Susin and Jordy, what was the inspiration for creating the show? How near and dear to you is this project? How did you get this fantastic cast together?

Susin: The idea is very near and dear to me. My family background isn't as dramatic as the show or these four, but the idea came from a lot of my family history.

I didn't grow up with my dad. I grew up with my mother. I didn't meet my father until I was a teenager, at which point I also met my half-brother and my half-sister. My father only had one other relationship, not two, but I think in a lot of our work, we're all informed by our families, so that was where the idea started to percolate.

I love working in the realm of drama and comedy. It just felt like the world of Family Law was a perfect place for this dysfunctional family to be operating and attempting to help other dysfunctional families while Abby is also trying to win back her husband and children.

In terms of the cast, when somebody mentioned Victor Garber, I thought would that would be amazing. But then it happened.

When we were auditioning Abby, I remember when we saw Jewel, I believe it was her callback audition. I remember getting a jolt of electricity up my spine and realizing this was Abby. It was such an exciting feeling.

Then we got Jewel together with some callbacks for the siblings. And again, it was just so evident that it was Janelle and that it was Zack. And I was so excited because Zack actually rides a road bike.

Zach: That was one of the questions you asked as I walked out of the room. Do you ride a bike? I do. I got it.

Jordy: I think it's one of those great stories where we know there's nobody else who could have played these four parts other than these four people. What Susan visualized in this series is only possible with these four actors, so we were fortunate.

When we look back at the show's development, I think we first talked about it ten years ago. We started to develop it, and it's been a journey and a labor of love. You knew it would be a great show, but you have to wait for the opportunity to rise, wait for the world to change, and for it to open up, and I think we were lucky.

Susin and Jordy, this follows up on what Susan was saying before. We used to have many shows like this, including comedy and drama and solved a case in-between. American TV is making a comeback this year. So Help Me Todd and The Rookies Feds and this one are three shows in that format.

First of all. Are these kinds of comedy-drama combinations prevalent throughout the years, and second of all, what is it that you like about doing a show that has these things together and solves the case?

Jordy: This is not a type of show that's prevalent in Canada more than in the United States. As producers, we looked at this and said, this is the kind of show the world needs now. There's been a lot of darkness, is a lot of controversy over the last few years.

The world doesn't need another dark serial killer show. What they need is something where you care about family, laugh, and cry a bit, and we wanted the audience to feel like they were on the journey. That was a conscious choice. That's turning out to be the trend now, but it felt like what the market needed.

Susin, you mentioned that you like both comedy and drama and you like to combine them. So, tell us why you want them.

Susin: it's just always been my sensibility. I also write young adult novels, always in that vein of comedy and drama. For me, that's life. You laugh, you cry, and it tends to be my viewing taste as well. I love watching shows that can punch me in the gut and emotionally and make me laugh.

I think it's hard to have that blend of comedy and drama and know the right balance. What's so wonderful about our cast is that they experience both of those avenues within a few scenes. In episode 1, I feel bad for Abby when she's talking to Nico on the phone, and you realize that she's separated from her children for the first time.

And then she goes to AA, and we realize, okay, she's an AA, and then she calls herself a schmalcoholic, and suddenly the tone changes again, and I love playing with that kind of emotional journey.

Jordy: That's like a Susin Nielsen superpower. You can call this a light procedural, but it's a comedic procedure with heart because you will feel something in every episode. That's the beauty of the show.

Susin: I think of myself as an optimist. I like writing a very hopeful show. We all have effed-up families, and most of our families make us crazy, but they also make us laugh sometimes.

Was there anything you had to learn to write or play a legal procedural, comedic, or dramatic in terms of how lawyers present themselves, what the law is, or the legal jargon?

Zach: Jewel and myself continually have to learn and check with each other and check with Susan and the writers going, "How do you say that word? And does that mean again?"

I didn't know much about the law in detail, let alone pretending to be a lawyer and make that realistic. It's like any other procedural, whether it's a medical or police procedural. There are specific terms and jargon and ways in which there's a turn of phrase that people use that, if you don't understand. how it's used, it can fall very flax.

I know, at least for myself, it's been a challenge and something I wanted to make sure that I was always on because, you know, you can only see it on television, and if it doesn't ring true, it affects the show deeply.

Jewel: Zack and I have talked about the courtroom bravado you must have as a lawyer. So, it's like being an actor when you're on stage. When you're up there questioning the witness, what does this person do with their body? How do they exude confidence? What's their walk in the courtroom? And we both have our little tricks and things.

Remember Zack? I watched him question a witness, and he did this awesome thing where he leaned on the witness box casually as he was tearing this person apart. After that take, I was like, I like the lean buddy. I'm going to steal that. He's like, don't you dare. That's mine!

But each character has to have their way of taking control of the courtroom. So that was interesting to learn. I think I can speak for Zach, as well as myself, in saying that the courtroom days are the hardest, and it takes a lot of prep to learn the dialogue to make it sound like it's second nature and to choreograph your moves.

What line are you walking on when you have to hand over a prop or an envelope to the judge? There are many things to remember. It's like a dance; we work on those for weeks before we shoot.

Susin: From the writing point of view, I know very little about the law. I know more now than when I started, and we have outstanding consultants who helped us. We read copious articles and books and have all sorts of ideas for cases. Some are torn from the headlines.

There's a beautiful episode in season one, where some of it takes place in a Memory Care Home, a woman who has early onset Alzheimers, and that came from reading an article in the New Yorker. We figured out a way to build it into a court case. We'll come up with the idea, and we'll come up with the things we'd like to happen.

Then, we run it by our consultant, who helps us figure out how to make it work within the realm of the law. We call it TV law, you know, some of her laws may be a little more Canadian, some more American. It's TV law.

Genelle, what similarities are there between you and your character? What are the differences, and how do you relate to your character?

Genelle: I could be wrong, and maybe Zach or Jewel might see something different, but I don't find myself that similar to Lucy, other than her being empathetic and loving. I think she's more intelligent than I am. I enjoy playing Lucy for those reasons. She's very strong, and she's wise beyond her years.

As much as she is self-aware, she is sympathetic, loving, and sees both sides, whereas Abby and Daniel can be by the book or extreme one way or the other, she tends to stay in the middle ground, which is nice, which, I guess again, is similar to me.

Zach: She's exactly like you.

Jewel: You're fun and silly, and you're a super friendly person.

Zach: You don't take yourself too seriously. Lucy is more guarded, but you have the same superpower that Lucy has. You can see it in the scenes when she's doing therapy sessions. You have that same ability in real life to instantaneously connect with people.

Victor, what are the differences between Harry, the father, and Harry, the legal eagle? And then the second question is, do you look at yourself as sort of the personification of an authority figure? Are there roles that attract you, or do they seek to cast people to see you in those roles?

Victor: I don't know how the casting people see me, but I know when I read something if it's something I feel compelled to do, and this role came out of the blue. This script was exceptional, and I wanted to do this.

I think I'd be a terrible lawyer because I would always be on both sides. I know what I think is correct, but I also have compassion for people who don't know what's right. And I think that's why it's a good fit for me.

Playing this role is a joy as a father because it's constantly changing. Harry's relationship with Abigail is so compelling, and it is shifted for those reasons that he wants to be paternal, but she won't let him.

Then she's so adversarial, and he cannot fight. As Jewel was saying, they are so similar. That's the joy of playing this role. It's so multi-dimensional, and it's challenging for me.

This question is for Jewel. I'd also like to hear from Zach and Genelle. How did you feel about inheriting half-siblings you've never met and then working with them daily?

Jewel: I cannot imagine having to do something like that, especially in the position Abby is in, where her tail is between her legs, and she is so ashamed and is, living at her mom's, her life is falling apart. She's got a strut into that office, acting like she already owns the place, and deep down, she's probably pretty terrified.

It takes her a long time to figure out her relationships with these two people. I think Lucy comes on pretty strong, wants to be buddies, wants to be sisters, and Abby's nature isn't like that. Abby is not the type of person to have a best friend. That's just utterly foreign to her.

Lucy is often affectionate and tries to link arms with her and give her hugs. There's one moment where Lucy's despondent and has a loss, and Abby sits next to her and doesn't know what to do and awkwardly puts her hand on her lap because she is so clueless.

I think Abby respects Daniel when she sees what he can do in the courtroom. She feels he's a great lawyer, and they've got this weird relationship where she slams into his face but talks nicely about him behind his back.

She does this sisterly thing where she goes to Harry and tells him to give Daniel more credit. She tells their dad that Daniel is great at his job and stands up for her brother, but Daniel never knows. He never knows about that; interestingly, Abby will not give that away.

Genelle: It's not that we didn't know each other existed. Lucy's always known that she's had a sister. She's always wanted to have a relationship with her. It wasn't a surprise that she existed. So, I think this longing to have her, as Abby said, comes on strong because all she's ever wanted was to have this sisterly relationship.

She's always been close to Daniel. Daniel and Lucy had a relationship from the beginning, but unfortunately, with Abby, she hasn't. So, she tries every tactic to get Abby to love her.

Zach: Unlike Lucy, it's quite the opposite for Daniel. I think Abby showing up is the worst thing for his professional world and the family dynamic. It changes the pecking order in the family. As Janelle and Jewel said, we've known about each other, but we never had any interaction.

When Abby shows up, Daniel goes from being the older son in his mind to being the middle child to also being a partner lawyer with his stepsister, whom he doesn't know who is reasonably competent despite all the shame and the back story that she comes into. It's challenging for him to find where he lands within the family and Harry's eyes.

Daniel is quite competitive. So, Abby is quite the foil for him constantly. Daniel is also very protective of the relationship he has with Lucy. So even though Lucy's eyes and arms are reaching out to welcome Abby, it threatens Daniel. It provides a lot of conflict for him.

Victor, you've played everything from Jesus to the devil. Actors tell us that villains are much easier to play than the good guy, but you are talented at playing the good guy. What are the secrets of playing that kind of character?

Victor: I have no secrets. Everyone is complex. Everyone has parts of their personality that they rely on, and some they're lost in other situations they don't know how to respond to. I don't think of them as evil or good. I think of them as people. Do they have a problem? Is there a challenge?

It's dependent on what the writing is and whom you're acting with. Jewel and I have had scenes where things come up where we're having a confrontation where something comes up and because we're both in the moment, it hits us in an entirely undiscovered way because you can't plan anything as an actor.

If you start planning how you respond to people, you might as well stop acting because that's not okay. It's about being in the moment, and if it's in the script that you do something that is not okay, you have to believe somehow that it is okay in your way. It's acting.

I cannot tell you how impressed I am by their level of professionalism, talent, empathy, and humor. That's the secret to me of why this show works and the incredible writing. It's chemistry, a magical thing, and it's indescribable and doesn't always happen.

Family Law premieres at 8/7c on Sunday, October 2 on The CW.