From Designer Cesar Bittar, a little insight into the creation and development of Erica Reed:
I get the question a lot of who inspired me for Erica Reed. Erica ended up being a little bit more foul-mouthed than my original source of inspiration for her, but to this day, every time I see Olivia Dunham in Fringe, I tend to smile. She’s gorgeous and Anna Torv is a really gifted actress, and she makes Fringe one of my favorite shows in our current TV spectrum.
Jane once told me that Erica didn’t seem much like an FBI Agent. The Erica she was seeing is the Erica that opens up the game in the cemetery. The thought stuck in my mind, and I wanted to have Erica seem more like an FBI Agent. Dana Scully from the X-Files came to mind, but she was too “formal” for our likings. Debra Morgan, from Dexter, also didn’t do it for me and she really wasn’t FBI — although Erica’s bad language certainly comes from Deb!
And then there was Olivia Dunham. I started googling for pictures of her and I came across a few. There was a particular one that really set it for me. If you spot any similarities, it’s a complete coincidence. Really. Walter Bishop is my alibi!
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Gonçalo Gonçalves
Social Media Intern
