TV Verdict

The Unit is a show that flies comfortably under the radar. It’s fan base, to which I proudly belong, is loyal and endures the tumult that comes from the show’s unpredictable 10pm Sunday time slot. Despite the occasional gap in programming, Season Four is chugging along nicely thanks to some interesting changes to the series: The Unit moved off the military base and is operating undercover, the season has a continuing storyline involving some pesky terrorists, and the soldiers are starting to deal with the personal demons that have plagued them on countless missions. Oh yeah, and there’s a girl in The Unit now.

Bridget “Red Cap” Sullivan joins up with The Unit in the season’s premiere and has been quite an integral player ever since. I had the opportunity to chat with the up-and-coming actress playing Red Cap, Nicole Steinwedell.

Mike Rubino: How did you get involved with The Unit?

Nicole Steinwedell: I heard about the audition for the new character in the summer. Previously to that I had been in a showcase for the Atlantic Theater, and David Mamet, who’s the creator of The Unit, had come to see the show…because his daughter was in the class. And–this is actually really funny–she was a student of mine before I even knew she was David Mamet’s daughter; I was a math tutor… so randomly we knew each other for like three years, but I didn’t know that her dad was somebody that I revered.

Then later her father came to the show and he was very complimentary, and was like “Oh my God, you’re such a great actress but we’re on a strike so I can’t really do anything.” And I was like, “No, don’t worry! I’m sure it’ll end.” Then I started sending him my headshot and stuff…

Six months later… I wrote him a letter and I said my parents were both in the Marine Corps; my mom outranked my dad; my grandfather was a colonel in the Army; I know how to do this part, it’s in my blood–give me a shot. And he did!

MR: Was the character of Bridget Sullivan (AKA “Red Cap”) already set in stone, or did they sort of mold it around who you were and your strengths?

NS: I’m not that cool yet where they would design a character around me–I’m very new. But, I know that this kind of a girl needed to be somebody like me, who doesn’t always want to lead first with her looks or her Hollywood ability… but also [someone] who could act, who could command power in a room, who could lead, who could deal with being around all the boys, but someone who knew how to play her sexuality card when needed in… very interesting situations. And in that way, I think Red Cap is way more advanced than I am; I think I still struggle sometimes being a girl in Hollywood… she’s much more able to view the feminine aspect of herself as a great weapon that can be used to wield power over bad guys.

MR: So is this the kind of role you had in mind when you got to Hollywood? Sort of this heroic action hero?

NS: Yeah, I would definitely want to be heroic, and a leader with a voice as a human being, more than like a pretty, pretty princess. Although I do want to be a pretty princess. I know that it’s too short lived for an actress to just be that, and I never thought of being on a military show… but this is the perfect start for me, and I think I was ready for it, and they were ready for me. And they already have some stuff laid out for the character…

MR: Speaking of the character of Red Cap, and what the producers had in mind, can you tell me a little bit about the character’s backstory? She shows up in the first episode of Season Four already undercover on her own sort of mission, and then is asked to join The Unit.

NS: Speaking with a couple of our technical advisors, Pete Blaber and Tim Clemente, both of them have helped me structure what an actual women who participates in Delta Force would look like. She is somebody who is a warrant officer in the Army. That means she outranks all of them just in terms of the whole structure of the Army. She definitely outranks them, but the reason is that she’s a specialist. Her specialty is in language and recon. Now that’s a little broad, but that’s because it’s TV. In real life it would be “languages” or “espionage.” It would be one or the other…

So she was a warrant officer that we [Steinwedell and ex-Delta Force member Peter Blaber] said was probably in Task Force Orange–that is a sub-division of the Army that is underneath Delta Force. Of course, nobody really talks about Delta Force and there being women involved; it’s still very controversial that we’re having that…

The point is, they don’t ask me to be a part of The Unit, I ask to help because in that first episode I’ve been undercover for five months working with an Arab arms dealer. Jonas comes in to take him out, and I have infiltrated the ranks to get him into position for Delta to take out. So when I come back and there’s this assault on the Vice President, and the President-Elect, they’re out of people because everybody’s under suspicion… The colonel ends up saying “Alright, I’ll use you.” And I’ve just been all sorts of useful; I’m more useful than I know what to do with…

And also, reading Pete Blaber’s book, he talks about the women [in the military], and the truth is we aren’t like other operators. We can’t infiltrate Iraq and Afghanistan… but in missions that require recon or undercover work women are key. The reason is obvious: I mean, two really well-built men walking down the street with sunglasses on look so conspicuous, but a man and a women almost anywhere in the world could be on a honeymoon, the girl could be a prostitute, the girl could be a local because she’s covered in head-to-toe depending on the garb of the location. So a women is now more disarming in certain situations than men, and that is just a reality that I am still dealing with myself.

MR: In an upcoming episode, your character has to deal with the issue of sexual assault…

NS: It’s a very relevant topic, and [relates to] a lot of what Bridget has been dealing with in being accepted or not by the boys… [One of the characters] is going to get inappropriate. And it’s like, what does happen when you put the opposite sex on the team? And what it does to the dynamic… if there was somebody who wasn’t right in the head, or if there was somebody who just didn’t find it necessary to respect someone’s personal boundaries. What would happen?…

The other thing is, we don’t know a lot about Bridget’s personal life as of yet… of course there’s sexual attraction, an interpersonal connection that starts with some people and not others, but what happens if it goes too far? And also the whole idea of people who are so incredibly fit and used to aggression and violence and having strength; can it turn ugly, and why? It’s kind of heavy for TV.

MR: Well I was very happy to hear that you’re filming more episodes. You guys get bumped around a lot on Sunday nights with your new schedule. I think one night you were usurped by a Hallmark movie…

NS: I know! It’s so weird, because I don’t think we have poor numbers. We’ve been having great numbers. What do you make of that?

MR: You guys have a very dedicated following and I guess they’re willing to endure strange scheduling and everything. Do you guys have a full season planned?

NS: Yes! We go 22 episodes… our last day of shooting is April 3rd… and we won’t find out until the end of May if we’re lucky enough to have a Season Five.

MR: The show is filmed almost entirely in California, right?

NS: That’s correct, yes. We shoot out of Santa Clarita and on location sometimes downtown.

MR: It’s a globe trotting show. Is that difficult at times for them to get the set just right–to make one part of California look like Germany? And is it hard for you and the other actors to really get into the mood of each location?

NS: I think that the hard part is on the set designers, the editors, and the cinematographers so things look varied. I actually think that’s one of the beauties of Southern California… because we have so many different environments so close by: we have a beach, we have the mountains, we have the desert… it’s really a tribute to the people who are in the art department. As far as the actors getting into it, it’s no problem at all. I do wish I got to travel to all those cool places. That would be awesome.

The Last Nazi was filmed on the Universal backlot, and it looked totally like Switzerland. It didn’t look like Universal at all; which sometimes, if you watch enough television and films, you can see Universal backlots.

MR: So throughout the production of each episode, how involved is David Mamet?

NS: Unfortunately he’s not on set every week… throughout the year [each episode] goes through him… he contributes as a writer, and edits scripts… reviews scripts and ideas, but he’s more like our overseer. I haven’t seen him in a really long time. But you just hope you’re doing okay, you know?

MR: Do you have any projects lined up outside of The Unit?

NS: I just shot a small part in Tom Ford’s first movie, which was great fun… it’s called A Single Man and it stars Colin Firth and Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode… that will be coming out in the Fall, if not the Winter, next year.

MR: Thank you very much, Nicole, for taking the time to talk with me!

Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS. C2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.