Michaela Conlin on Embracing Film’s Emotional Nuance

Every now and again, Michaela Conlin comes across a project that connects to her at several levels. The TV and film veteran has maintained a regular screen presence since her debut in 2001 with Kino’s Love the Hard Way and NBC’s Law & Order. From there, she’s scored memorable roles, including ABC’s MDs, CBS’s JAG, and Lionsgate’s The Lincoln Lawyer (2011). She landed her biggest signature role in 2005, playing Angela Montenegro in the Fox procedural series Bones for all 12 seasons and maintaining her momentum on Peacock’s Yellowstone and AppleTV+’s For All Mankind. Conlin spoke to Bleeding Cool about her latest romantic dramedy, One True Loves for The Avenue. Based on the novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid, who co-wrote the screenplay with Alex J. Reid, the film follows Emma (Phillipa Soo), who has an established relationship with Jack (Luke Bracey). When he disappears in a tragic helicopter crash on their first wedding anniversary, she struggles to move on until she finds love again in Sam (Simu Liu) years later; complications arise when Jessie resurfaces.

One True Loves: How Film Connected with Michaela Conlin on Personal Level

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about ‘One True Loves?’
Conlin: I read it in the trades may, be Variety or Deadline Hollywood, that they were making the film. I had read the book when it came out. I was like, “That’s interesting, and then I saw that they had cast Phillipa, and I was like, “That’s really funny because we kind of look like we could be sisters [laughs].” There was the role of Marie, so I forgot about it. Months passed, then I got the script, met everybody, and there was a combination of things.

How do you break down the set that director Andy Fickman ran?
[Andy] wanted to do a couple of days of rehearsals on Zoom before we started. That’s rare that it happens [in my work]. That was nice because these are people that I was supposed to be [playing] my mother, father, and sister. Normally you show up on set, and you’re shooting. It was nice to have that time to discuss what we thought and where these people were coming from and get to know and laugh with each other. He created that space for us before we started. It was a warm set, and he’s hilarious. He had a lot of passion for the book that you could feel when we were filming it.

Did you get with Phillipa and work together beforehand to try to build that dynamic?
A little bit. It’s hard with everyone’s lives and schedules, but [Andy] made sure that we had time. We got down to North Carolina before we started shooting and spent some time together. There were some dinners, and all that helps when making something like this.

Can you break down your chemistry with the cast and what they were like?
They’re wonderful. It was a loving environment. They’re good people, and after spending time on location away from your family, I’m so grateful. Tom Everett Scott is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. He kept us laughing the whole time, as were Simu [Liu], Luke [Bracey], and Pippa; we were laughing a lot of the time. It was a warm group, and I was lucky enough that my character [Marie] I got to work with everybody. Tom, Lauren [Tom], Michael [O’Keefe], Simu, and Luke…I got to work with everybody. I felt like I could say I can vouch for them. It’s a good group.

Aside from obviously reading the book, there did you have any inspirations for that to help mold your character, Marie, in the film?
Marie serves as a few different things. I feel like you must understand why Emma is going back home. Marie helps with that because you see that they’re extremely close and that she cares about her, particularly after her husband goes missing. She comes home and is with her family, so that was important. I also feel she came in and represented the audience somehow, like, “Wait for a second! Hold on!” Your one husband you thought was dead, and now he’s back, and you’re with this other guy. [Marie] helps her and anchors the story a little bit, and I like that about her. I was interested in playing someone like that at the time. I had had my first child a couple of months prior, and I felt like I needed to spend time with someone like that who was direct.

One True Loves is currently available in theaters, comes out on digital on April 14th, and on-demand on April 28th.