‘Salvation’ Star Jennifer Finnigan Reveals What Drew Her To The New CBS Series

Jennifer Finnigan revealed that the strong and fearless persona of her “Salvation” character, Grace Barrows, was what drew her to the new CBS series.

“I’ve always been attracted to strong roles portraying intelligent women, powerful women,” Finnigan told CBS New York. “[Grace is] brave and she’s a badass. When she is faced with big decisions and important decisions she rises to the occasion. I am attracted to people who have a fearlessness and a bravery about them, and I think she does.”

Although Grace has an edge to her, Finnigan said that her character is actually the “moral compass” of the show. “I loved her warmth as well and her humanity,” the Canadian actress said of Grace, who is the Pentagon Press Secretary on the show. “I’ve always just thought of her as the grounding force of the show. In a sense, we’ve all dubbed her the ‘moral compass’ of the show. I like that she is very much liked at her job as well by the press, she respects them, she is relatable.”

READ: Jennifer Finnigan teases Season 1, episode 2 of “Salvation”

While Finnigan told TVLine that “Salvation” is her favorite show she’s ever done, she admitted that she didn’t find the project interesting right away. “On paper it wasn’t all that appealing,” Finnigan confessed. “But [when] I read the script … I was so surprised by how much I liked it. I thought it was clever, it was smartly written, I liked the character… [Grace is] a woman who’s pretty formidable and is crucial to the fabric of the show.”

Finnigan was also impressed by the show’s creators Liz Kruger, Craig Shapiro and Matt Wheeler. “The showrunners … they were awesome, they had a laser-sharp concept of the tone of the show, the arc, the mythology, the way all the relationships are threaded together… even the aesthetic, the cinematic aspect of it. They came at me hard, and it was nice to feel wanted and appreciated,” shared the “Tyrant” alum.

“Salvation’s” next episode (Season 1, episode 2) airs on Wednesday, July 19 at 9 p.m. EDT on CBS. Read the synopsis for the episode below:

“Darius (Santiago Cabrera) and Liam (Charlie Rowe) need to invent a theoretically impossible piece of technology to divert the asteroid. Grace risks everything to help Darius, while Liam heads home to Boston to track down critical research, but he finds something shocking instead.”