Tea Leoni from "Madam Secretary" season 2 (Photo : Facebook/Madam Secretary)
“Madam Secretary” season 2 returns this Sunday, March 20 with episode 17, titled “Higher Learning.” The CBS series had to take a quick hiatus to make way for the Academy Awards.
According to the official synopsis for the next episode of "Madam Secretary" season 2, Elizabeth (Tea Leoni) will be ambushed by a couple of protestors about a Chilean mining operation after she accompanies Alison (Katherine Herzer) on a college campus tour.
The outlet pointed out that facing protestors is something that Elizabeth is used to as it is nothing but an occupational hazard. It was said that it was inevitable that she will face people with strong opinions as long as she remains a pivotal part of the government.
Elsewhere, Henry (Tim Daly), Jane (Jill Hennessy) and Jose Campos (Carlos Gomez) will try to track down Jibral Disah's third wife, Hijriyyah.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Stuff, Tea Leoni revealed that her portrayal of Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord was actually inspired by her dad, Anthony Pantaleoni. The actress shared that she used to say that Elizabeth was inspired by Henry Kissinger, as she was getting tired of answering the same question over and over again. For the longest time, people believed that her portrayal was inspired by real life counterparts Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright.
Leoni shared that her father, who also happens to be a prominent New York corporate attorney, was the one who inspired her to go into acting. She was supposed to be an anthropologist because she was "really good at it," even if she was not passionate about the profession.
"He said, 'Don't do something because you're good at it. Do it because you're passionate about it, and you'll GET good at it,'" Leoni recounted.
Leoni also compared her dad to her husband on the show, Henry, played by Tim Daly. The actress described Henry as the real breakout character from "Madam Secretary."
"A theology professor, with a twist. I love that she can come home with her ethical dilemmas and he can be like my dad, the guy who can see both sides and is willing to talk about it."
"Madam Secretary" airs Sundays on CBS.
