-I read this about you, and is it true that you --
Were you on "All My Children"? -Oh, yes.
Is that how you remember me? -Yes, of course, yes.
I used to watch "All My Children"
with my mom growing up. -Did you really? Yeah.
-Yeah. -Yeah, a lot of people
watched their "stories."
It was my first job when I moved to New York.
I moved here when I was 17, and it's like --
It's like boot camp for acting.
And I felt like I kind of like got a handle on it
except for there was one thing that I was just the worst at.
-What?
-That long stare at the end of every scene.
-Oh, of course. -Where it's like the cameras
and -- I was so green, I had never been on camera
before, so I, you know, I would finish the scene,
"Okay, that was great." And then I'd walk.
And they're like, "No, no, no, come back.
Come back. You have to stay there."
And I'm like, "For what?"
They're like, "For the final moment."
I'm like, "To do what?" "React!"
-Yeah, you just have to stare into the camera
for five minutes, yeah. -For like five minutes. Yes.
-That's how you do it. Could you give us a taste of it now?
I mean, do you still -- if I gave you a line...
[ Cheers and applause ] ...from a soap opera?
I'll give you like a random, generic soap opera line.
-A generic -- a fully generic soap opera line?
-Yes, which is a good camera to look into?
That one? -This one?
-Camera three? -Okay.
-Are you ready? -Okay.
Yes, Jimmy.
-[ Deep voice ] I have shocking news.
[ Laughter ]
I...
am not the father of that baby.
[ Soft music plays ]
[ Laughter ]
-[ Gasps ]
-[ Laughs ] Oh, my God! Wow!
I mean, that is phenomenal!
Oh!
-[ Laughs ]
-That is how you do it.
-It's so -- it's so funny
because this actress on the show pulled me aside,
and she was like, "All you have to do is just
smell something weird at the end of every scene,
and you're golden."
And I was like, "Thank you?"
Like were they trying to help me, or was she out to get me?
We still don't know. -Yeah, exactly,
but did you take that advice? -Oh, I totally did,
and I still use it to this day on my new show, "Timeless."
-Exactly. Congrats on "Timeless," by the way.
-Thank you. -It's a fantastic show.
Sundays 10:00 p.m. on NBC.
You're basically going back in time to stop this guy
from changing history.
-Yeah, we've got this evil, ne'er-do-well,
kind of organization called Rittenhouse,
and they drop a sleeper agent in every time,
and we've got to go back and figure out
what they're doing and try and stop them
from whatever they're doing,
But we're basically making
a new movie every single week.
-But look, you get to wear fun outfits like this.
I mean, look at that, come on. -Yes, look at that.
-That's, come on. -Derriere.
-No, I mean the whole outfit. I mean how fun is that, though?
-I mean the whole outfit. -Yeah.
-It's really fun. -What did you have to do
in this scene, though? -Well, it's interesting
because underneath that very Tim Burton,
Helena Bonham Carter get up, it's like 17 layers of clothing.
And then they were like, "Okay. And on our last night
at 4:00 a.m., when we wrap, we want you to run through
the alley in this costume."
And I am the clumsiest person.
Like falling is like --
It "fall-lows" [follows] me everywhere I go.
-Really? -Oh -- So I'm super --
And I was like, "I can't run in this thing!
I can barely walk in this thing! How do you expect me to run?!"
And they were like, "And action!"
And then I just run like -- like Gal Gadot, just like --
like leapt out of my body. Just like perfect!
-Yes, "Wonder Woman"! Yeah, you were going for it.
-"Wonder Woman," and they were like, "Cut."
And they were like, "That was perfect.
That was amazing. Do it again!"
And I'm like, "Oh! You little -- Okay, fine."
-"Okay, yes, of course!" -"Action!"
-Just running -- just like so like perfect both times.
I made such a scene about like, "I can't run in this!"
And I run perfectly. And then they were like,
"Okay, you're wrapped!" And so they put me in the van,
and I drive back to base camp where all of our trailers are,
and I'm getting, you know, I'm like,
"Can you believe it? It was just perfect."
And then I -- I'm getting out of the van,
and I guess my -- the bottom of that very, you know,
illustrious skirt got caught on something in the van,
and I like lost my equilibrium and I literally like
back-flopped onto the cement.
It was like "Alice in Wonderland,"
just stripes and Cheshire cat eyes,
just like -- just Like -- -Cheshire cat eyes!
[ Laughter ]
-Just like falling back,
and there was nothing I could grab onto.
But luckily I had the 17 layers underneath me,
and it like caught my fall, and everybody is running.
They think maybe I had a concussion.
And I'm just on the floor, no one can get me up,
'cause I'm laughing so hard, I start crying.
'Cause I can't believe I did the running perfect
and then I can't get out of the van.
-It's like you're wearing a mattress.
I mean, it's really like wearing --
You just fall right back onto it.
-Yeah, yeah, safety!
-Well we talked to the producers at "Timeless,"
and we said, "Are there any other clumsy moments
that you have of Abigail?"
And they sent us a videotape
of some of your finer moments that have never been seen on TV.
-No, I have not -- I have not seen this.
-Here's the video of some of the times that you've fallen
on the set of "Timeless." -72 times.
-This is real.
Oh, my goodness!
[ Laughter ]
[ Beep ]
Oh.
[ Laughter ]
[ Beep ]
-Oh.
[ Laughter ]
-Oh, my God.
-[ Sighs ] Oh! -Whoa!
[ Laughter ]
-[ Sighs ]
-All right! -All right!
-Oh, my God, that is a real thing.
-They love you. How great is that?
[ Cheers and applause ]
Come on. -They can't insure me.
They can't insure me. -You're so fun.
Is there anything set up for this season of "Timeless"?
-Oh, yeah, this is a great season because, you know,
we got canceled actually and then brought back
three days later. -Because you went back in time.
-Back in time. -And changed the ratings, yeah.
-Yeah, yeah. -I understand what you did.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know what I did.
-It is a great show. -It is a great show,
and this season, we're going back in time
to meet people of color and women and LGBT stories.
And I think it's really a really important season.
-Oh, we love you. Abigail Spencer.
Let's take a look at this Sunday's episode of "Timeless"!
Take a look at this.
♪♪♪♪
-Oh, I figured Salem would be creepy,
I just thought there would be more...people.
-These are dangerous, paranoid times.
The noisier the accusations got, the more people stayed inside.
Nobody wanted to be spotted near the woods
where the made-up rituals were said to take place.
-The woods? Where we are?
Great.
-You do realize that witches aren't real, right?
-Abigail Spencer, everybody. [ Cheers and applause ]
"Timeless" airs Sundays at 10:00 p.m. on NBC.