Posted in: NBC, Peacock, streaming, TV | Tagged: Caitlin Bassett, exclusive, interview, nbc, peter gadiot, quantum leap, Raymond Lee

Quantum Leap: Caitlin Bassett on Finding Her Voice, Season 2 & More

Quantum Leap star Caitlin Bassett discusses forging her path in the NBC sequel series, what viewers can expect from this season & much more.

Few can ever be as fortunate to get the start as Caitlin Bassett did serving in the Armed Forces, seeking a career in law before rediscovering her love for acting and making her on-screen debut in the NBC legacy sequel series Quantum Leap as Addison Augustine. Originally scheduled to be the leaper in the relaunched Project Quantum Leap program, her partner, Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee), took her place into the accelerator like his predecessor in the program's founder Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) in the original series. With the aid of the current team led by Herbert "Magic" Williams (Ernie Hudson), Ben continues the mission trying to rewrite the timeline for the good of humanity before leaping to his next body with Addison acting as his holographic guide. We discover in season two that Ben was thought to be lost, years passed, and the woman he loved mourned him before moving on to specialist Tom Westfall (Peter Gadiot). As we close in on the premiere of season two, part two, "Off the Cuff," on January 30th, Bassett spoke to Bleeding Cool about how she felt when she was cast, the chip on her shoulder not to compete with the original series, and finding her voice as Addison, and what fans can expect in the second half of the season.

Quantum Leap: Caitlin Bassett Embraced Addison; Dean Stockwell's Al

How did it feel that your first on-screen acting job was as a lead in NBC's Quantum Leap?

Bassett: Oh my goodness! So many things, fear, trepidation, excitement, euphoria, ground-breaking anxiety. Everything you could feel. Not only was I going into an [existing] IP show, but I was going into a type of role [that people remember from the original series]. It was huge. It's been the ride of my lifetime, and I wouldn't trade a day.

Did you watch the original series growing up, or was this something you came in fresh?

I didn't watch it growing up. I was a little young for it. It stopped airing in 1993, and I was three [laughs]. I missed it, but I did grow up on Donald P. Bellisario shows like 'JAG' and all of that. I went back and watched some of them to get the flavor and the heart of the show. I had to stop because I kept getting more terrified of messing it up. I was like, "I have to figure out how to do my version." There's a reason they didn't cast somebody that was exactly like Stockwell. I must do my version of this and let the chips fall where they fall.

As you got the scripts coming in, you developed the rapport with Raymond, and then, the show throws this little time jump and curveball here. Your character Addison ends up with Peter's character Tom Wesfall. What went through your mind with the motions and that twist?

I was excited in the sense that it gave the characters somewhere else to be. If there was not much where else to go after the end of season one, but I was equally terrified, right? I didn't want to be hated. I didn't want to be yelled at by the internet, which you're going to be anyway. There are things I was afraid of, and throughout this season, I've had to become less afraid of them because people have their opinions. Sometimes you must let them and do the best that you can with what you have and the stories that you're given and then how it ends, people are going to feel good about now.

What did you learn from your co-stars and learned from their experiences that helped you do episodic television?

None of them had been a series regular. Ray had a couple, but none of them were network, so they didn't quite happen at this pace. I've gotten some advice and some help. The truth is you got to jump in it, and it was a struggle, especially through season one. Something happened in season two where I was like," I have this now. I've figured out how to keep up with this pace." It helped a lot. You have watched my entire growth as an actor has been on television, but you can watch me, and I can watch scenes and watch episodes and be like: "I was struggling in that" or "This is where I was starting to feel like I had a lot more agency over myself in my character." It's one of the biggest learning experiences of my entire life, and it's been exciting.

Final question – a two-parter: What was the biggest invaluable advice that you got as an actor? Second, what can we look forward to as we close out the second season?

The most invaluable advice that I got as an actor was, "Don't read the comments" and I ignored that entirely. I've read every comment, everything, but I started to back off because, at the end of the day, people have their opinions, and that must be okay. That shouldn't affect how you feel about yourself. I'm learning resiliency there but doing it my way. Season two is so good, and the second half is my favorite half of or run of any of them. At the end of the first episode of season two, you realize how different this season was going to be from the first season. By the end of the finale of season two, you're going to see how different a potential season three would be, and it's exciting. Fans can be like, "Oh, I see what they did! This is cool!"

Quantum Leap, which also stars Mason Alexander Park, Nanrisa Lee, and Eliza Taylor, airs Tuesdays on NBC and streams the following day on Peacock.

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