The actress shares daughters Aurora, 6, and Elliot, 3, with husband Patrick J. Adams
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00:00Now it's the sit down with Troian Bellisario.
00:02Hi Troian.
00:04Your new show On Call is streaming on Prime now.
00:07I work, take care of my dogs.
00:09If I'm lucky, I surf.
00:11Partly from the minds of Dick Wolf,
00:13who of course we know from Law and Order,
00:15and his son Elliot.
00:16Your dad is prolific in the industry too.
00:19Had you ever met any of the Wolf fam before this project?
00:22This was the craziest thing.
00:23When I first met Elliot, there was this,
00:25obviously we didn't talk about it
00:26because it was like the chemistry read,
00:27but afterwards when I'd gotten the role,
00:29I was like, okay, can we talk about your experience
00:31as a kid and my experience as a kid?
00:33Can we talk about your dad and my dad?
00:34And we just found so many crazy overlaps.
00:38And we both had this desire to honor our father's legacy
00:45while also offering something new.
00:48How'd you do at the academy?
00:49Second in the class.
00:51Out of how many?
00:53Three.
00:55The show is thrilling, intense,
00:57and gives a look into what it means
00:58to serve our community as a badge holder.
01:00What in particular drew you to this role?
01:02I just felt like it was such an incredible,
01:04you know, such an incredible opportunity for me
01:07to get to come back to a job
01:09after I had really mostly only played very young women.
01:14You know, like I had played people in high school.
01:17Then when I got off of Pretty Little Liars,
01:19when I got married, when I became a mother,
01:22when I entered my thirties, I was like,
01:24wait, who am I and what do I have to bring
01:26to a character now?
01:29There have been how many police dramas?
01:32And they've been done extremely well.
01:34What does policing look like with body cams?
01:37What does it look like with cell phone footage?
01:39And I love that the show was asking all of those questions.
01:43Given the current climate,
01:44it can be kind of tough to portray someone in uniform.
01:47How did you approach that to get the story just right?
01:50Policing, law enforcement,
01:51it's not something that people have like lukewarm takes on.
01:56You know what I mean?
01:58Truly, this show really, really does such a good job
02:02at not having a message,
02:04at really trying to invite everybody to the table
02:07and say, you take away what you want to take away from this.
02:11We're not going to prescribe it.
02:12We're not going to tell you that these are the heroes,
02:14or, you know, we're not going to tell you
02:15that you need to feel this way.
02:17We want to just honor the community of Long Beach
02:21and we want to honor the community
02:22of Long Beach police officers that serves that
02:25and really examine that sort of give and take
02:28in that relationship and how complicated it can be.
02:31We loved you as Spencer on Pretty Little Liars.
02:34So while I was watching this, I couldn't help but wonder,
02:37if Tracy Harmon was patrolling around Rosewood,
02:39how would that show have been different?
02:41Would the mystery have been solved in like two episodes?
02:44You.
02:44I was about to say zero, but I was like, no, no, no.
02:46The crime has to happen.
02:48But like, yeah, it would literally be like one.
02:50You know what I mean?
02:51Because if somebody actually had called the police,
02:55she would have shut it down so fast.
02:58You're all going to jail.
02:59Confiscate all your cell phones.
03:01Nobody can text you because I have your cell phones
03:04and I'm talking to all of your parents
03:06and you're going to stop lying right now.
03:08End of show.
03:09Have fun.
03:10Have a normal high school experience.
03:11You're welcome.
03:13Now, how difficult is it to come back to yourself,
03:15Troyan, after a long day of shooting?
03:17Were you like a watch your back rookie
03:19to your husband, Patrick, if he got in your way?
03:21Normally you get home from set
03:23and you need like hours to be like,
03:25I got to come down from running around in the rain
03:27and screaming and all of this stuff.
03:29And so it was really wonderful that the time I got home,
03:33I felt so ready to be back with my family.
03:37By the time I got home, if the girls were awake,
03:40you know, they didn't care if I just worked a long day
03:43or if I just run around or gotten like, you know,
03:47had a fight scene or rolled around in the sand
03:49or I was freezing.
03:50They were just like, hey, here's a book.
03:52Draw me a bath.
03:53Where's my dinner?
03:54I was just like, you have no idea what I've just done.
03:56So it was a really good like reality check
03:59to just be like, okay, go be a mom.
04:01Every time I FaceTimed them, my girls would be like,
04:03why are you dressed like a police officer?
04:05And Patrick was like, she's working.
04:07And they're like, hmm, weird.
04:08Okay, anyways, mom.
04:10And so, yeah, it was very funny.
04:12Finally, I'm going to put 10 seconds on the clock.
04:14Tell everyone why they should check out On Call.
04:17Ready? Go.
04:18I think you should watch On Call
04:19because it's a gripping show that's going to suck you in.
04:22I think people who maybe don't even think they're fans
04:26of cop shows should come and check it out
04:28because I think it's really different.
04:31Troy and thank you so much for joining us.