Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of Quantum Leap.

The Big Picture

Filming an episode of Quantum Leap in Egypt was a surreal experience for Eliza Taylor, who initially expected it to be shot on a green screen. Taylor thoroughly enjoyed shooting scenes in the ancient marketplace and being in the middle of Cairo. The former star of The 100 appreciates the chemistry she had with her co-star Raymond Lee from the start and is excited about her character’s future development.

The NBC series Quantum Leap tackles time travel, various decades, different locations, all-new guest casts, and it does so on a weekly basis. With a three-year time jump in Season 2, further complications have arisen for Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) and his ultimate goal of returning to a life without leaping. Originally, he just wanted to get back to the love of his life, fiancé Addison (Caitlin Bassett), but losing track of him through time led to her eventually moving on with someone new, and now Ben has found his own connection with Hannah Carson (Eliza Taylor), a woman he keeps crossing paths with in some of his leaps and for whom he’s developed feelings.

Through it all, the fact that Ben keeps leaping means that he can’t really stop to process everything that’s happened or how to handle a budding new romance when he has no idea when throughout time, if ever, he might cross paths with Hannah again. And for Hannah, who has had to quickly adapt to everything Ben throws at her, it’s totally unexplored territory to have a relationship with someone who she’s never even seen the real face of, as he leaps into different people.

During this interview with Collider, Taylor talked about how she didn’t believe they’d really be shooting an episode in Egypt, the fun of getting in on the spy craft, how much of Hannah’s arc she was told about, what she was most nervous about when it came to joining the show in its second season, the fun of playing such an impressive character, the ease of finding chemistry with co-star Lee, why Hannah is so accepting of time travel, and what it’s like to navigate the Hannah-Ben-Addison dynamic.

She also talked about how her time on The 100 changed her life, what she learned from the experience, and the incredible support of sci-fi fans.

Quantum Leap (2022) Set 30 years after Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished, follows a new team that must restart the project hoping to understand the mysteries behind the machine and its creator. Release Date September 19, 2022 Cast Raymond Lee , Caitlin Bassett , Mason Alexander Park , Nanrisa Lee Main Genre Sci-Fi Rating TV-PG Seasons 2

Eliza Taylor Thought ‘Quantum Leap’s Egypt Episode Would Be Shot on a Soundstage
Image via NBC

Collider: What was your reaction to learning that not only would you have an episode set in Egypt this season, but you would actually be filming the episode there? How insane was that?

ELIZA TAYLOR: I thought it was a joke. I thought that we would at least film it on a green screen or something. I was so delighted to hear we were actually gonna be shooting there. It was insane.

Was there a scene that you were most looking forward to shooting there, once you read the script?

TAYLOR: All the stuff in the ancient marketplace, I was really excited about, because it’s all spy craft and espionage, and I loved all that. Also, just filming right in the middle of Cairo was so cool.

Did you get to spend any time sightseeing? What most stands out to you about the experience of just being there?

TAYLOR: My favorite day, I wasn’t actually shooting, but Ray [Lee] and Caitlin [Bassett] were shooting at the Sphinx, so I asked if I could just go and be there to see it, and it was incredible. It was just everything that I had imagined and more. I was pinching myself. I was like, “Am I really here?”

Eliza Taylor and Raymond Lee Had Chemistry From the Moment They Met
Image via NBC

Obviously, with a character like this, chemistry is incredibly important. When you went into the chemistry read, not knowing how it would turn out once you got into it, did you just feel it right away? Was there an immediate groove that you guys found together?

TAYLOR: Preparing for a chemistry read, you really don’t know how it’s gonna go until you get into that first scene. I was just so lucky from the get-go. As soon as Ray and I started talking, there was chemistry there and I knew it was gonna work. Especially for Ben and Hannah, that really needed to be there, and I think we nailed it.

You’ve said that you were given a lot of information upfront about the arc of your character. Were you told everything? Did you start the season knowing where you’d end the season, or were you only given bits at a time?

TAYLOR: I was really lucky, Dean [Georgaris] and Martin [Gero], our showrunners, called me when I got the role and talked me through Hannah’s arc. The first thing we talked about was those first three episodes that she’s in – Episodes 3, 6 and 8. Those are so important for establishing their relationship. And then, they gave me a vague overall season arc, which can always change as time goes on. I’m actually not sure now. As I’m reading the new scripts, I’m like, “Oh, I didn’t know this was gonna happen.” It’s really interesting. You can’t really get attached to how things are gonna go because it can always change. They can always surprise you. I was studying my script before this, and I’ve got all my notes from when Dean and Martin gave me that call. It really helps me to go back through that, every time I start a new episode.

When you do get some information like that, as opposed to having none of it, how does that change your approach? Do you like to keep in mind all those things that they’ve told you? Do you try to forget about the stuff that she wouldn’t know? How do you approach using that for the character?

TAYLOR: Personally, I really like to know what direction things are moving in. I also like to know where we’ve come from. I like a little bit of backstory on the character’s past, as well. For me, as an actor, I really enjoy having all that information before I go in. But of course, once I’m on set and in a certain period or stage of the character’s life, I forget everything that I know and I just stay in the present.

Eliza Taylor Was Nervous to Join Season 2 of ‘Quantum Leap’
Image via NBC

What were you most nervous about, on your first day of filming?

TAYLOR: I was nervous coming into an already established show. A lot of the projects I’ve done, I’ve been there from the very beginning. It was a new experience for me coming in as a season regular to a show that’s already had a season. But I was so pleasantly surprised that I was welcomed with open arms. Everyone on the Quantum Leap set is so psyched to be there. It’s a really warm environment and I just clicked with everyone right away. It was the best experience I could have hoped for, as a newcomer.

Across just three episodes, Hannah has already gone from a waitress to a physics student to helping Ben survive as a spy. How cool is it to already have such a journey in just three episodes? And is there anything she can’t do?

TAYLOR: I feel like the sky’s the limit for Hannah. She’s one smart cookie. Her evolution throughout these episodes, not just the ones that are airing, but the ones we’re filming now, is quite remarkable. I don’t think I’ve ever played a character who’s so impressive. Although Clarke was pretty impressive, but she grew into it. With this, we’re just jumping in on her, with years in between. Everything that she’s been up to in that time that Ben’s been leaping elsewhere, it’s incredible.

Your character is living her life between the times we get to see her. Do you think at all about what she’s doing in the time we don’t see her interacting with Ben?

TAYLOR: One thing that’s incredible about Hannah is that she understands what she signed up for when it comes to Ben and she’s not waiting for him, per se. She’s getting on with her life and she’s keeping busy. She’s throwing herself more and more into her work, and I love that. She knows that she has this great love, but she’s not letting it slow her down. In fact, I think he inspires her to keep going.

Hannah and Ben’s Romance Is the Definition of Love Being Blind
Image via NBC

Every time you work with Raymond Lee, you see him portraying different characters within his character because he’s leaping into different time periods. What’s it been like to work with him, in that way?

TAYLOR: It’s funny, isn’t it? I have to think about the fact that Hannah still doesn’t know what he really looks like. It’s a very love-is-blind situation. I think it’s beautiful that she doesn’t know what the real Ben looks like, but she’s still madly in love with him. It’s quite poetic. But I do think about when Ben leaps and she’s left with this guy who has no idea who she is. It’s very unique, but that’s what I love about it.

Hannah is such an interesting character because it seems like whenever we catch up with her, she’s just surrounded by misogyny, but she doesn’t seem to let it bother her. She just keeps focused on doing what she wants to do. What do you think that says about her and who she is, that she can just really not let that get to her?

TAYLOR: It would get to me. I think Hannah just looks at the world differently. Similar to Ben, she doesn’t believe that time is linear. She knows that she’s in a time when it’s very difficult for women to get ahead, but it doesn’t bog her down. It just inspires her to do it anyway. She knows that she’s paving the way, in a sense, for women in the future in her field.

I love that she’s just so accepting of what Ben has told her about who he is and what he does.

TAYLOR: Yeah, me too.

She even communicates with this hologram that she can’t see. Why do you think she is so accepting, in that sense? Does her scientific mind help with that, since she can rationalize what seems crazy?

TAYLOR: Being so heavily involved in quantum physics to begin with, I think this is something that she’s thought possible. She’s thought time travel was possible for a long time before she met Ben. In my mind, that’s the way that I see it. I think she has always believed in the impossible. She even says that, in episode three. And so, once he explains, she goes, “Okay, that tracks. Moving on. Let’s help whoever you’re here to help.”

As a ‘Quantum Leap’ Fan, Even Eliza Taylor Was Shipping Ben and Addison
Image via NBC

What was it like to shoot that moment when Ben and Hannah are telling each other how they feel about each other? When you know that fans of the show have watched this ongoing relationship between Ben and Addison, and you don’t want people to hate your character, what’s it like to find those moments?

TAYLOR: Of course, coming into the show, I was nervous. And then, especially becoming a fan of the show and watching Ben and Addison’s evolution and what they’ve been through, I’m shipping them. But when you get on set and you know your character, you just have to forget all of that and forget what fans might think and just play your character the best to the best of your ability. That’s what I’ve done with Hannah. There might be some people who don’t like that she’s put a wedge in between Ben and Addison, but that’s a really clever tool that the writers have used to create some drama and tension. That’s what good writing is. It’s complicating things and seeing how the characters deal with it.

Anybody that doesn’t like Hannah, just remind them that Tom was there first.

TAYLOR: Oh, yeah, that’s so true! It’s not my fault.

Do you see Hannah as someone who would find a way to be with Ben, even if it meant leaping through time herself or going to his time period? Has she stopped to think about what she might do, if there was some way to keep them together?

TAYLOR: She’s very selfless, so I don’t know if she’d be thinking about their relationship. But she sees the predicament that Ben is in, so a part of her would want to help him with his leaps to be there to assist him. In the show that I’m writing in my mind, I think that this has given her a direction to focus on and a path to focus her scientific mind on.

You’ve gotten to do some physical stunt work on the show. How does it compare to what you did on The 100? Did The 100 set you up well for doing any of that kind of stuff, or is it just very different?

TAYLOR: Yeah, The 100 set me up, in a way, for understanding the choreography of stunts and just knowing the deal, with how long it takes, how many different angles they’re gonna need to get, and when to use a stunt double and stand back or jump in. I’m not a spring chicken anymore. I was 23 when I started The 100. I’m 34 now and I’m not rubber. I certainly don’t bounce the way I used to. That’s been interesting. It’s like, “Oh, ouch!”

Eliza Taylor Says Her Experience on ‘The 100’ Changed Her Life
Image via The CW

What are the biggest lessons you feel like you learned and the best memories you have from your time on The 100? You did so many episodes of that series and that really is a rare thing to do anymore. Did your experience on that show inform the way you wanted to approach projects after that?

TAYLOR: The 100 changed my life. It was my first American show. It was a huge cult hit, which I wasn’t expecting. I also wasn’t expecting to do so many years of it. But it was one of the best experiences of my entire life. It certainly was exhausting, but it made me realize that TV is what I wanna do. I love it. Even when we were doing 17-hour days, I was just like, “Put me in coach. I can go again.” There’s something really special about the sci-fi world and the fandom. Being able to keep turning up on sci-fi shows, I’m loving it. I never thought I’d say that, but I just love fans of sci-fi. I think they’re really their own beast.

Quantum Leap airs on NBC and is available to stream on Peacock. Check out the Season 2 trailer:

Watch at Peacock