Natalee Linez is a busy woman. She’s an actress, an entrepreneur, a podcast host, and probably one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet.
The actress has been fun to follow on social media as she made the move from Los Angeles to New York for her role in CIA. She took us all along on the difficult journey of finding a New York apartment and talks openly about the highs and lows of acting. Her podcast offers solid advice for those that want to get into acting.
While a lot of people aren’t as open with the highs and lows, Linez is. She’s excited for the new role that she’s taken on in CIA.
Fangirlish: Well, honestly, that’s one of my first questions, is because I have been following, like, I’ve followed your, like, okay, this is how long I’ve been… I feel like this dates me, but I’ve been watching you since you were on Siren.
Natalee: No way.
Fangirlish: And so, then I, like, when you were on Chicago PD, I got, like, super excited. I was like, I know her! I know her from…
Natalee: I know, I love that.
Fangirlish: And then when I saw you on this, like, that you got cast for this show, I got, like, super excited, and I started… I found your Instagram, and then I was watching your whole, like, you know, moving to New York Chronicles, and, like, having to, like, search for an apartment, and I was like, oh… You poor child.
Natalee: Oh my god.
Fangirlish: What has it been like for you, like, living in New York versus LA, and being away from, like, you know, your life back there?
Natalee: Yeah, well, once I finally got my apartment, it was… it was easier. But, you know, I think the… right now, the excitement, I feel, kind of overrides anything else. But there is absolutely going to be, this element of I miss home, I miss my boyfriend, my mom is in LA, you know? So, as of now, I’ve just been so focused on my work and understanding the show, the characters. There’s so much research to be done always, because it’s, like, the CIA. I could always be learning about, the show, and my character. I’ve been really busy with that, and I’m sure you know if you follow me on TikTok and stuff, like, I have a podcast, so I keep myself quite busy…
Fangirlish: Understatement of the year.
Natalee: I genuinely miss the weather. I am such a sun baby, I just… it’s… I think that’s gonna be… if we’re here for, like, multiple years, that’s gonna be a thing for me.
Fangirlish: Do you like filming in New York is… to me, it’s such a different beast than filming in, like, LA. Does New York take over as a main character in CIA?
Natalee: Yes, absolutely, and I think that the cool thing about filming here is you’re with a massive production, so they have access to any area that they need. Our locations team is so amazing that they get all these badass, cool…places to shoot. So, there are things that I would never see, whether it’s a $17 million, you know, condo, or, we’re blocking off a huge part of Central Park, like.
For me, personally, it’s so amazing and magical to shoot there, but then also New York is, like, this own character within the show. It’s just gonna bring so much depth, and it’s gonna be one of the many reasons that people keep coming back to watch the show.
Fangirlish: One of the things I love about your social media is that you’re very vulnerable on there. You talk about how many auditions you went on to get the parts that you’ve done, and how excited you were to book CIA. What made you want to be a part of this show, and can you give us a little bit of information about your character?
Natalee: Yeah, absolutely. Going off the vulnerable element a lot of people have asked, what made you choose this show. I think that in the beginning, I was like, how do I answer that question? But now, it’s just like I didn’t choose this. I auditioned for it, and it was just another audition, but it was a great. I remember it in my inbox. I remember taping it, I remember being so genuinely drawn to the character and putting it on tape and being like, wow, that came off so naturally. Then getting the feedback from casting pretty immediate that they really liked my tape. Once you realize that you’re in the realm of what they’re looking for, once I realized.
For any show, I get very excited. The hardest part, is you could send in a great tape, they might look at it and be like, this is not the energy that we’re going for, this is not the essence of the character that we’re going for. Great performance, but, like, this isn’t…you’re not getting a callback, you know?
So once you get a callback, it’s very exciting. You’re like, oh my god, I’m what they’re… I’m what they’re looking for. So, when that happened, I was like, I was so excited, I… yeah, you’re just sitting there, you’re like, okay, when’s the callback? And then you have… there was a second tape of, like, hey, do it again, kind of like a callback tape, where it’s like, apply these notes, did that, and then it was like, okay, you know, the team would like to do a… proper callback on Zoom. So these are all callbacks, they’re not, like, meetings about, like, so do you want to do this show? I mean, they might have thought in the back end, like, oh, we love her, we loved her on PD, like, you know. And at that point, I have footage, right?
I’m in other shows, so you’re able to send that, and they’re taking all of it into consideration, but the Zoom callback was very much, like, doing the performance again, and then chatting about the character. But there was no part of me ever that had to, like, think about if I wanted to do it. You know, it was very much a full body, yes.
Fangirlish: Your character on PD, I loved her, I thought she was great. I always love an Atwater-focused episode. Then, like, Tell Me Lies. I cuss your character out every time I see her on the screen. Are we going to love your character on CIA, or is she gonna infuriate us? How do you think people are gonna take to her?
Natalee: So, yeah, Gina Gozian is, an analyst in the CIA. She primarily, at this moment, works in the SCIF under Nikki. I think that you guys are gonna love her, I think you’re gonna be rooting for her. She’s very ambitious, she is jonesing to get on the field, I think, but she’s very aware.
She’s also very aware. I’m in my domain here, and I also enjoy being an analyst and using my skills to gather as much information as humanly possible for us to take care of whatever threat is coming at us. Giving that to Colin, and giving that to Nikki, so that we can all be successful. I think everyone’s gonna be really rooting for her and you’re really gonna see this journey from the beginning.
Fangirlish: So your character wants to be in the field. I was actually telling Necar, when I was speaking to her earlier, I didn’t realize how much cardio was involved in any procedural. They were filming FBI out my window, and I watched Missy running and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be an actor if my cardio game had to be up there. So, like, if you want to be out in the field, do you feel like you would be that way, and is your cardio game that strong?
Natalee: I love a challenge, especially if it comes to acting or a role. I would be so game for something that required, you know, an immense amount of strength or cardio or something like that. However, in the CIA, you know, it’s more of like… and don’t get me wrong, there could be scenes.
Fangirlish: Fair enough.
Natalee: Where they’re, like, You know, running and stuff. But CIA officers don’t have guns. They’re really just normal people, especially if you’re undercover, you’re just kind of, trying to maybe find a foreign asset and convince them to work for you. You’re, maybe talking to, like, a diplomat somewhere else, trying to get information from them, but I don’t know. I’m ready. I’m boxing. Like, I’m here for it. If they want to put her in something, I’m game, but I don’t know that that’s generally the direction that it would go.
Fangirlish: Yeah, that’s what Nakar said earlier and she was like I’d be the one basically behind the wall. I’m gonna be looking around, the streets of New York and being like, okay, why is that person coming out of nowhere?
Natalee: Oh yeah, yeah.
Fangirlish: I’m hoping that you guys film, like, internationally, or go around the states and do things like that, because everything’s always set in New York, and it’s always the really bad stuff that happens here, and then you’re like, I’m not going on the train, I’m not doing this…
Natalee: Oh, right, yes, like, the different storylines, and like…
Fangirlish: If you could film anywhere that’s not New York and not LA, where would you want to film? Where would you hope that CIA goes?
Natalee: Oh! Oh my gosh, like, internationally? Oh, Seoul. Oh my gosh, the best coffee shops in the world.
Fangirlish: I don’t doubt that at all, like…
Natalee: Yeah. Skincare and coffee, like, my two favorite things, and that’s what South Korea’s known for, so that’s where I’d want to go. I love that question.
Fangirlish: It’s exciting for me. Well, my time is up, but I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to speak to me. I really honestly can’t wait to watch it. I’m very, very excited. I’m normally in bed by 8, but I will be staying up every Monday to watch this, so…
Natalee: Every Monday, oh my god.
