John Noble on His Guest Appearance on The Good Wife

John Noble is set to make his first post-Fringe television appearance on CBS's The Good Wife this Sunday March 24, at 9/8c. The series follows Alicia Florrick (Julianna Marguiles) a woman who goes back to work as a litigator after a 13-year absence when her husband, a state's attorney, is jailed following a sex scandal.

Noble plays Matthew Ashbaugh, a character described as, "a brilliant and eccentric tech entrepreneur who is also extremely litigious." When he’s murdered, the police turn to Alicia for help in narrowing their list of suspects to someone he had legal issues with.

We had the opportunity to chat with Noble about the role, working with Marguiles and his take on the series. Take a look below and stay tuned for the more Fringe-centric portion of our interview in the coming days.

IGN: This is your first character on TV post Fringe, in thinking about the next character that you would play, were you conscious of wanting to play someone very different from Walter Bishop?

John Noble: Oh, I’ve got no problems with Walter Bishop. I mean he was so many characters anyway.The difference is that I actually get to work in my natural accent for the first time in about 15-years. That was weird, that was very strange. I found myself slipping into an American accent  a couple of times, but that was kind of lovely as a change to play an Australian. Walter Bishop was so many characters really. The thing I really like doing is playing complex characters. I mean I really like playing complex characters, so this was a beautiful example of that. It’s quite different. I mean this fellow really is a maverick. My thoughts about the backstory of this character was that he made a bucket of money somewhere, probably in the IT revolution and now he’s at a loose end. He’s got all of this creative energy and nothing to do with it. He sort of becomes quite a victim. He sees himself as a victim and he sues everybody. Anyone who annoys him in the least he sues just for something to do because he’s bored. Also he’s paranoid. He thinks the CIA is are after him. He’s a strange character and really in some ways not very likable because he just victimizes these poor people. A man’s got a dog that barks and so he sues him? I mean it’s extraordinary. But anyway it’s fun because he gets Alicia Florrick to represent him and becomes quite fascinated with her; which is easy to do with Julianna Marguiles because she’s such a terrific woman and an amazing actress, actually. The story of the episode, the first thing that happens is that the police go to her and ask her, ‘Is there anyone who would want him dead?’ And she says, ‘Yes, many people.’ And so they go through the story of what happened through flashbacks. So some of the episode is just there strange relationship, it was beautiful.

IGN: What was your working relationship with Julianna Marguilies like? Does she have a similar working style?

Noble: Oh absolutely, yes. It couldn’t have been better. We both hit the floor, understood what was needed and played together as they say in acting. We played with moments, played with phrases and had a really terrific amount of fun - which is what happens when the work’s going well. And I did all of my scenes with her. And we had Robert King, the creator of the series, who wrote the episode and directed it – so it was a joy. There was a terrific three-way dynamic happening.

IGN: Were you familiar with the series before taking on this role?

Noble: It was at the top of my wish list. Yes I was very familiar with it, I think it’s one of the smartest show’s on television. It’s my wife’s favorite show. She was so thrilled when I got this job. It’s very smart, beautifully written and so well acted. I mean the cast, the core company, is so strong. And they get these amazing guest actors all the time. So the quality is obviously appealing to a lot of people.

IGN: Do you have other show’s that are at the top of your wish list?

Noble: Yes, [laughing]  but I’m not going to say because I don’t want to jinx anything.

IGN: Well I know one…

Noble: Yes, which one?

IGN: Well just as a fan of your work, and this show has very complex characters, I would love to see you on Game of Thrones.

Noble: Oh of course! Absolutely! That’s just one of the phenomenas of the last few years isn’t it? Game of Thrones is extraordinary. Yes, [laughing] that would be there. That would be right up there. I would love to do Game of Thrones.

The Good Wife airs on Sunday at 9/8c on CBS. Stay tuned for more from our conversation with Noble.

Roth Cornet is an Entertainment Editor for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @RothCornet and IGN at Roth-IGN.

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