BOMB GIRLS returns for season two - a talk with star Meg Tilly

BOMB GIRLS – a talk with star Meg Tilly

Season 2 premiering March 27 at 8 p.m. (et)

Jeri Jacquin, Movie Maven

Are you all as excited as I am? That’s right, Season Two of the REELZ cable network hit series BOMB GIRLS is coming back March 27th at 8 p.m. and, if that isn’t enough, it will be immediately followed by the second episode at 9 p.m.

Last year I was really thrilled to talk to Ali Liebert who plays Betty McRae. Getting to hear her words about the show made watching the first season so much more exciting! BOMB GIRLS tells the story of women who, in World War II, work in a munitions factory while the men of the Allied Forces fight on the European front.

This is truly a time when the role of women as the world knew it was about to change forever. As the world seems to have gone mad with war and the social norms begin to wash away, the women of BOMB GIRLS begin to see the possibilities of their lives.

The stories are of their lives, their families, secrets and slip ups out for audiences to see as these women see changes in their lives of being home makers or even arm jewelry. Each episode brings that feeling of “Are you kidding? I have to wait another week!” to see more the exploits of the crew.

The cast includes Oscar Nominee and Golden Globe winner Meg Tilly who plays Lorna Corbett, a matron who supervises the girls on the floor. Married to Bob (Peter Outerbridge), a wheelchair bound vet from the previous war, Lorna takes care of the family. Daughter Sheila (Natasha Greenblatt) is a nurse at the local hospital and son Gene (Brett Dier) is the local town hero piloting the skies in Europe.

The girls include Jodi Balfour as Gladys Witham that some might call the ‘rich girl’ looking to do her part for the war effort and break away from her wealthy and name brand family and her father Rollie (James McGowan). Charlotte Hegele as Kate Andrews, the young woman breaking away from her abusive father. Ali Liebert as Betty McRae, the strong willed woman who lets nothing stand in her way.

Also, Anastasia Phillips as Anastasia Phillips as Vera Burr, a fiery young woman who last season overcomes an accident at the factory. Carlyn Burchell as Carol Demers, a woman who doesn’t mind running over another gal to get what she wants.

Let us not forget some of the amazing performances by the guys as well! The stand out man is the very handsome Antonio Cupo who plays Marco Moretti. This swell guy is easy on the eyes and heavy on the heart. Wanting to help the war effort he is constantly rejected because of family ties and being Italian! Sebastian Pigot is James Dunn, Glady’s fiancé who is afraid of what he must do to make the world safe for Glady’s.

This truly is a fantastic show that has me hooked. The series takes on many issues, and some considered taboo in the 1940’s. At the same time there are equally as many issues that could be seen today with family dynamics, the effects of war on those who fight them, relationships and love and secrets we all carry within us. Ali Liebert said about the show, “I think that’s what is relatable. That people watching can relate and how there is a total metamorphosis that changes the story of how your life will unfold.” 

To say I was thrilled to have the opportunity to speak with Meg Tilly is putting it mildly. We had the chance to talk about her role as Lorna, the depths of this character, life in general and how the world can sometimes be more than we ever expected. In this two-part interview I can say now how in awe I am of this wonderful woman.

Hi Meg, thanks for talking to us today and happy belated birthday!

Thank you! Its funny because when your young birthdays are like 'oh, its my birthday!' You’re waiting and waiting to turn six or seven! As you get older there isn't this anxious waiting.

I turned 52 and around 49 I stopped counting saying 'yep, those were fun but I'm over it'.

Its funny because turning 50 feels very different than 40 and for me and my sisters its like a 'now what?' moment. You kind of look back and look forward and kind of start placing your feet very consciously. I mean you do before but its sort of getting through life, raising kids and getting through challenges. Then once they are all grown and you're at the certain age you think 'ah hah, now what do I want?' you know? Asking myself how do I want to now spend my time.

I don't know if this happened to you but when I turned 50 a huge light bulb went off for me. I reevaluated the people I was hanging out with and situations I was in and started saying 'enough is enough!’

What happened to me is that around my mid-40's I said 'who wrote these rules and why am I following them?' Then the 50's it was like you know what, I only want reciprocal relationships in my life of the people I am going to spend lots of love and energy on. I want it to be a two way street. It doesn't have to be 50-50 but I want it to be reciprocal so that its not one person doing all the giving or one person doing all the taking.

Its so amazing that someone else had light bulbs going off because for a while I thought maybe I was a little broken.

I know right? You can't go to someone in there 30's and 40's who hasn't been through it yet and expect them to understand.

Oh yes, for them it’s very different. Its good to hear! Okay so I guess I better get down to business with BOMB GIRLS. First of all I'm so geeking out. I love this show and I'm so honored to talk to you about it. Who came to you with this role of Lorna?

When I hit 50 my youngest child had left home about a year and a half before and it was odd because I had been preparing for it and I had three children but when he actually left the house was so quiet. It was like the house stopped breathing in a way. Everyone is telling me 'you are going to love it' or 'its so great!' and 'all that love and energy put toward the kid you can put on to you doing whatever you want'. I thought oh I'm ready and I can write my books and do anything. But then they left and it was odd because all my energies since I had gotten pregnant with my first has been toward their well being with feeding and clothing them and trying to be the best Mom I could. When the last one left home I thought I was prepared. In my head I was prepared by my heart wasn't. It was like I was picked up by a tornado and dropped down 27 years later and I wasn't even quite sure what to do. Sure I could do anything but what? I wasn't sure what I wanted. I was kind of trying to figure it out for this next phase of life. But there are so many walks on the beach one can take really and so many beautiful stones you can pick up and say 'oh how beautiful, I'm embracing life!' and only so many meals you can eat. I didn't realize how much my social life was my kids and their friends coming in and out the house and the family life. I knew I was going to do something different and I knew I needed something more. So when the community college pamphlet came I thought maybe I should take some courses or something. But on Christmas Day my sister came over and we unwrapped our presents and later I was going to bed and I saw a little package under the tree that had been overlooked. I opened the tag and it said 'To Meg, Love Jen'. I got tingles thinking I got another present and it felt special. I went into my writing room sitting there looking at the package for a little while on my lap. I opened it slowly savoring it and there was a little silver bracelet inside and imprinted on it was "its never to late to be what you might have been - George E. Elliott". All I could think was darn it, Jen is always trying to make me think I'm not happy when I am <laughing>. My second thought was that I always wanted to do theatre. When I have that voice drop in that says things like "you should go to New York and be a dancer" or you should do this or that, that voice that drops in that I have that says I know if I don't try it I'll have regrets when I'm old saying 'what if I had?’ But I thought it was scary because I thought I'd been away from acting for 17 years and I'm a middle-aged woman and everyone says there is no work for middle-aged women and who would want me to be in a play. I don't have experience in plays because it was to costly to be in a play and they pay so little but I knew I had to try because the voice had dropped down in. So I was meeting with my sister Jennifer because the only way you can nail her down is you agree to go to a spa with her! We met and we were hiking up the mountain at 5:45 in the morning. I told her about the bracelet and she actually didn't realize it had something on it, she thought it was a pretty bracelet. I told her it changed my life and told her I want to do plays in Toronto. I told her I'd be happy if I was just on the stage and said lines like "the doctor will see you now". She said, 'no, if you built it they will come'. I told her I did fax two places, two companies that do allot of plays where they could write to me and I didn't get any response and I was kind of embarrassed. My sister said, "Meg! You’re an Oscar nominated- Golden Globe winner; they are going to think your some whackadoodle who is pretending! They aren't going to pay attention to a fax, no one faxes now a days. Meg Tilly would go through an agent". I told her I only had a U.S. agent not a Canadian agent and she said 'well, we are going to do something about that!’ So Jen got me an agent Rich Caplane who got me in touch with Brian Richmond who let me do WHOSE AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLFE at the Blue Bridge Theatre, which was crazy. I thought I would have three or four lines but here I am with the most major role of all time. When I did that Rich contacted me about BOMB GIRLS. Originally I didn't want to do television because I thought no, I'm doing stage now. But he told me they were nice and just to meet them. When I finished the role of Martha I went across the bay to Vancouver to meet Adrienne Mitchell. I walked in and read the scene and she gave me a correction and I thought that must be a lucky fluke. Then she gave me another adjustment and I thought 'oh, I like that too!' We did this around seven or eight times where she gave a little and it got better and better and by the end of the 20 minute reading I had fallen in love with Adrienne Mitchell and fallen in love with the character of Lorna and loved the beautiful script. I got the script and went back to the car where my husband is waiting and he asked 'how was it?' and I said 'if they want me to do it I'll do it!’ They next day they offered it to me and that's how it happened. I have fallen head over heels in love with Lorna with all her humanness, shortcomings and heroics and bravery and her missteps. I just love how human she is.

You talk about struggles, starting from Season One she's struggling with her marriage, her husband in depression, being the wage earner in the house and the kids. What did you think when you first were presented with Lorna - make it work?

First of all I was very excited because I thought 'oh I'm going to do this little mini-series!’ I said to my agent I wasn't planning to do television but what's two and a half months out of my life. But he said there was a tiny catch that if the show were successful - which was very unlikely - I'd still have to continue with the series. But he said that probably won't happen, in fact there's a 98% chance that won't happen. So what does it do? It succeeds! But I asked how much time it would be and he told me a couple of years of doing six episodes. Then it was 12 more and five and a half months but it’s been great. When I first read Lorna I was excited because I thought it was wonderful that I'm a matron because the hardest thing for me when I was younger was the scenes where I had intimate with people, kiss people you don't know that well or pretend to be intimate with them. I thought 'yes!' I'm the matron now and there are all these young gorgeous and young women having trysts and stuff. Then I read the script and say, "she does WHAT?"

And the very first thing they do is throw Marco, a gorgeous Italian, at you!

I know! I was shocked and appalled. Nothing against Antonio who plays Marco but I was like "I'm a mature woman!" and you know I'm older than Lorna and Lorna is older than Marco. I felt a little bad. This guy should be jaunting around with the young girls and he got with me!

Are you kidding me right now?

No!

You are so gorgeous!

Awww, thank you.

When Marco went for Lorna I saw no problem with it what so ever, except well that Lorna was married. It seemed like he wants the same security, as Lorna and he can't get that from the younger flighty girls!

There was a part of me that was so, so worried for Lorna. I didn't know how this was going to play out. The writers don't know and the writers don't want to know, they let it unfold. Michael McClenna said an interesting thing when asked if the story was all blocked out and he said, 'no, we don't want to know what's going to happen as the writers and want it to unfold itself'. If they know what's already going to happen than we will too. They let the script surprise them. 

Lorna going through all this - that had to be something?

Life has a lot of struggles. Yes there are joys as well as sorrows but I think for Lorna especially, yes she was married and this is the first time she strayed outside the marriage in 26 years. Her husband, because he's so trapped in his own struggles and he's stuffing it down because they didn't have the resources then for what they go through he numbed himself with alcohol. They didn't 'man up'. He had really gone through challenging times. He got more and more tucked into himself with anger and when her children left home with her daughter was out the door allot and the boys gone, she didn't have the boys giving her the hugs, the "awww Mom" and all she had was Bob who was critical with her. When ones critical of one's self they often take it out on other people instead. Lorna wasn't even having a hug and it was very lonely for her and I understand why she did it. The cool thing is that it changes her and she was living one kind of life and just hanging on by her fingernails trying to do right and do good. When she fell, she slipped in her terms of what is right and wrong she gained insight. Not just in herself but in the world and I think its made her a more compassionate person and seeing more colors in-between the black and white.

Lorna also seems to want to be part of the girls in the factory. You can see her melt every once in a while and try to fit in with the girls and then she jerks back again. What do you see as the thing that holds her back?

Lorna started on the line and I think personally she preferred to say on the line but she had to take the matron job to support the family. She's a woman earning a fraction of what men earn in a man's world supporting a family and a home with a husband who’s not able to earn. She had to take the promotion and she's good at her job but she's now one of the bosses, she's management. At one time she could get excited about hanging out with the girls and being included in the gossip. Now she's the one that gets people in trouble and has to say 'smart up!' and work faster and wipe the lipstick off. She does have companionship at home but she doesn't have it at work. It’s a very lonely existence with Lorna.

Plus your a mother figure for allot of these girls who are away from home and its an era of serious social and cultural changes for women?

Allot of these girls traveled from all over Canada. I met a 'bomb girl' Helen who was 15 when she started at the bomb factories. Allot of these girls are away from home to come and make the munitions for the Allied Forces to do their part in the war effort. They had husbands, fathers, and sons overseas fighting in the war. Canada was very involved in it and this was there way to help but Lorna feels very responsible for them because they are on their own. They have paychecks for the first time in their lives. There are all these soldiers coming and going. She's trying to protect them and defend them, not only from all that but the dangers of working in a bomb factory. She has to be stricter and keep order. She hopes in doing that that hopefully overseas there is a male figure is looking out for her own boys. Its magical thinking and if she builds the best bombs and get them out there to help the Allied Forces need then maybe her sons will come home safe. So the bombs have to be good, they can't be duds because it could be her children's lives or someone else’s children’s life at stake. She takes her job seriously, incredibly seriously. She takes on more than she needs to perhaps but that's just Lorna's way.

She's very keen to the social and cultural changes like this season with the inclusion of the African American girl who you embrace and the sexuality of Ali's character. Each of the girls have such distinct personalities, you know right away what they are about and they are so diverse. Lorna has the amazing ability to adapt to them all. Like you and Glady's you have a certain relationship and you know the limits - as you do with each of the girls.

It changes and I think in the beginning with Glady's I think Lorna was prejudice against her because Lorna is human. She has spent allot of time on her hands and knees scrubbing floors of people like Glady's family. She has seen how help is treated and if Lorna got a new dress she would value and take care of it and would be something that would last her for many, many years. Yet she sees the excess of Glady's.

It’s hard to cry poor little rich girl when you’re still being taken care of by daddy or fiancé James.

Right, exactly because Glady's has her own journey. Like when Lorna was prejudice against Marco. But Lorna has this ability that when she knows she's wrong she admits it and tries to make amends for it and she is wrong sometimes. She also is fair. She tries and tries to be fair and honorable and walk in a good way. Her relationships do change and all of the girl’s relationships change as well. That's what I love about the producers, creators and writers is that they really do write complete and full people. We all have a journey and we don't know where the journey is going to go. They don't let us read the scripts in advance; we get them while we are shooting the block before you get the next script. I'm always chomping at the bit to get to the next part of the story.

I've seen episodes 1-7 of the second season...my jaw hit the floor for Lorna. You had to have read the script and stopped in your tracks. She goes through such amazing changes. First season you are getting to know each of the characters and its nice to see there are still shocks to be had. Did you have to research allot for the era because they are doing a fantastic job portraying the era.

They are doing an excellent job capturing the era. I did at the start and my son Will who is studying acting was home from school. I didn't know what YouTube was and he accessed women working in bomb factories and he accessed the promotional stuff that the government put out trying to get women to work in the factories. He accessed allot of WWII stuff for me and I continued on my own. I got allot of music from the time as well. Obviously everyone knows history but to research it you see the time period so differently. When I grew up we moved around allot but the only other people who moved allot were military kids and in playing Lorna whose husband fought in the World War I, it gives you a great deal of understanding and compassion for people who have loved ones over seas. You understand but when your climbing in the skin of you get an entirely different perspective.

I spoke with Ali last year and she was kind of surprised to hear how much I loved the show. Are you equally surprised that it went into season two?

I think how I'm doing life now is I'm not really having expectations. I was fine if it did and I was fine if it didn't. I had such a wonderful time. I was a little nervous if it was going to go into season two because I think the girls are so wonderful. They are such a great group of women. We bonded and you get a little worried. For a lot of the girls it was their big break and I've seen it happen in Hollywood where when they get a big break they sometimes lose themselves. They start to read their press and believe that's who they are coming out of massive insecurity and then the show ceases to be a group effort. But, when I came back that hadn't happened. They didn't go to the dark side and the girls kept their heads so level who worked so hard and are such beautiful actresses and beautiful people so it’s been a real joy. So I didn't know what was going to happen and I was kind of nervous. I wanted to keep the happy memory!

Next week is part two of this amazing interview with Meg, in the meantime make sure you are there Wednesday night for the Season Two premier of BOMB GIRLS on REELZ. For more go to www.reelz.com!