Is there anything you'd like to see for Rachel going forward?

I think that field is wide open. I'd like to explore her facing whatever makes her hesitant about going down to Harlan by herself. The other day, I was with Natalie Zea and we were talking about the women of FX. I'm wondering what would happen to Rachel if they wrote her as if she were a man.

I always go back to the pilot where there were hints of this person who was completely badass and fearless and just one of the guys. With that as a model, there's so much you could do in the world we're playing in.

Speaking of your fellow castmates, you have an amazing lineup, from Tim Olyphant to guest stars like Neal McDonough. What's it like to go to work with them every day?

It's an embarrassment of riches. We've had some phenomenal people come through from the worlds of theater, TV and film. It keeps things interesting. I think they are having a good time, which makes us feel like our party is cool. It's been great to have people like Margo Martindale come through.

I haven't had a chance to work with Neal yet. I'm enjoying watching his work. And Mykelti Williamson is just a class act and a consummate actor.

I had met Desmond [Harrington] before; I knew him briefly from his work on Dexter. I was so blown away by his work in the first episode.

You've done a lot of spectacular TV shows, including the likes of Third Watch and Without A Trace. What else on your resume would you recommend to Justified fans?

Most of those projects have been on stage. I'm a theater kid. I have a Masters in Acting from NYU. I was in New York for, I think, four years after I graduated and just did a lot of theater.

There's a play I did in Burbank and at this point it has been the role of my lifetime. I wish we could revisit it. The play was called I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given To Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda [for which Tazel earned the NAACP Theatre Award for Best Lead Female and a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Nomination for Lead Performance], and I have to highlight that play. I feel like that was the show in which I became an actor.

I had a great time on Without A Trace. I met [series star] Marianne Jean-Baptiste when I was doing a play in London after 9/11, and I'd always hoped that I could be on the show and work with her.

You're also invested in volunteer work. What are you involved with?

I volunteer with an organization called Get On The Bus. We reunite children with their incarcerated father or mother for Father's Day or Mother's Day. I just spoke to a woman whose daughter will be meeting her dad for the first time. It's the gift that Justified has also given me, that I have the luxury and the time to work on something else.

What shows are you watching?

I am a big fan of Breaking Bad. I loved American Horror Story. I didn't think I would like Walking Dead, but I'm a big old fan of that. And I just watched the pilot of Smash last night.

My thanks to Erica Tazel for this interview! Catch her in tonight's all-new Justified, airing at 10 PM ET/PT on FX, and then tune back in here for a full review of the episode.

(c)2012 Brittany Frederick/Digital Airwaves. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted.