Beth Riesgraf in LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION | ©2021 Electric Entertainment
In Season 3 of LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION, now streaming in its entirety (as are previous seasons) on Prime Video, Beth Riesgraf’s master thief Parker undergoes something of an existential crisis. As she becomes closer to her teammates, who come together to con bad guys and help honest people who’ve been harmed, is Parker internalizing a more empathetic moral code? Or is she deep down as feral as she was when we met her back in the original LEVERAGE?
Aleyse Shannon’s character, tech whiz Breanna Casey, is less conflicted about herself, but she’s still going through changes in Season 3.
Both performers get on a Zoom call from separate locations to talk both LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION the series and their characters’ journeys this season.
For starters, were they expecting LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION to get picked up for Season 3?
“I think I did anticipate,” Riesgraf responds, “but you never know. I think there’s always a little bit of a question mark with these things. But I certainly felt the response from the fans and the audience was one of excitement, so I was hopeful.”
Shannon’s perspective is that “I always hope for the best, so in my bones, I felt like I wasn’t done yet, and I think that is a clue into what everybody else was [feeling] – it doesn’t feel like we’re done, does it? So, yeah, I was anticipating it to come back. But, we have a different amount of episodes, and it’s always a question of what’s going to go down. I was just happy to go back to New Orleans [where LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION is shot and largely set], a city that I love, and be back with the same folks. I’m glad we got this one in.”
For Season 3, Riesgraf and fellow original LEVERAGE castmates and LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION regulars Gina Bellman and Christian Kane have all been promoted to being executive producers behind the scenes. Additionally, Riesgraf has directed five episodes of the show so far. What does this mean in terms of any new responsibilities?
“I’m very hands-on behind the scenes,” Riesgraf enthuses. “It’s being involved in each story, the outlines, having all those conversations about character arcs and casting. And when I’m directing, it’s obviously nonstop decision-making, which is such a fun ride for me, I love it so much. It’s having the opportunity to collaborate on an even deeper level with the team, the department heads, and the writers. And I think everyone is very generous about the process, and it’s very collaborative and fun. I really enjoy it.”
All of the characters create elaborate false identities, often with accents, costumes and wigs, when they’re running a con. Do Riesgraf and Shannon ever pitch concepts for aspects of these identities to the writers?
Christian Kane and Aleyse Shannon in LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION | ©2021 Electric Entertainment
“Yeah,” Shannon affirms. “Mostly, I’m somebody that I really enjoy what the writers come up with, and I’m in the truck [monitoring the tech] a little bit more, but I do remember Season 1, when I was [impersonating] a fire inspector with Bethie, and I was like, ‘Okay, what do we think about me having a Shake N Go wig with bangs?’” she laughs. “So, I pitch last-minute, but I don’t know about you, Beth.”
“We’re always excited to see what they come up with,” Riesgraf relates. “The gift of this show for us as actors is that we get to play these characters within characters, and it is so much fun. A lot of it comes together [when] we get the nugget in the script, and then in the wardrobe fitting, sometimes, Nadine Haders, our costume designer, will have an idea for some element of the costume that brings it to a new level, and that might spark a conversation where we call the writer and say, ‘Hey, what do you think if we do this or that?’
“Sometimes the accent and things that we throw on are really last-minute sometimes, because we are moving so fast on this show that sometimes you’ll get a rewrite, and it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, now you’re an FBI agent here, and then you go swap into a Midwestern person over there.’ And sometimes they don’t really know – we just come up with what we want with the voices, but the costumes, I would say, are a big part of it, and the writers are so collaborative and great, [they try to accommodate] if we did have an idea like, ‘Can I be a whatever?’”
As an example, Riesgraf cites the episode “The Side Job,” which is partially in black-and-white, with Parker is in disguise as a film noir-style femme fatale.
“That episode was a total gift, and I know that that was one that [John] Rogers [who co-created both LEVERAGE and LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION with Chris Downey] had been wanting to do for a while, and so I was like a kid in a candy shop with that episode. I had so much fun and those costumes were just everything.
How does Parker feel about her evolving friendship with Bellman’s erstwhile team leader Sophie? Sophie seems to feel maternal towards Parker, so does Riesgraf think Parker sees Sophie as a mother figure, or a sister, or a colleague?
“I think it’s a mix of all of those things,” Riesgraf replies. “With [Sophie’s stepdaughter] Astrid [played by Alexandra Park] coming into the picture, there was a definite ownership. Parker feels fiercely protective of her relationship with Sophie. Parker also sees herself as a protector of Sophie and everyone on the team. But I certainly know, when Astrid comes around, Parker is competitive about that attention in a relationship, too.”
Beth Riesgraf in LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION | ©2021 Electric Entertainment
Obviously, the strongest connection among the LEVERAGE group for both Parker and Breanna is Aldis Hodge’s cyber genius character Alec Hardison, who is Breanna’s foster brother and Parker’s romantic interest. But outside of Hardison, who do the actors think their characters have the strongest bond with on the team?
“I think the connections go back around,” Shannon offers. “On one hand, I could say Harry [the reformed evil lawyer played by Noah Wyle], because we both came in at the same time, and we’re both learning things. And I think Breanna has a little bit of a finger on Harry’s head, being not too much of the old guard, and not too much tradition. I think they bond over that newbie sense, I think we bond over playing all kinds of characters,” she laughs.
Riesgraf mock-complains with her own laugh, “It’s like picking your favorite child. I think they relate to each other very deeply in different ways. Eliot [the fighter played by Kane] understands this side of Parker that nobody else can, because they were both living a similar existence in some ways, with the risks they were taking and the dangerous situations that they were in over certain points of their lives that maybe the other team members don’t really know as much about. But there’s a lot of unspoken connection between all of them.”
With its stories related around the rich and powerful doing terrible things – often legally – to the disadvantaged, do the actors think LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION is perhaps a little bit more timely these days?
Riesgraf does. “Yeah, absolutely. I think the fact that things that should be illegal are being made legal, that we’re actually making it easier for criminals to be criminals and take advantage of the weak and those that can’t afford to take the necessary actions. [As a society], we’re making it easier to be taken advantage of, for sure.”
Do Riesgraf and Shannon feel there’s a theme for LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION Season 3? And if so, what is it?
LEVERAGE – REDEMPTION key art | ©2021 Electric Entertainment
Shannon says, “I think the theme is, can a tiger really change its stripes? Are we playing at making a real change in the world and playing at making a real change in ourselves, or at the end of the day, will it always be what it is? Will this evil always exist? Will we always be criminals? Are we already marked by our own pasts?
“As we see our villains [more often get the law on their side], it’s easy to get disenfranchised. Evil is easier to do, more widespread, more accessible, more insidious, more organized. Then I think, do you rise to the occasion and push yourself to transform, and really get back at it, or do you get jaded and fall off to the wayside?”
Riesgraf agrees. “And also, for Parker and the team, there’s a lot of change happening with the interpersonal relationships and self-growth. They’re all evolving at different rates, and I think with Parker and Hardison’s relationship in particular, that’s changing. What does that mean for her growth? She raised herself in a way, with nothing to lose, right?
“Coming into this team suddenly meant she had something to lose and something to fight for on a deeply personal level. So, for her, it’s like when you don’t have anything to lose, there are no rules, there’s no reason to be safe and careful, and what is the thing keeping her on that side of the fence? Is she going to go all-out again and be that street animal, or is she going to find a balance with it?”
Shannon believes that “Breanna is coming out of this evolution of proving herself, whereas Bethie, your character is very much stepping into a leadership role. I mean, there’s far more responsibility on Parker’s plate than I think there ever has been. I don’t mean to speak for you, but my character’s responsibility is very much herself and not being the weakest link and being able to put into practice everything she’s been mentored on and really take up the reins herself.”
LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION SEASON 3 key art | ©2025 Prime / Electric Entertainment
Riesgraf is all in favor of this evolution of Shannon’s character. “Breanna has the leader spirit. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have that ability to run a con, run a job. She’s been ready, and she’s allowed herself permission to just do it, and the growth that she’s having, going into these cons, running it with confidence,” she addresses Shannon directly, “your knowledge is such power in that character that it’s like you’ve found a group that accepts that about you and actually wants you to fly with that power, and it’s really cool watching you do that.”
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Article: Exclusive Interview: Actress, director and executive producer Beth Riesgraf and actress Aleyse Shannon on the third season of LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION
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