‘Elsbeth’ Burning Question Answered: Why Carrie Preston’s Character Totes So Many Bags

deadline.com:

What started out as a fun accessory now represents so much more for the title character on Elsbeth. While talking with reporters Saturday at the Television Critics Tour, Carrie Preston explained why her quirky character Elsbeth Tascioni carries not one, but three bags at any one time on her CBS drama.

For the uninitiated, Elsbeth’s penchant for portable storage began on The Good Wife, which was the idea of then Executive Producer Brooke Kennedy. “She needs to always be carrying a bunch of things.

We got very specific about what those bags were,” Preston explained. “She won’t carry a briefcase. She doesn’t think of herself in that way.

They became a fun accessory. She has bags in her brain, she has Rolodexes in her brain. She’s picking out little things that she put there 20 years ago, and she’s like ‘I can use that here.'” “The bags are [filled with] whatever she thinks she might need that day to help her with her work,” continued Preston, who marveled about a reporter’s inquiry about the bags and their contents. “I find it fascinating how many people are interested in what is in the bags.