Person of Interest: Amy Acker on the Huge Change to Her Role - IGN (2024)

For more on Person of Interest's 100th episode, check out our review, along with our interview with POI executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman about what occurred.

Amy Acker: They told me like the day before San Diego Comic-Con last summer, which was very hard to keep a secret. I was like, "What!? Wait...!" [Laughs] So I knew pretty early on -- well, at least before we started shooting Season 5.

IGN: And what was your reaction?

Acker: Well, I think they broke it in the best possible way. They said, "Root is going to die, but you're still going to be part of the show. You're becoming a god." So it was kind of hard to get mad at them. [Laughs]

IGN: It's funny, because I think back on that trailer they showed at San Diego Comic-Con with your voiceover at the end [see below], which obviously takes on a very different feeling now knowing what's happening. Did you record that the day before Comic-Con?

Acker: I guess it must have been a few days before Comic-Con, because that was when they told me. They told me, and then they said, "Can you come make this?" I knew what the voiceover was leading to at that point. I knew I was talking as the Machine as Root.

Acker: Yeah, they kind of had a very specific idea, that they knew that linking back to this episode, in the 100th episode, and assuming -- I haven't seen the episode yet -- all the dialogue is still there, but where Root and Harold are in the car, and she's saying how you never really die, that the Machine has been watching us and knows us, and she knows every part of us. So we're almost like a virtual reality piece of the Machine, that she knows us better than we know ourselves. So what they were trying to convey was that the Machine knows Root with like 99.9% accuracy, so that when the Machine decides to be Root, it would be indistinguishable.

IGN: It’s a cool thing to know that you're getting killed off and yet still will be a part of the show beyond this, but was it still sad for you to say goodbye to Root as a character, having played her for all these years?

Acker: Yeah, it was really sad. I didn't quite know what the involvement was going to be necessarily when I became the voice of the Machine, but it actually ended up -- I was crying, "I'm so sad to leave!", thinking I wasn't going to see everyone. And then the way that it worked out with the last three episodes, they were like, "You're back!" [Laughs] But even now I feel sad. I was so sad when it was officially canceled. I just loved this part, and it was such a cool world to be a part of. The writing was always exciting and surprising. You know, I got a call from Jim [Caviezel] the other night, and he was like, "I miss everyone!" I think we're all still in denial and wish it was still going on.

Acker: Oh, good!

IGN: I've watched the episode twice, actually, so now I feel really bad that you haven't seen it! It is interesting to watch it again, with the knowledge that she dies, because what she's saying takes on greater meaning. We already knew how Root felt about the Machine and how much she personalized it -- calling it "she" early on. Do you think for her this would almost be the ultimate honor, that she's going to live on in this way?

Acker: I mean, that's what makes it hard to get mad at anything about this storyline; this is how she came into Person of Interest, wanting to set this Machine free and all of this stuff leaning towards the singularity and all of that. Now it's basically like her dream has been realized in a way that's almost better than what she could have imagined, because I think she always imagined wanting to be part of the Machine, and the fact that the Machine chose her is like a dream come true.

IGN: This is a delicate situation, as far as how fans will react. People were going to be upset no matter what, because they love Root and they'll be sad to see her go. Then of course there is the fact that this episode happens to be airing now after there were several notable lesbian deaths on TV this spring. What would you say to those fans who might be very upset and feel that this is the latest in what they see as a troubling series of events on TV?

Acker: I think it really goes back to what we were just talking about; the large arc of Root. I mean, she came into this show before she even met Shaw, and the Machine was always kind of her first love, really. So the fact that she got… I think the relationship that she and Shaw shared kind of makes it all worth it, because before that she didn't really see humanity as having much purpose and it was really all about the Machine. Shaw really opened her eyes to the struggle of what is more important and can you have one without the other. So I think that, from a writer's perspective, it seems like once Root was introduced to the character, I think they had this idea of her and the Machine somehow melding. Then the fact that Sarah and I ended up having this great onscreen relationship and chemistry and having so much fun working together was like this magical little piece that came in the middle. But I don't think this should take away from that, you know what I mean?

Acker: That was what they always implied to us as actors, because I was like, "Wait, is this [referring to something]” and they were like, "You didn't get that? The other time when you were talking about the zip ties and this..." and I was like, "Oh! Oh, I didn't know that." [Laughs] So they've always said all along that other stuff was happening, off-camera. So I've always kind of just assumed that it was as well.

One thing I really liked about that whole simulation was just that so much of the Shaw/Root relationship has been Root pursuing Shaw, and getting to see inside of Shaw’s head and realizing that she was also thinking about Root in that same way, which just kind of balanced the playing field a little bit and I think also shed light onto something - that you do get the intention that this probably happened already, just not on an actual aired episode.

IGN: No matter what, though, I would assume it must be pretty amazing to be part of this storyline, this onscreen relationship, that does mean so much to people. What's it been like to get that reaction in the last couple years?

Acker: I've met the most fascinating people and fans, and going into a CBS procedural -- or that you thought was a procedural and it turns out to be a sci-fi drama -- you don't think that you're going to be able to affect people in a way that these characters have affected people. I've just heard such amazing things from people and how the writers have really handled these characters in such a special way that it's given a lot of people... I don't know if it's hope or just inspiration or whatever it is, but to me, that these two characters are really powerful in that community, I've just felt really blessed that I got to play this part, because it's been really wonderful to hear and to hear all these stories and meet all these people who have actually been very “We needed this!” and you feel so lucky that you're getting to not only act in really well-written and amazing storylines, but you're also getting to have an affect on real people.

IGN: You noted, as Jonah did to me, that when Root dies, she is essentially reborn as a god. This is not your first time playing a character who dies in Season 5 of a show and is reborn as a god! In terms of typecasting, it is one of the more amazing examples. Is that just kind of funny for you to have this strange thing happen twice?

Acker: [Laughs] I did have to say to Jonah when he told me that. I said, "Well, you're not the first person to tell me that!" It was very funny. But I guess if you're going to be typecast as a character who dies and comes back as a god, there could be worse things.

Acker: I was like, "I'm pretty sure I'm the only person to have this conversation twice." [Laughs]

IGN: What can you say about your role in the final episodes? We know you are the Machine now. We've seen Harold talk to you, but others have not yet, including Shaw. So can you talk at all about what your interaction might be like as we go into the final three episodes?

Acker: I think it goes back to what we were saying, like how much the Machine is just so Root. Like, it's indistinguishable between Machine and Root. So what I love in particular that comes up is that the Machine kind of maintains the same relationship with the characters as she's talking to them that Root would. So she takes on the same affinity for Shaw and talks to Reese the same way and everything. It just really seems like the Machine is kind of honoring Root, because she chose her and has made her -- it's like Root is there. Her body's not there, but she has all the same interactions with the characters. So I thought that was really interesting.

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @TheEricGoldman, IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman.