Laura Benanti Had Unique Way of Dealing with Fake Blood on ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ (Exclusive)

Laura Benanti may play a cop on-screen, but she isn’t exactly cut out for real-life emergencies.

While speaking exclusively with PEOPLE at the show’s season 4 premiere, Mayor of Kingstown co-creator Hugh Dillon revealed that Benanti, 46 — who isn’t a fan of seeing or even smelling anything resembling blood — had a unique way of handling it on set.

“Laura doesn’t like blood, and so… sometimes we’ve got to get alcohol swabs and put them under her nose,” Dillon, 62, recalled. 

The producer noted that even though the blood was fake on the crime thriller series, the actress “still [had] a reaction to it.” 

Benanti joined the cast in season 4 as correctional officer Cindy Stephens. The actress told PEOPLE that to prepare for her new role, she had to “put all vanity aside.” 

“I wasn’t allowed to wear any makeup,” she explained. “My hair is like always slicked back. There’s no lighting, it’s just overhead fluorescent lighting, sometimes underneath fluorescent lighting.”

“In a way that was freeing because I think as an actor we’re probably always a little self-conscious about what we look like,” she continued. “And this was like, ‘I know I look like a hag and I’m just gonna keep going.’ ”

In addition to the hair and makeup, the Broadway star also had to do some stuntwork. She shared that she had to perform “some action sequences that were scary” and also had training on how to do some gun work.

“I’ve never shot a gun in my life,” Benanti said. “I shot a gun in Nashville, but it was like a handgun, and [my character] wasn’t supposed to be good at it. She wasn’t supposed to have done it before, so I didn’t get any training, whereas in this I did.”

She went on to note that the stunts were “all very safe,” adding, “I’m not exactly sure what they use, but they did an incredible job of always showing us that the gun was empty.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

The Nurse Jackie alum said she felt welcomed on the set of the show, which also stars Jeremy Renner, despite being a newcomer.

“Everybody was really welcoming off the bat. I was relieved that everybody was so funny and warm and created an environment that is the opposite of the show, which I think is so necessary, otherwise it would just be untenable,” she said.

Mayor of Kingstown is streaming now on Paramount+.