Linda Cardellini

Cardellini says she prefers playing other people over versions of herself and has tried to play as many different roles as possible.

“But hopefully, which is sort of what I tried to do, is just try to play as many different roles”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 51:20

Cardellini says her childhood sensitivity, a problem elsewhere, became an asset in acting.

“this is a problem but it's not a problem in this industry so that will help”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 10:58

Cardellini describes herself as a low-profile person who rarely goes out.

“I am a low profile kind of person in general. Like that's probably why I don't like, I don't go out tons”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 48:07

Cardellini says she went unrecognized after Scooby-Doo but is now recognized more because the children who saw it have grown up.

“now those kids have grown up and they've seen me so much that I get recognized more for that now than I did back then”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 49:19

Cardellini attributes the rhythm of Steve Conrad's writing to his being a musician.

“I think because he's a musician, it almost feels like music in a way”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 36:06

Cardellini notes that the seemingly natural, digressive dialogue in DTF St. Louis was entirely scripted.

“and going to an idea and then jumping to another idea. But that's all written. None of that is improvised”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 34:44

Cardellini says medical dialogue was hard to memorize because figures like blood pressure readings had no emotional anchor for her.

“There are numbers that seem arbitrary to me. Somebody's blood pressure, memorizing whatever that is”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 33:28

Cardellini says she joined ER on roughly a one-year contract but loved it and stayed for years.

“I think my contract was like a year. And then I just loved it there. I stayed and stayed and stayed”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 30:35

Cardellini says her priority in her Emmy speech was thanking her aging parents.

“that was my biggest dream was to be able to say thank you to my parents”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 24:53

Cardellini explains she struggles with speeches and keeps unsent thank-you cards because she feels her words are never sufficient.

“I have a lot of thank you cards in my drawer and I don't actually send them because I feel like it's never enough of what I want to say”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 24:37

Cardellini recounts that Bob Barker, seeing she was confused by the game, quietly told her to just nod and agree.

“when the lights went down, he turned to me and goes, just nod your head and say yes, kid”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 22:17

Cardellini says she measures every great moment in her life against having her name called on The Price Is Right.

“like I actually compare anything great that happens to me to the moment my name was called on the price rate”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 19:13

Cardellini recounts Kyle Chandler jumping into the ocean to retrieve her young daughter's wand during the Bloodline shoot.

“And Kyle jumped into the ocean, swam and retrieved it for her”

SmartLess: "Linda Cardellini" (Nov 2, 2026) · Listen from 40:14