Madam Secretary star Tea Leoni admits she’d be insane to say that she’s learned anything accurate through playing Secretary of State

MOST actors boast of how they learn about their craft through real-life encounters but not Madam Secretary’s Téa Leoni, whose honesty is refreshing.

Supreme diplomat: Tea Leoni in Madam Secretary. Picture: Supplied

MOST actors boast of how they learn about their craft through real-life encounters but not Madam Secretary’s Tea Leoni, whose honesty is refreshing.

THE LAST WORD … WITH Téa Leoni MADAM SECRETARY’S ELIZABETH ADAMS McCORD

“I CHOSE Madam Secretary (and the role of Elizabeth) to make my return to series television because it was coming from Morgan Freeman (executive producer of the show).

The fact that Morgan has no problem recognising the power, glory and potential or women, women in politics, women in business, women in entertainment, women pretty much anywhere in the world.

He is always looking for a way to celebrate and expose what women are accomplishing in the world. He is very vocal about it and I think he was very much a part of designing (with Barbara Hall, Madam Secretary creator and executive producer) what would be this job, what would be this woman’s (Elizabeth’s) lot, what would she be balancing.

As season one has played out we’ve seen Elizabeth change. I think she had an arrogance of her integrity going into this job (as Secretary of State) that she would never — her ethics would never waver, her integrity would never waver; her moral compass would never wander.

And I think it’s not so much that it is, but that it’s challenged so often.

"Pilot" -- Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord (Tea Leoni) and Tim Daly (Henry McCord) on MADAM SECRETARY, premiering on CBS, Sunday, Sept. 21 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) for the CBS Television Network. Photo: David M. Russell/CBS 2014 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

It’s relentless and the decisions that she has to make, some of them are ultimately ethical decisions and I think, you know, that’s a very difficult place to be for somebody who is trying not to be righteous.

She’s always been smart, but I think it’s (the job) a little more intense than she could ever have known.

I’d be insane to say that I’ve learned anything remotely accurate through playing the Secretary of State on television, but what I’ve seen as an outsider of Washington is there’s a lot of ‘I’m right and you’re crazy’. And I’m enjoying not giving that any breath.

Elizabeth looks not at anybody as being evil or bad or nuts. I think she looks at everything as a negotiation and how diplomatic she can be and it’s certainly helping me with my own children at home who are both teenagers.

I like Elizabeth (as a character) immediately in that I appreciated her accomplishments. I appreciated her view of the world. I felt that we had similar points of view.

She’s a little more practical and a little bit better of a diplomat than me, which kind of bums me out because I think of myself as being such a good diplomat, but this woman has great diplomacy.

Sometimes we have seen women in the past portrayed on television in this idea that if you’re a strong female making it in your career in your professional life we have to sort of tear down your personal life.

And it’s usually through some sort of catty infidelity or something that, what, provides entertainment?

Elizabeth and Henry’s (Tim Daly) marriage isn’t a gimmick and it’s not flawless. But it is fierce and I think that’s a lot of fun.”

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