Sarah Clarke in 'Trust Me'

The new TNT series Trust Me is a sharp, witty drama that centers on two best friends working as creative partners at a top-ranked Chicago advertising agency. Set against the backdrop of the high-pressure world of advertising, the show focuses on Mason (Eric McCormack) and Conner (Tom Cavanagh), a pair of ad men whose strong creative partnership has served the firm of Rothman Greene & Mohr extremely well, over the years. Mason, an art director, is a responsible, workaholic family man with a beautiful wife, Erin (Sarah Clarke), two children and an undying loyalty to the brands he helps sell. By contrast, his writing partner, Conner, is a single, impulsive copywriter with the attention span of a teenager. Their yin-yang relationship is put to the test when Mason is named a creative director of the agency, making him Conner’s boss. The series follows the changing dynamics between the two friends, who are better together than they are apart.

Playing series star Eric McCormack’s wife on Trust Me, Sarah Clarke is a familiar face to television viewers for her performance as Nina Myers on the award-winning television series 24. She was recently seen in the feature film adaptation of the best-selling Young Adult vampire novel Twilight, in which she played the lead character Bella’s mom. The St. Louis native spoke to MediaBlvd Magazine during a recent Trust Me set visit, about playing a mom, both on television and in the upcoming New Moon, the next installment in the Twilight saga.

MediaBlvd Magazine> How does it feel to get cast as the mom now?
Sarah Clarke> It’s really interesting. But, being a mom, there’s all different types of moms, just like there are all different types of people. Moms come in various shapes, sizes and colors. For me, it’s the human experience. Everyone has a mom somewhere. It’s just about nurturing this life and how you can helm it, as best you can. That’s an interesting struggle.

MediaBlvd> Do you get worried when you stop getting cast as the girlfriend and start getting cast as the mom?
Sarah> For Trust Me, they told me, “You are not the everyday mom!” I don’t know what happened, but I get to do a lot of really fun, sexy stuff, being the mom. They said, “We want to recreate the idea of the Midwestern mom with a 14-year-old.” It’s really fun. I get to be the MILF!

MediaBlvd> You’ve been involved with two high-profile projects, with 24 and Twilight. Do you get fans from both, or is Twilight overshadowing everything now?
Sarah> It’s a totally different fan base, in each case. With Twilight, people are so obsessed with that book, and they really want to know the ins and outs of what people think. Just going onto the first book, I couldn’t say anything about what’s going to happen next. I’ve just read New Moon, so I’m just now getting familiar with it. I would say it’s completely different groups of fans. With 24, I get very technical questions about the ins and outs of the CIA and anti-terrorist work. With Twilight, they ask, “Do you like werewolves or vampires?”

MediaBlvd> What are the Twilight fans like?
Sarah> There are a lot of little girls, and then there are the women that have this love affair with this vampire that they want to know about. But, being the mom, I get a little less of that than Robert Pattinson gets.

MediaBlvd> When does New Moon start filming?
Sarah> In March.

MediaBlvd> Will you get more to do in the next film?
Sarah> I hope. Because it’s about the kids, they wanted to focus on them. The first scene was a really good establishing character scene for Bella and her mom, and they cut it down so much, I was like, “Oh, my God!” In the first book, the mother is written off as a nag, but they made a really good mom character in the movie. If she does come back, in a substantial way, a lot goes down with Bella in the second book and you would need your mom for. Being a mom now, and maybe I’m biased, your mom is a really important part of your life.

MediaBlvd> So, you haven’t read past New Moon yet?
Sarah> No. I don’t have a lot of time to read. I read Twilight so fast. I had the audition on a Monday, and I got the book the Friday before, so I read it over the weekend and I loved it. With New Moon, I’m taking a little more time with just because I’m working.

MediaBlvd> How do you feel about the change in director? Do you just go in and do your work, and you don’t worry about that?
Sarah> Yeah. I feel like there are reasons for everything. I think Catherine Hardwicke did a great job with the first movie, but the Harry Potter movies have different directors, and it’s always interesting to see how they can influence it. I think it will be exciting to see.

MediaBlvd> Do you and your husband, Xander Berkeley, keep up with 24, even though neither of you are on it anymore?
Sarah> This is going to sound really fake, but it’s true. We have been away from a TV for over a year because we’re going through this huge remodel. I know it hasn’t been on, but as it was, we were very slow. We have a DVR, so we record things. I watched the fifth season because a friend of mine was on it, and then I lost track. I think I saw half of the fourth season. Now, they’re on the seventh season, but I didn’t see the sixth season at all. I missed the movie because we didn’t have a TV, and I hear that was really good, so I’m going to try to rent it because I know you can. I didn’t get to see the latest premiere because I was at a script reading.

MediaBlvd> Have you ever been a rabid fan of anything, in your own life?
Sarah> As a kid, I definitely was a fan of my Ruth Chew books, which were all about magic. If I had read Twilight as a kid, I would have loved it. I think I would have really gotten into it because of the whole mystique of having superpowers. They don’t make vampires as scary, and it’s a love story. But, I had a sticker collection. I’m from the Midwest. I was really lame.

Source: MediaBlvd