'Quantum Leap' Director Chris Grismer Talks Eliza Taylor Joining as Series Regular (Exclusive)

The third episode of Quantum Leap Season 2 aired on NBC this week, marking the introduction of a new cast member to the series. Eliza Taylor has been added as a series regular and played Hannah Carson in this week's episode titled "Close Encounters." PopCulture.com spoke to Chris Grismer, who directed the episode, and he talked about working with Taylor and how she will play into the story. 

"She yells at me a lot. No, she's amazing," Grismer told PopCulture. "She's absolutely amazing. She brings such a great energy to the show and it freshens it right up, as does Peter Gadiot, our other series regular who joined. I think that the new story, the three years in the future versus one day for Ben is a really, really problematic and dramatic and exciting way to tell our story, and I've been really happy to watch it unfold."

The episode takes place in 1949, and Hannah is a waitress who helps Ben (Raymond Lee), who is in the body of a government agent involved in "Project Sign." Ben learns that Hannah studied mathematics and physics and worked on the first electromechanical computer during World War II. Since Taylor is a series regular, she will appear in more episodes. But will she return as Hannah or as another character? It's not clear, but Ben has a strong connection with Hannah. 

"I think Ben sees a lot of himself in Hannah and a lot of his interests, and I don't think he's had a lot of that in his travels through time," Grismer said. "So I think it's refreshing for him and exciting for him to meet someone like that. And I think the same can be said for Hannah as well. She's never had the encouragement she needs or somebody to direct her in the right way, especially the time she's living in. I don't think there were a lot of female physicists back in 1949, so I think it's great that she met Ben, and I really, really love their story."

As for the rest of Season 2 of Quantum Leap, Grismer says fans are going to be surprised by what they see. "I think this season is mind-blowing. Truthfully," Grismer said. "That's what I would say. And as a fan of the show, I get told the story early, but sometimes before the scripts and everything that Martin and Dean, every conversation we've had, I'm always like, really? What? So I think that the fans are going to have the same reaction when they see the episodes."

Quantum Leap airs every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.