What To Know
- The latest episode of Cupertino saw Natalia Boutella return to her lawyering roots for the first time.
- Here, the actress breaks down how she got back into that mode and what’s ahead.
Natalia Boutella (Busy Philipps) has been a spitfire since the first moment she arrived in Cupertino, but on Thursday’s (November 5) new episode, she showed off a new side of herself: the attorney with mad examination skills.
Yep, Natalia brings more to Price, Siffre & Associates than some startup cash and her vendetta against her ex-husband and his company; she also has her own legal history to draw from, and she does so in Episode 5, “Celeste.”
In the episode, Michael Price (Mike Colter) and Olivia Siffre (Rachel Keller) are hired to help a potential class of former WorkForce employees — or “independent contractors” — who were exploited by the company in its AI-training program. Their clients want the firm to narrow in on one member to be the representative of the class, and they are tasked with testing the preferred candidates for their ability to handle pressure in a deposition and/or courtroom scenario. That’s where Natalia comes in, acting as the cross lead and asking the tough questions that put the plaintiffs on their toes.
It’s the first time we get to see Natalia in boss lady attorney mode, but it won’t be the last, according to the actress portraying her.
TV Insider caught up with Busy Philipps at the red carpet premiere of the series and asked about the moment she slips into professional mode in this episode.
“I think she really has such an incredible arc throughout this season, and just wait because she gets more empowered and does more, and also, there’s a lot of work involved,” she said. “I really am so happy that she’s been able to show all of these different sides to her, and that’s part of the reason I love doing a television that’s 20 episodes for this first season because you really get to play the characters in a real way where they evolve and everything doesn’t have to happen in the first seven episodes. As a viewer, I prefer it, and I’m very, very happy to be doing it on this show.”
Elizabeth Fisher / CBS
Philipps added that it’s Natalia’s experience becoming an instant partner in the firm and seeing what Michael and Olivia can do with it for clients that finally reawakens that long-dormant side of herself.
“I think she becomes very empowered by seeing what these two people, who’ve been basically told they can’t do it, and yet, nevertheless, they persist,” she said. “I think it’s important to her in this moment in her life, post-divorce with this horrible ex-husband and being totally discarded, for her to realize to snap out of her own feeling sorry for herself and partying her days away and really finding a purpose… She can do anything.”
Stay tuned for more from Natalia and the whole team when the next episode of Cupertino airs during a special Sunday night broadcast, and see an exclusive clip of what’s next right here.
Cupertino, Thursdays, 10/9c, CBS
– Reporting by Meredith Jacobs
