With her new film Trust Me, I'm A Doctor now playing in theaters, we were granted an exclusive opportunity to sit down with one of sci-fi's greatest cinematic icons, Linda Hamilton, to talk about her role as the real-life powerhouse lawyer Ellyn Garofalo, who famously defended Dr. Sandeep Kapoor in his trial following the death of Anna Nicole Smith.
The extremely kind Hamilton talks to me about often playing characters that are the absolute opposite of her own affable personality, why she doesn't watch her own movies, working opposite Kal Penn, finally being allowed to show off some of her natural comedy skills, and more!
The film follows "Dr. Sandeep Kapoor after his life is turned upside down when he is implicated in the death of his former patient, model and reality television star Anna Nicole Smith. Set against the height of the early 2000s tabloid era, the film chronicles Kapoor’s fight to clear his name as paparazzi descend on his office, police raid his home, private journals are leaked, and every aspect of his personal life becomes public. With the guidance of respected attorney Ellyn Garofalo, Kapoor must navigate a high-stakes drug conspiracy trial while confronting the intersection of celebrity, justice, politics and personal redemption."
The cast features Kal Penn (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle; House M.D.) as Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, Linda Hamilton (Terminator 2: Judgment Day; Chuck) as Ellyn Garofalo, David Julian Hirsh (Weeds; CSI: NY) as Howard K. Stern, and Abbie Cornish (Bright Star; Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan) as Anna Nicole Smith.
Thane Economou (The Wedding Party; First Date from Hell) directed the feature with a screenplay he wrote based on the book by Dr. Sandeep Kapoor.
Trust Me, I'm A Doctor is now playing in theaters!
Watch our full interview below and/or keep scrolling to read the full transcription. Plus, remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: You’re well known for playing these larger-than-life, powerhouse characters like Sarah Connor. What was it about playing this real-life defense attorney, Ellen Garofalo, that attracted you to this project?
LINDA: There was a lot to the character, which I really love. She's a full-blown, flawed, wonderful professional woman with quirks because she didn't kill anybody.
No, I loved everything on the page. Cal and I both thought that the script was just perfect, and I just leaned into it. I was like, "I don't have time for this." I was doing Stranger Things at the time, so I had to sort of carve out time and go ask them if they could let me go for five weeks. Everybody had to really fight to get any time away.
So there was a lot to doing it, but I just felt that I had to. She was just really wonderfully written. It's nice to play a professional woman every once in a while so people can see that I can actually do that, that I don't have to be a killer, and I can smile on film. Nobody has seen that for years. So the character appealed to me.
ROHAN: You and Kal share a dynamic where you serve as his protector, but also as a reality check for his character. How did you work on building that dynamic and trust with him on screen?
LINDA: Just working with each other daily, that's how you build the trust. We didn't have a lot of time to rehearse, certainly not before. By the time I showed up to work, they were deep into all the Anna Nicole stuff. It was so demanding, what he and Abby were doing. Then I was there to just pick up the slack after that.
So we just started knocking them out, one scene after another. Because it was a short shoot and they didn't have a lot of money, we really had to cram it in every day. That's how you really develop trust—just by jumping in and getting the scene done. Then I'd be like, "Yeah, I'm going to go change my clothes for the next scene!" It just got better and better every scene that we did because we developed that trust.
ROHAN: When getting into Ellen's headspace, what would you say made her feel like Dr. Kapoor was worth fighting for, or made her believe in his innocence?
LINDA: She has her moments of doubt. Imagine all the people that she has represented. She can't come from a place of having to believe in every single one. I think we all wonder about defense attorneys, "How do they do it?"
So it was great to explore those themes moment-to-moment with him, always looking as a character to extract the truth from the fiction or the hyperbole, and to actually have feelings about him. Just momentary glimpses of how she really wants to believe in him. Probably her whole career she's had to sort of stifle that desire to believe in people because that's not her job.
But there is a lapse here where she really starts to like him and to believe in him. Then, when that is shot down in one brief moment in the scene, it was really wonderful to explore that—the personal disappointment which has absolutely no room in court.
ROHAN: This film lets you stretch your comedy chops alongside serious drama. What kind of performance challenge did it present to balance playing the straight woman while still bringing that natural sense of humor and levity?
LINDA: I wish that there was more room in film for me to be funny, you know what I mean? I'm very funny in my life, maybe not... it's all a different kind of funny. But I enjoy all parts of humanity, and I just was like, "Hey, this woman is just such a fleshed-out creature on script, let's play with that."
I haven't smiled on film for years, it seems like! So this was also a chance to go, "Oh, she's got her lighter moments." After a while, it started to become a really organic part of her and their relationship where they get comfortable together and can relax a little bit.
So it's really about showing the whole journey and how that builds their friendship and makes everything a little more at stake for the verdict.
TRUST ME, I’M A DOCTOR follows Dr. Sandeep Kapoor after his life is turned upside down when he is implicated in the death of his former patient, model and reality television star Anna Nicole Smith. Set against the height of the early 2000s tabloid era, the film chronicles Kapoor’s fight to clear his name as paparazzi descend on his office, police raid his home, private journals are leaked, and every aspect of his personal life becomes public. With the guidance of respected attorney Ellyn Garofalo, Kapoor must navigate a high-stakes drug conspiracy trial while confronting the intersection of celebrity, justice, politics and personal redemption.