From ‘Timeless’ to ‘Rebel’: Where to watch Abigail Spencer next
In her ABC drama series Rebel, showrunner Krista Vernoff has brought on Abigail Spencer, an actress who was in Timeless and Grey’s Anatomy. So where can you watch Spencer in the new show? Here are all the deets.
What is Rebel?
ABC’s Rebel is set to join the network’s Thursday lineup alongside Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19. The show is based on the life of American activist Erin Brockovich, who will be played by Married . . . With Children and Sons of Anarchy’s Katey Sagal.
This is the sixth show Abigail Spencer & Vernoff have collaborated on. The list includes Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, pilots Grace and Introducing Lennie Rose, as well as the 2015 short Stars.
In Rebel, Spencer will play Misha, a cardiothoracic surgeon who’s worried she may have accidentally hurt dozens of patients due to her lack of knowledge on the Stonemore heart valve.
The show’s subject material
The official synopsis for the show reads: “Inspired by the life of Erin Brockovich today, Annie ‘Rebel’ Bello is a blue-collar legal advocate without a law degree. She’s a funny, messy, brilliant and fearless woman who cares desperately about the causes she fights for and the people she loves. When Rebel applies herself to a fight she believes in, she will win at almost any cost.”
Vernoff added that Brockovich is an excitingly outspoken subject, joking on an ABC panel: “If Erin edited herself more effectively, we would have a way less exciting, dramatic, TV show.”
On Rebel, the Timeless alum will be joining a star-studded cast, which includes Mary McDonnell, Sharon Lawrence, Dan Bucatinsky, Adam Arkin, Mo McRae, Daniella Garcia, Andy Garcia, John Corbett, James Lesure, Tamala Jones, and Sam Palladio.
How Abigail Spencer got her start
Abigail Spencer was born in Gulf Breeze, Santa Rosa County, Florida, to Lydia Ann Brown and surfer Yancy Spencer III. Spencer has claimed she’s part Cherokee.
Spencer’s Hollywood breakout occurred when she played Rebecca “Becca” Tyree on the beloved ABC soap opera All My Children. She was on the show from 1999 to 2001. After leaving the show, she bounced around from guest role to guest role on acclaimed TV shows, such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, How I Met Your Mother, Private Practice, and Castle.
She also scored the role of a blogging enthusiast in Twix ads, as well as playing a love interest of Don Draper on AMC’s Mad Men in 2011. In 2011, Spencer snagged a lead role in Krista Vernoff’s drama Grace. This was her second time working with Vernoff, as she had previously appeared in Introducing Lennie Rose in 2005. After Grace, Spencer landed a role as Dr. Erin Jameson on Hawthorne, and Dana “Scottie” Scott on Suits.
Spencer’s film career
Around 2010, Timeless star Abigail Spencer started a prolific film career. She appeared in In My Sleep (2010), Cowboys & Aliens (2011), This Means War (2012), Chasing Mavericks (2012), The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (2013), and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013).
Spencer also starred in the indie drama A Beautiful Now, and her performance earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the Madrid International Film Festival. In 2014, she starred in the drama-comedy This is Where I Leave You, beside Jason Bateman.
Many people have praised Spencer’s acting. Variety once called the actress “prodigiously talented”, and asserted her character in Timeless was one “whose major personality traits are ‘smart’ and ‘plucky.’”
The New York Times corroborated these statements, arguing that “Abigail Spencer is good as Lucy, the spunky historian who is the show’s central character”. Deadline Hollywood wasn’t sold on Timeless, however, arguing it was a waste of Spencer’s talents.
