‘Person of Interest’: The Many Disguises of Amy Acker’s Root (PHOTOS)
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Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Disguise: Doctor
“That was all too familiar,” Acker says of Root’s second appearance in a mental hospital (in the episode “Asylum”), where she was disguised as a doctor shepherding Finch (Michael Emerson) as a would-be patient in hopes of freeing Shaw (Sarah Shahi) from Samaritan’s clutches. “I think there were actually some patients on that floor,” Acker says of the scenes, which were shot in a real New York City medical facility.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Disguise: Nanny
The actress went willowy blonde to impersonate a nanny in “Honor Among Thieves.” The script called for a typically intense chat with Finch. “Those are always my favorite scenes,” she says of the pair’s heady tête-à-têtes, which, she explains, “are really articulate about the effects of and moral issues about the Machine.”
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Disguise: Children's Party Entertainer
"It was hard for us to keep a straight face," says Acker of the cast and crew’s reaction to Root’s masquerade as an ursine children's-party entertainer in "The Cold War." "Amanda [Segel], the writer of that episode, told me, 'I don’t know, I just had this vision of you in a bear costume, so it needed to happen.'"
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Disguise: Bride
Root’s determination to get to the bottom of Samaritan’s plans nearly took her to the altar in “Terra Incognita.” Nearly. “That one made me very excited,” Acker says. “It was a whole runaway-bride idea. Root was trying to get close to someone and find out how much they knew about the Machine.”
Disguise: Femme Fatale
In “Search and Destroy,” Acker went dark and dangerous for a scene in which Root incapacitates a restaurant full of people with a gas attack. “It’s very playful,” she says of her alter ego’s dizzying array of disguises. “There’s a fun innocence to getting to play dress-up.” You know, except when it’s deadly dangerous.…
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“I’ve been lucky in my career that I’ve gotten to play many interesting roles,” says the chameleonic Amy Acker. On past seasons of Person of Interest, her tech genius-cum-superhero Samantha Groves, aka Root, has masqueraded as a psychiatrist, a psych-ward patient, a CIA handler, and an FBI agent, to name just a few. In Season 4, Root’s repertoire expanded further as she found creative ways to fly under Samaritan’s radar. “They’e all been such fun parts,” Acker says. “Sometimes I’ll read the script and think, ‘Wow, I get to do that?'” Before Person of Interest returns for a (possibly final) Season 5 on CBS, take a look back at some of Amy Acker’s more unforgettable disguises.
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