“The costume designers on this show are some of the most creative and brilliant artists I’ve ever met,” Balagot says. “When they told me they wanted me to wear vintage button-ups, knickers, and boots, I got so emotional because I wouldn’t have to wear a dress or film in heels!”
While much of Clara’s story exists in an unspecified past, the character does get to show up in the series’ present in a couple of fascinating ways. The first is through an uncannily realistic portrait painted on the wall (“like the murals in Fishtown,” Jason Segel’s character Peter notes). Though initially inert, the portrait begins to speak to narrate Clara’s story. That level of verisimilitude requires a near photorealistic portrait, which Dispatches from Elsewhere was all too happy to provide.
“They took a still of me and printed it to look painted,” Balagot says.”I was so obsessed with how creepy it was I asked around for it all day until props finally gave it up. I flew it home and TSA thought it was very weird.”
Though Clara doesn’t get to interact with the full cast (just yet), in episode 5 Balagot does get to play Peter’s conscience as she accompanies him to work and convinces him to send The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” to everyone’s playlist for the Spotify-like music streaming service he works for.
“Definitely a quirky bunch,” Balagot says of the cast. “I loved working with Jason, he is so easy to play off of and it made me more excited to take risks and to really be the Clara that he saw.”