Sofia Pernas talks about playing opposite husband Justin Hartley for new episode of TRACKER on CBS.
So Many Shows spoke with Sofia Pernas about playing reward seeker “Billie” on the next episode of TRACKER airing March 24. Billie goes up against Colter Shaw to earn the cash prize offered for a missing racehorse in Lexington, KY. Billie and Colter, both competitive by nature, also have a complicated past having worked together on a prior case in Miami.
Pictured: Sofia Pernas as Billie and Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw. Photo: Ed Araquel/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
There is a lot of smack talk between Billie and Colter. Who do you think had the best burns?
Sofia: Oh, man. That’s a good question. I think Billie out-zingered him, I do.
You are no stranger to roles involving danger, high stakes, and espionage. What makes this high stakes role unique from others you have played?
Sofia: I think Billie’s a bit more still. Lexi on Blood and Treasure was, I think, more stylized. I got to really sort of be in her skin and just sort of be one of those like floppy things outside a car lot. I got to kind of do that with her a little bit. But with Billie, I think she’s in a very male dominated [field], that’s kind of how I read her anyway, I don’t know. This is a relatively new job description, right? So, in my mind, I’m sure this is probably a very male-dominate field. And she has to present as such. So, I kind of played her a bit more commanding or just a bit more austere than I usually would have taken her with previous characters.
I read Justin has been working on this project for years, so before working on Tracker, did you read any of the novels by Jeffrey Deaver?
Sofia: Yeah, yeah, they were really great. My dad snarfed them down too. My dad loved them. He loved the cult book. That was great, too, and I loved that one, too. I mean, [Justin] really has been trying to develop this for years. This industry is really, really challenging when you want to develop something or create it. And so, it really just takes perseverance and a lot of just “stick-to-it”-iveness because it can defeat you pretty fast.
Billie keeps us guessing throughout the episode. It’s hard to tell if we can trust her. What kind of direction were you given regarding that and how much was left up to your own interpretation of Billie?
Sofia: I think it was pretty much – they were so sweet to me – they kind of just gave me the ball and let me run with it. They gave me the backstory a little bit and I kind of filled it in where I could and just kind of took that direction myself.
The way I see her, she’s using manipulative tools to her fullest advantage. She’s a woman and that comes as easy to her as breathing, right? And we multi-task very well, so I was just kind of trying to put together what her bag of skills would be respectively to Colter’s because obviously we’re different. He does what he does, and he has his own special set of skills and I have mine, and I think she’s a lone wolf like he is. She’s more tech savvy in many ways, so she doesn’t have a Velma and Teddy. She kind of is running her own sort of situation over there. And I think she just relies on her wiles and what she can – probably does an accent or two, charms people to get through a door.
That’s kind of how I saw her and it’s kind of hard to trust her because of what we know she’s done to Colter, and she backstabbed him. But I think she also uses that to her advantage to sort of recruit him to find this horse with her in the name of expediency, right? But it’s really her way of keeping an eye on him just in case he decides to get her back for the past.
Obviously, you & Justin have an amazing presence in this episode. While acting is your craft, does it require a unique type of effort to withhold some of your natural chemistry given that Colter and Billie’s relationship is complicated?
Sofia: Yeah, I mean, honestly it wasn’t hard because Justin is so different in this role. He is so still and he’s so self-assured and everything he does is done with power. It was relatively easy for me to go – it was sort of like role play, you know – like okay, we’re different people and this is not even in the room, so let’s just play what’s in the room. And so, it wasn’t hard at all actually.
Do you think there is a chance we may see Billie in future episodes?
Sofia: Oh, absolutely, yeah.
(audible excitement from interviewers Tracey and Mike)
What can you tell us about the locations used in the episode? There were some nice countryside locations from the look of it.
Sofia: Oh, yeah, we were definitely in the country. You smelled the cow like it was right behind you. We shot primarily in Abbotsford, sort of all around Abbotsford, and it was heavy with manure. I mean, it settled there like smog. So, it was so nice (laughs). But yeah, they found barns and places inside of there. I think it’s like an hour outside of Vancouver. So, we were there quite heavily throughout the episode.
I read that you speak four languages: Arabic, English, Spanish and German. If you would humor us for our worldwide listeners, could you say, “Don’t forget to watch Tracker, Sunday nights on CBS” in a couple of those languages?
Click below to hear Sofia’s response!
Finally, we played a rapid-fire version of “this or that”. Here is how Sofia responded:
Stilettos or Sneakers
Sofia: Stilettos
Racehorse or Mustang
Sofia: Mustang
Ballroom or Barn
Sofia: Barn
Miami or Lexington
Sofia: Miami
Thank you so much to Sofia Pernas for taking time to talk with us about playing Billie on TRACKER. The husband-and-wife team of Sofia and Justin make a compelling pair of characters vying for the latest reward. TRACKER normally airs Sundays 9pm ET/PT on CBS, but this week’s episode (3/24) will air at 8pm ET/PT instead. The series also streams on Paramount+. Tune in March 24 for episode “Lexington” with Sofia Pernas.
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