‘FBI: Most Wanted’: Roxy Sternberg Says Barnes Is ‘Oblivious’ to Problems in Her Marriage
Q&A
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It’s hard to decide what’s more concerning about the March 12 episode of FBI: Most Wanted: the case, with a serial killer, or what’s going on in Sheryll Barnes’ (Roxy Sternberg) life outside of work, since we’re such fans of her marriage.
In “Hollow,” the Fugitive Task Force heads upstate to assist in a search for missing and murdered Indigenous women and hunt down the serial killer responsible. Meanwhile, Barnes struggles to find time to bond with her wife, Charlotte (Fedna Jacquet). And something tells us this case won’t make that any easier.
Below, Sternberg previews the challenges to come.
The job is taking a toll on Barnes’ marriage. How would you describe Barnes and Charlotte’s relationship at this point?
Roxy Sternberg: I think Barnes is somewhat oblivious to—of course, I think she’s aware that they could benefit from some date nights and extra time. My wife [had] some issues with my mother. So I think she’s aware that there’s a little bit of tension going on in the marriage. I think she’s completely caught up in her job, so she’s somewhat oblivious and this all comes as a surprise to her. She is a workaholic. And so I think she’s in denial that this has been a long time coming. So as an outsider, I would say it’s obvious that they need more time together, the two of them. But Barnes is in denial and oblivious.
So then that means that Barnes isn’t worried about her marriage anywhere near how much she should be.
I think even more so, yeah. That’s part of the huge problem, is that she’s not aware. She’s not taking the time that Charlotte needs, that the family needs. She’s so caught up in her work and herself. There’s been a lot of changes that have been going on, having to develop this new relationship with Remy [Dylan McDermott], having to find her feet back at work, having taken some time out. In life, I think something’s always going to be compromised. You can’t be an amazing mother, an amazing wife. You can’t be amazing at your job. You can’t be amazing at all these things. One thing is going to take, and I think her focus has been her work, and unfortunately, her marriage has been what has been compromised. So I think she should be a little bit worried.
Speaking of Barnes and Remy, I loved how that played out and how that dynamic has developed. I like that it wasn’t easy from the start, considering how he came in.
Yeah, we were actually talking about that the other day as actors just sitting in the green room, just saying, we love [that] sometimes things are very easy. We are so bloody good at things. We always find the bad guy. We’re always the heroes. There is obviously the struggle along the way, but at the end, we always win, and there should be a little bit more friction between us. I really enjoyed playing that friction with Dylan, and it carried on. It wasn’t just that first episode. I feel like we had to build one another’s trust, and I think that was on camera and off. I feel like it was kind of art imitating life to some extent. And it’s interesting, this season, there’s none of that. I don’t feel that at all actually this season. There are really nice moments between him and I, which I don’t think we managed to capture last season. I think we were focusing on some other things. So that’s a really nice thing that I’ve enjoyed this season as well, is our developing relationship.
And you earn that because of where you started.
Exactly.
The case involves missing and murdered indigenous women and a serial killer. What can you preview and what’s the biggest challenge for the team?
We come across some really dark things that we don’t often see as FBI agents. There’s this one scene where we don’t really know how to tackle this going forward. It is kind of shocking and disgusting and we figure out what this bad guy is actually after. And it’s kind of shocking—especially for me, without spoiling too much, in my current circumstances being pregnant as well—that he’s after that one thing, which is interesting.
I have to say how much I’m enjoying the Barnes and Nina (Shantel VanSanten) stuff that we’ve gotten so far, especially in the premiere.
Oh, great. I’m getting on so well with Shantel as an actor. We just become great friends, which has been wonderful to play on-camera as well as experience it off-camera. Yeah, it’s just a joy. She’s been such a joy to have, a lovely addition to our cast, and Dick Wolf knows what he’s doing. He hires the best of the best. So it’s been such a pleasure to work with her.
FBI: Most Wanted, Tuesdays, 10/9c, CBS
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