Ashley Scott Teases Jericho's Explosive Sweeps Shockers!

As the star of the WB's short-lived Birds of Prey, Ashley Scott played no less than the love child of Batman and Catwoman. These days, she is contending with an equally far-out yet more sobering role on CBS' postapocalyptic hit drama Jericho (Wednesdays at 8 pm/ET). Will Emily ever find her MIA fiancé, whose plane was found abandoned after the blast? If not, might she restart her romance with Skeet Ulrich's Jake? And what does Em's portrayer know about the super-mysterious Hawkins? Episode 8 of Jericho airs tonight, but at the instant TVGuide.com caught up with Scott, she gushed...

Ashley Scott: I'm reading Episode 12 right now, and it's so exciting! It's so good. So good.

TVGuide.com: I think I've achieved some sort of trifecta here, having already Q&A'd Ali Larter (Heroes) and Amy Smart (Smith) this TV season. Aren't the three of you pals?
Scott: Yeah! Ali and Amy have been best friends for years and years, and I've known Amy for years.

TVGuide.com: How cool is it that Jericho defied the critics who harped, "Who wants to watch a dreary show about the apocalypse?" And here you are, chugging along.
Scott: We are chugging along, and I am so thankful and happy for that. Really, honestly, when I get the scripts, I'm so excited. I'm almost bummed that you guys aren't up to speed with what I know, because it's getting so good. As soon as I read the pilot I knew it was going to do well.

TVGuide.com: They dealt you a great dad in James Remar, eh?
Scott: Yeah! We did this scene last week where he was fantastic. He's got a great story line.

TVGuide.com: Do we see much of Emily in this week's episode, where the boys ride out to Rogue River to track down some meds?
Scott: No, this week is kind of light with Emily, because it takes place more outside of Jericho. They go out there to see what the world's like, and it's pretty devastating.

TVGuide.com: But next week, the CBS press release says, "Emily wakes up on the day she was supposed to be getting married to Roger."
Scott: Yeah, yeah, that's a good one!

TVGuide.com: All we know thus far is that his plane to Wichita landed safely. Is he definitely alive...?
Scott: Um, I think Roger comes around. [Laughs] It's kind of a flashback-y, posttraumatic-stress kind of thing, but eventually... yeah, there is life for Roger.

TVGuide.com: That's probably best, because I don't think Heather would give up Jake without a fight.
Scott: That's right, I think that that relationship will blossom. But you never know! It's nice right now, though, to have two female characters who aren't at each other's throats all the time. It's real life: Sometimes two girls fall in love with the same boy.

TVGuide.com: What's your favorite Jericho story line?
Scott: Oh, gosh... of course, I love Lennie James' Hawkins story line. And I'd love to know where Jake came from, what his story is....

TVGuide.com: I have to say, the kids' story is getting kind of cute, too.
Scott: The kids are really cute, and they're getting so good. You know who I really like, though, is Mimi (Alicia Coppola) and Stanley (Brad Beyer). They work really well together, and they've written them as this quirky Moonlighting-type relationship. It's a pleasure to watch them. I think Alicia is so fantastic.

TVGuide.com: You said that you have Episode 12 in your hands. How much more will we be learning about Hawkins in the weeks to come?
Scott: Oh, quite a bit.... It really kind of exposes it, and you really start wondering who did it, who was involved [in the nuclear attacks].... That all starts around Episode 9.

TVGuide.com: Will we find out anything more about the death of Emily's brother, Chris about how exactly he died?
Scott: We don't know how or why, but that starts to get revealed. There are a couple of scenes down the road with my father kind of explaining it, and how Jake was involved.... It's heavy.

TVGuide.com: If you were separated from the rest of the world, what could you not do without?
Scott: Besides a nice bottle of red wine? [Laughs] My husband. I'd like him to be around. It'd blow, otherwise!

TVGuide.com: I hope you take this the right way, but you played a great witch in Into the Blue.
Scott: Thank you!

TVGuide.com: We were rooting for your character to get eaten by the sharks.
Scott: Yeah, I was really excited to play that role. I found Amanda to be very interesting. Plus, it was wonderful to learn how to scuba dive and to do that every day!

TVGuide.com: That's what Jessica Alba said at the film's junket, that the shoot was almost like a vacation.
Scott: It really was I felt guilty almost getting paid for it. And now I scuba dive every chance I get.

TVGuide.com: Did your appearance in a few episodes of Dark Angel factor at all into your doing Into the Blue with Alba?
Scott: It just so happened that we were both exploring it together. It was nice to work with someone who you've already developed a relationship with especially if you're going to be hanging out down in the Bahamas!

TVGuide.com: How close did you get to any remotely deadly sea creature?
Scott: Oh, we were swimming with sharks every day. We would go out, and they'd throw chum in the water, and whatever came, that's what we would swim with. Of course, you had the trainers and the cameramen all [protected] in shark mesh, and we're flailing around in bikinis. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: And barely, at that!
Scott: Yeah, barely at that. It was pretty gnarly!

For stories on other CBS dramas, Criminal Minds and The Unit included, pick up the new, Nov. 13 issue of TV Guide.

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