Back in 1996 I wrote a TV Guide Canada cover story on a local actress then making a name for herself on North America’s No. 1 series – ER. Her name is Gloria Reuben, born in Toronto and raised in London, Ontario. When I reached her by phone in Los Angeles, she had to interrupt the call to accept a bottle of champagne sent from then NBC west coast president Don Ohlmeyer. He was congratulating Reuben and others in the cast – including George Clooney and Noah Wyle – for shattering yet another ratings record.
Flash ahead three decades. Reuben stars as district attorney Mae Silver on the Blue Bloods spinoff Boston Blue. Donnie Wahlberg, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Ernie Hudson are part of the ensemble, just heading into its second season Friday nights on CBS and CTV.
Reuben says she has especially enjoyed getting to know costar Hudson on the series. Her DA character is married to Hudson’s Revrend Peters. The entire cast has a family feel to it, she adds. That the series shoots in Toronto, which doubles for Boston, also allows Reuben to feel right at home.
Reuben has packed in plenty in the intervening years, including as a backup singer for Tina Turner. You may have seen her in Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” or on the series MR Robot, or recently on Elsbeth. We talk about how astonishing it is that her character on the series seems so her in real life, almost as if the character was written for her, which it wasn’t. It was great catching up, but the crazy thing is, it felt like we had kept in touch the whole time. Please welcome, the very present, Gloria Reuben.
To listen to the episode, click on the white arrow in the blue dot above.
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