‘The Regime’: Martha Plimpton Talks Sparring With Kate Winslet in Austrian Palace

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Regime Season 1 Episode 2.]

The Regime‘s glittering palace is a pretty place to stage a threat. Martha Plimpton made her debut as American Senator Judith Holt in Episode 2, which aired Sunday, March 10 on HBO. The politician quickly learned that the newly rejuvenated Chancellor Elena Vernham (Kate Winslet) is eager to keep biting back at the American government and prove that her country of Middle Europe can’t be controlled (read: she can’t be). This sudden surge in confidence is brought to you by the zealous bodyguard Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts) and his favorite rural remedy: potato steam.

In Episode 2, two weeks have passed since Elena made her bold statement that effectively told western powers to buzz off. America still wants access to Middle Europe’s cobalt mine, so Senator Holt shows face in Elena’s closed-off palace. Elena is offended that they’re sending a woman to repair relations, because of course the only woman this dictator values is herself, so she uses her power and Herbert’s threatening stature to scare the senator into submission. Peacocking and grandstanding are Elena’s preferred methods of diplomacy, not substantial policies.

Elena opens the talk with Holt by “joking” that she’ll “try not to get blood” on her suit. The message was clearly delivered. Everything about this meeting is a petty power move, from making Judith walk the length of the massive room to get to her seat at the table to her curt negotiating (if you can call it that). The American politician is used to this kind of energy. When Judith bites back even just a little bit, in comes Herbert. The Chancellor and her bodyguard take Judith on a stroll through the palace that’s disguised as a tour. She quickly realizes she’s been cornered by a maniacal authoritarian ruler who’s now locking her in a windowless room with a vicious soldier. Judith makes it out alive, but knocked down a peg.

Miya Mizuno/HBO

The Regime is filmed in Austria. You may recognize Elena’s palace as the Liechtenstein Garden Palace – Hercules Hall in Vienna. Plimpton tells TV Insider that this scene with Winslet and Schoenaerts was her first filmed for the limited series. A job she had just completed before starting on The Regime added texture to the tense moment.

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“It was really great,” The Goonies alum says. “That was the first scene we shot, so it was a little bit like being shot out of a canon. I had actually closed a play the day before, so I flew to Vienna and then we shot that scene. I think that added to the sense of anxiety, sort of being off balance, not really knowing [where you are]. It’s like, ‘Wow, look at this room!’ and wanting to make a good impression your first day of school. It added to the tension of the scene.”

“Kate is fantastic, she’s just great,” Plimpton says of her scene partner. “And man, does she know her stuff. She is all over that role; you can’t believe it.”

Elena would be happy to learn that Plimpton sees no similarities between these women. “It’s like the difference between a politician and a charismatic [figure],” Plimpton explains, adding that Elena is “someone who leads less with policy and more out of literal, actual self-interest and despotism. I think the contrasts there are very interesting.” Elena is in “self-imposed isolation,” as Plimpton says, whereas “Senator Holt is more of a representative and is working for a force that’s much larger than her.” Given that, Judith leaves the palace shaken but determined to not let this dictator influence the interests of the American government. They’ll continue to spar moving forward. “All I know is that I’m not letting that lady get away with anything.”

The Regime, Sundays, 9/8c, HBO