Brigid Brannagh Interview – Page 4
“Army Wives” has become the top-rated series of all time on the Lifetime Network and ranks #1 among women 18-49 and 25-54 on all of ad supported basic cable. Were you at all surprised by the show’s success?
It probably sounds really nuts or snobby to say that I’m not, but I wasn’t. I really think for the same reason I loved the first script and the same reason everybody was so passionate about this show in the beginning is the same reason it has been the success that it has. It’s simply because it’s Army wives. It’s about a group of people that the world is incredibly curious about and grateful for and interested in and really doesn’t know much about. There are so many people who don’t know much about military life whatsoever, let alone how the wives feel, how the families cope, especially considering us being in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now more than ever, I think people have a heightened awareness. Who are the men and women fighting over there and how do they do it? How can we honor them? A lot of people have that in their minds at this point in life. Bringing army lives, especially the wives and the families to the forefront, is timely and necessary. Who wouldn’t be curious about Army wives and military families. The only thing we have to do is not screw it up. It’s not about us.
Has playing the role of Pamela Moran altered your views at all of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
It certainly has had an impact. I am a very emotional person in general. It certainly has deepened my awareness on all sides. More than anything, I just feel very grateful for the service that military families do for us. If anything, I feel a little bit more internal about it. I don’t know what is right. I just pray to God that everybody comes home safe and things end well. I try not to act like I know more than I do. Sometimes the smartest thing to do is just shut your mouth. I just pray that everybody is OK in the end.
How much of the series is filmed on location in Charleston, South Carolina?
We do the entire series in Charleston on a fake Army post, and there is a defunct naval base here, where we shoot a lot of our exteriors. Maybe one day’s episode we will shoot at the naval base and generally four out of the episodes will be shot on the stages, which are still in Charleston, on the wrong side of the tracks so to speak. Each episode takes seven days. Usually four days on stages in Charleston and the other days in other locations around town. We have one location that is by the airport. That is always fun because as soon as an airplane goes over head you have to stop because it is bad for the sound later on. We have to stop a lot when we work in that location.
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