Trophy Wife
Harden plays Diane Buckley in this ABC sitcom created by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins. Diane, an uptight physician, is Pete Harrison’s first ex-wife and mother of his son. Co-starring Bradley Whitford, Malin Akerman, and Michaela Watkins.
I am the first wife and then Michaela Watkins is the second wife. So I refer to myself as the degree, and Michaela is the award, and Malin is the trophy.
The Newsroom Season 2
Harden plays Rebecca Halliday, an attorney, in the second season of this HBO drama created by Aaron Sorkin. Halliday takes on the task of deposing Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) and MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer) on behalf of the network after it is hit with a wrongful termination lawsuit. Harden speaks of the challenge of working on an Aaron Sorkin project:
When I first got the role, Jeff Daniels said: “I’ll give you a little Aaron Sorkin tip: Come to set with your lines down for the rehearsal.” I said, “What?” Usually the actor learns them during the day. But as an actress, I have never had a sigh of consternation when I get something complicated. You know how it is when you feel used in a good way. It’s like that old song, “keep on using me, ’til you use me up.” I just feel grateful.
The Education of Max Bickford
Harden plays Andrea Haskell, a professor of pop culture, in this CBS sitcom created by Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin. Haskell joins the faculty and finds herself working with Max Bickford (Richard Dreyfuss), her former professor and lover. Co-starring Katee Sackhoff.
That was fun, because I got to read and read and read. I was constantly checking out books about pop culture. Who knew that you could even teach a class about pop culture? Some of it just felt like the snake eating its own tail, like icing on top of icing, so I was slightly cynical about it, but that was perfect for the character of Andrea Haskell.
