Chicago Fire’s Bree Williamson enjoys playing flawed characters – take General Hospital’s Claudette.  In her upcoming Lifetime movie, Mommy’s Little Boy, she again sinks her teeth into the role of a damaged character.  In an interview with mytakeontv, Williamson opens up about her role and her career.

mytakeontv (mtotv):  How did you prepare to play this role?
Bree Williamson (BW):  I did pretty much the things I do for most roles – create a backstory for the character and try to find some sort of truth and honesty in her.  Why does she behave the way she does?

mtotv:  How difficult was it for you to play her, given the choices she makes and the things she does?
BW:  I think a lot of times it’s not easy with super-damaged characters.  It does make things more straightforward.  She’s wearing all her problems on her sleeve.  It wasn’t like she was an alcoholic or something.  She lost her son in the beginning of the project.  He was her favorite.  She wasn’t keeping that a secret from anyone.  And she spiraled out of control after that.  There were some interesting things that happened to get her to that point.  There were lots of ways I could go with her, so it was actually a fun role to play.

mtotv:  What did you think was the most challenging part of playing the role?
BW:  I think that playing any role is challenging.  Every time she got angry at Eric or at anything, there was always, in her mind, a reason.  She didn’t get angry just to get angry.  So, I guess playing that part was challenging – trying to figure out the ‘why’ of her anger.

mtotv:  What initially drew you to the project?
BW:  Well, I thought it looked like a fun and interesting part to play.  I put the work in the character for the audition, which went really well.  Then, I got offered the part.  So, I said, ‘I guess I’ll do it.’ (laughs)

mtotv:  Where did you shoot it?  Was it in Los Angeles?
BW:  No, it was in Ottawa, which was great because I’m from Toronto, which was not that far away.  So, I got to spend the summer in Ottawa, which is a cool place to be.  It’s really amazing.  And, I got to spend time with my family in Toronto.  It was awesome.  Perfect.

mtotv:  I was looking at some of your upcoming projects and wanted to ask you about a couple of them.  What can you tell me about Rebel?
BW:  Rebel  is on BET TV.  I play Rebel Cole, who is a police officer in Oakland.  It’s gonna be a really great show.  It centers around Black Lives Matter and how Rebel deals with being on the force when her brother is killed by the police.  I don’t want to give too much away.  I don’t know how much they’ve released about the project.  But it’s gonna be great.  It was fun to play.

mtotv:  What about Her Forgotten Daughter?
BW:  That would be a Lifetime movie that I did.  They called me and asked if I’d be interested in the role.  It was the first time I got to work with Lindsay Hartley.  She’s so much fun and she’s the sweetest, sweetest person.  

mtotv:  How much writing of your own projects do you do – or how much aspiration do you have to maybe produce or direct your own projects?
BW:  I’ve put my hand in writing a little bit.  I think it’s important for an actor, especially when you’re in L.A. and you’re in between jobs.  I do try to write when I can.  I don’t have anything that’s made or anything yet, but there’s still time.  I also filmed a guest role in an episode of Private Eyes (starring Jason Priestley) .

Mommy’s Little Boy airs on March 18 at 8:00 P.M. on Lifetime.