Before stars Billy Crystal as Eli, a child psychiatrist who, after recently losing his wife, Lynn (Judith Light), encounters a troubled young boy, Noah (Jacobi Jupe), who seems to have a haunting connection to Eli’s past. As Eli attempts to help Noah, their mysterious bond deepens, sparking haunting memories and unearthing unsettling secrets about the past.
The ten-episode limited series makes its global debut on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes on Friday, October 25, with one new episode every Friday through December 20.
Last week, we sat down with Light to discuss her spectral role as Lynn; throughout this series, she haunts Eli and provides some shocking insights into both their shared history and the atmospheric and character-driven psychological thriller's wider themes.
During our conversation, we hear from Light on what drew her to this project, why she enjoyed working with Crystal, and what about this story interested her most.
The actor also breaks her silence on playing Kite-Man: Hell Yeah!'s villainous Helen Villigan. The Harley Quinn spin-off isn't a series she's had a chance to discuss before now, so Light wastes no time in sharing her desire to reprise the role somewhere down the line.
You can watch the full interview with the actor on Before in the player below.
To begin with, what was it that drew you to this project?
Billy Crystal [Laughs]. I’d always wanted to work with Billy, but also, the ideas that are brought forth in this story are something I’ve always been curious about and interested in wanting to investigate more, wanting to know more about these ideas. Is this life the only life we have? Is there an after? Is there a before? I believe that, through this psychological thriller, that you begin to see, ‘Oh, wait a minute, I want to investigate those things.’ I’m curious about those things, so those were some of the pieces of it.
I don’t want to give too much away about Lynn, but we’ve seen in the trailers that you’re playing this spectre-like character. What was it like taking on that sort of role?
You play it like you’d play a person who is alive! I mean, she doesn’t know she’s a spectre. She doesn’t know that she’s not…she’s present. She’s right there. The ideas that she’s bringing forward [and] the movement she’s bringing and calling to Eli, the love of her life, her soulmate, reminding him and opening him up to something that he is not open to. He is Mr. Science, Mr. Facts, that’s the way it is and this is all there is, but she’s bringing forward something that I think is really important and potent in the show. It’s their love connection and their soulmate-dness of their relating has to be there in order for you to believe the other component of what he’s going through.
Most of her scenes are with Eli and the two of you have such an interesting dynamic. What did you enjoy about working with Billy to explore the relationship between these characters?
Well, we’ve known each other for a while and we’re friends. It was just…you know, it’s like that thing where you know you’re gonna go have dinner with a friend that you really love and haven’t seen for a while. Or you’re going to go on a trip with somebody that you just adore and you treasure their company. That’s what it was like. I really do miss working him now and being around him more. It was that kind of feeling. You know what that feeling is, right? It’s like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t wait to do this with you’ and that was the feeling. It had to be. You had to see that connection, otherwise the end is not gonna matter in the way that it does.
The way it builds up as the series progresses is really going to surprise people.
I think so too.
That contrast between the supernatural and mental illness…there are so many ways to interpret this show, but what appealed to you about exploring that as an actor?
We’ve never seen anything like it before. You’ve never seen a show like this before or a story like this before. There was one movie years ago and I believe it was an Argentinian film: ‘Don’t Die Before Telling Me Where You’re Going.’ I remember being stunned and moved and really gobsmacked by that film. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I’ve never seen anything like this on television where you have those kinds of storylines to really talk about. What I find so compelling about it is that I’ve always been open to it and to talk about it and understand or try to understand what else there might be. If who we are is energy, where did that energy come from? And where did that energy go? How does it transmute itself? What does that all mean?
Of course those are questions people have been asking for the ages, but in our culture, we don’t tend to talk about it enough. In other religions they do and in other countries they do. Older religions like Hindu, they talk about the progression of life and different lives. In Kabbalah, which I’ve studied, they talk about astrology, numerology, and past lives. What is that to us? What does that mean? What is it that we’re not even entertaining those conversations and dialogues with each ither? The excitement of that, for me, is very much a part of this show. And kudos to Apple TV+ for putting it on the air to engender those kinds of dialogues.
Another series many of our readers will know you from is Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! as Helen Villigan. She’s such a fun character, so what did you like about exploring the DC Universe?
Yes! I loved it. I loved it. It’s so funny you mention it because no one has really interviewed me about it. Nobody has talked to me about it! The group that I did it with was just remarkable. I had such a fabulous time that when they had me do this character, I was like, ‘This is the most delicious fun.’ And of course, she’s completely raunchy, has a terrible mouth on her, and she’s just a really dreadful person and I absolutely loved playing her. I hope we’re going to get to do more. I was thinking about it the other day and though, ‘I haven’t heard from those guys in a while. I want to do this again. Let’s get back into the studio and do some of that stuff.’ The writing is so great. It’s really delicious.
Before premieres with its first two episodes on Friday, October 25.