EXCLUSIVE: Shalini Bathina Talks the Season Finale of Long Slow Exhale
Long Slow Exhale aired its season one finale last week after a crazy rollercoaster of a season. We had the amazing opportunity to chat with Shalini Bathina about her hit series and her role as Clayton Hall’s Assistant Coach, Emily.
During our chat, she talked her Spectrum show, her character Emily, developing a coach bond with her fellow costars, discovering Emily’s power, and so much more. See what she had to say below.
On how she got involved with Long Slow Exhale: “I was auditioning during pilot season and this project came along. I went through the process of callback, producer session, test and everything and I felt really good about the audition. So I obviously progressed along forward.”
On her reaction after reading the first few scripts: “I remember getting the first few scripts the day after I booked it and I immediately flew through them. I liked where the character was going and I remember things, ‘Oh, this is much more complicated than I thought it was compared to just the scenes that you get for the audition.’ It was really nice to see how they developed it.”
On how her character Emily grew throughout the season: “They [creator Pam Veasey] started changing the character a little bit more, adding more, giving her more conflict with J.C., and that was really fun to play with because it actually gave me a lot more to work with. It’s always fun to create a character from scratch, but the script really helps. You piece together so many things, and the relationships between the other characters really informed her.”
On how she prepared for her role: “I was watching Cynthia Cooper [former Texas Southern basketball coach & WNBA player] walk around and taking little pieces from her. Then I researched all other basketball coaches. My husband’s a huge basketball fan, so he was sending me stuff, that would really help. And he was like, ‘I think this is your character. Go look at these people’s work,’ and I was like, ‘Okay.’ And I think physically embodying that and understanding the mindset of what it is to be a coach and how hardworking, she’s dedicated, she’s a hard ass. It’s like when you have one goal in mind and that’s it, nothing can stop you, that tunnel vision, that was really fun to work with. And again, the script was just so good. I didn’t feel like I had to overdo it or try to come up with more on my own. It was very, very evident in the writing.”
On how the audience related to Emily being the one character always on the outside of the events: “It was really cool. I think that’s why I really like the character in that she’s discovering it as the show goes on and it’s kind of like the audience’s perspective too. And I think it’s kind of awesome to play the person who has no idea what’s happening, but she just sees the swirling mess around her. And she’s like, ‘Why are people behaving like this?’ I think that’s her journey is to discover and the audience discovers it through her eyes. Like, ‘Oh, she’s going to find out right now.’ And I think that’s always fun for the audience to see a different perspective versus them being along for the ride with J.C., so it brings in a different perspective, like how would someone react if they found out?”
On Emily’s ever changing relationship with her fellow coach, J.C. Abernathy: “By giving more conflict with J.C., giving more conflict with Hillman, it just adds drama and it adds an element of suspense. And we just don’t know what’s going to happen with their character throughout the episodes. And I think it also adds conflict with the closest people in her life, she’s having deep seated issues with now as the show progresses. I think it was fun instead of just having a chummy chummy relationship, which we usually do, it gives it a little bit more dimension. And how would they interact if something was going on, if you kept secrets from each other? And when you need to trust each other as partners, how would that unfold if someone is feeling betrayed? So that was always, I think that was a great way to take the character.
On how she managed to develop a coach like bond with the actresses who play the team members of the Clayton Hall Cougars: “We spent a lot of time together, so that was always really great. And I learned a lot. They were developing their character as the show progressed, so it was easy to kind of figure out what my relationship would be with each of them. But as a group, I think that was really fun. And I also played off with Rose or J.C. because J.C.’s the seasoned coach, I’m the one who’s trying to come up. I kind of force myself on these girls. I try to push them in a different way because I think J.C. has that grounded vibe, they trust her and I have to earn their trust in some way, but I’m not going to take no for an answer, I’m not going to be walked over. So I think with the group mentality, I think that was my relationship with them.
On using the script to navigate her relationship with each character individually: Individually it was really nice. Jordan’s character and I have always butt heads and I think that was really fun to play with. Immediately the writing gave me that, I was like, “Oh she has a problem with Jordan and Jordan has a problem with her. Great, let’s work through that.” And it just gives a little bit more of a specific point of view with each character. And Lauren and I have a moment and I really like the moments where I do get to be the coach, not just be the hard ass. That was kind of fun to navigate that with each player, but specifically some of the very specific relationships I have with some of them. So I like the group mentality. It was really funny because it’s like, I don’t feel that much older than these girls in real life so it was always like, ‘Oh my God, do I feel like I can…” But it felt good. They were staying in their character. I was like, ‘Of course they’ll stay in their character. It’s not like they’re not going to not listen to me.’
On discovering Emily’s power: “It was cool to actually feel that power in that place. And I was working with the coach and I was like, ‘I just have to take the attention of the room and I have to make sure I can hold onto that.’ And over time it just got easier and easier to just step into it and be unapologetic and take space. And I think that’s always hard for a woman and she does. She does it really, really well. Emily’s the one who she will take space. She will go up to Hillman and speak to him in a way that might not be appropriate, or she will talk to J.C. in a way that might not be appropriate because she knows that she deserves it and she knows it she’s worth it.”
On being on a show that places the spotlight on so many different topics: “Being a part of a woman-centric, female lead show in general, even my last show, I felt like that was the case and I’ve been so grateful for that to be playing characters that are fighting for something and are varied in the sense that it’s not just about a love interest, it’s something that’s about a career or about relationships or about rising to the top. Also, it was really nice to talk to the girls and talk to them about how what Eddie did was inappropriate. So being that person for them was really, being a part of that story was really great. Being involved in that storyline and actually tapping into it was really, really cool. I think it’s important.”
On how the events in the series relate to the real world: “I think there’s this kind of corporate world. Pam Veazy, she has two sons who are in basketball. They play basketball on a sports team so I think it came from a really real questioning of what would happen if this would happen to me. And she took inspiration from the lacrosse team incident. And I think it’s just so prevalent in the sports world and in these big corporations that can have this inappropriate power dynamic and how that affects people’s lives. And I think we really drive that point across throughout the story. So it was really cool to see how it unfolded and even just watching it as a spectator, I was like, ‘Ah, I really like how they took the time with it and didn’t brush over it.’ They really spend time on each of the characters and what their story was and that’s the whole point. We want to tell a good story that brings light to some major topics and through real character motivation, not just try to make it a plot point and see how that affects relationships, people’s lives and mental health, and people become reclusive, in a way that’s very accessible, I think to people, because it’s like a murder mystery drama, TV show, but keeping it real and grounded in that sense. So I love doing stuff like this, this is a dream come true.”
On what is her docket at the moment: “Right now I’m doing some film stuff. I’m doing some short films and I have a creative team together. So we produce and I’m getting writers on board and trying to up it as much as we can. We started really small and now we’re slowly getting bigger and bigger and hopefully eventually the dream’s to make a feature. I think creating our own work, I think it’s always hard to wait for the next job and audition, audition audition. So obviously that’s going to continue. Hopefully we get season two, so then like great. Then we have some work this year, but other than that, I’m doing some theater dance work. I dance a lot so I’m doing some with my collaborator and we’re creating a long show that’s going to take a few years. It’s a long term project so it’s really fun to kind of have this steady thing going. It’s been a really great community to work with. We’re ramping things up again soon, but I think mental health space is still really important to me so I’m still exploring options in that. I’m trying to find internships and I just want to explore that a little bit more and see where I can fit into my life and fit into my career even, maybe a vocation of it. So yeah, definitely a lot of things on the horizon, but definitely waiting for season two.”
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Photo credit: Peter Konerko