guest star Dianne Wiest (Mother Constance in S03E07: "And Then There Were Nuns") was a moment that stood out to her. In addition, Preston offers some thoughts on what she would like to see in the fourth season (Meryl Streep?!?) and how much trust she puts in Tolins and the writing team when it comes to expanding the show's universe moving forward.

Preston on Working with Dianne Wiest: "I'm a huge, lifelong fan of Dianne Wiest, like top five. And when I found out she was gonna be in the episode where she plays a nun, a murderous nun, I just thought, 'I'm not gonna be able to contain myself.' I usually reach out to everybody before to send them an email or a text or something and just tell them how thrilled I am that they've said yes.

So I wrote her a thank-you for saying yes/stalker-level fan email. And she wrote back. And she's like, 'Oh, Carrie, I'm so happy to hear that.' It was just like, 'Oh, my God, I could just hear her voice.' When she showed up — I mean, she's Dianne Wiest. And she is wearing a nun's habit, and I couldn't stop staring at her face. She would catch me staring at her and then she would just smile, with that sweet gorgeous face of hers and I would say, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know that it's probably making you uncomfortable. I just am absolutely honored. I do not even understand how I got to be so lucky to have someone like you doing this.'

And you could say that for every single person on the show. I fangirl on them in the way that the character fangirls on Diane Lockhart. You know what I mean? The same little spirit lives inside me that is Elsbeth. I have wonder and appreciation. And it's become more infectious. She has become more infectious the more I play her."

Preston Offers Season 4 "Wish List," Talks Showrunner & Writing Team: "We're getting wonderful people who are interested in the show, and I'm so proud of that, and I know Jon is too. Jon Tolins is our showrunner. We've really, both of us, made it our personal missions to create an environment — and he creates scripts — that people want to come and participate in, and a welcoming place where somebody gets to play a delicious character for eight or nine days and then go on with their busy careers.

I never would have dreamed that, for example, Steve Buscemi would have wanted to be on a show like 'Elsbeth,' but he did and he asked to be on it. That blew our minds and it still is blowing our minds. So I could not even dream of most of the people that have come on. That said, you know, I've said this before, I'm a huge Meryl Streep fan. I would love for her to come on. We think often about, maybe we should see a parent of Elsbeth, a mother maybe. So we play around with different ideas for that, and that would be nice to see because we've seen Elsbeth as a mother, but we haven't seen her as a daughter. We've seen her as a friend, but we haven't seen deep into her origin story. So I think that could be a fun thing to tap in Season 4. But I trust Jon and the writers."

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