As I’m escorted down the hallway of the Four Seasons to interview Deborah Ann Woll, I am politely cautioned not to ask the co-star of Netflix and Marvel’s new Daredevil series any geeky Marvel questions. This makes me laugh – partially because I wasn’t planning to, and partially because I’m amazed that “geeky Marvel questions” have apparently become commonplace in interviews.
And anyway, Woll – who broke out on True Blood as the confused fledgling vampire Jessica – plays the least geeky character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As Karen Page, secretary and sidekick to Hell’s Kitchen lawyers Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), she’s as close to an ordinary person as a comic-book character can get. It just so happens that one of her bosses has radar sense, awesome kickboxing skills and near-superhuman endurance.
So they said I’m not supposed to quiz you about Marvel stuff.
Were you planning on quizzing me on Marvel stuff? [laughing]
God, no. Well, okay, are you Ultron?
I am! Spoiler! [laughing]
No, seriously. I’m just amazed that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become so mainstream that people would expect you to know every little thing about all these other characters and projects, just because you’re in this one.
Yeah.
And Daredevil is easily the least Marvel-y property of them all, especially in this treatment. It’s much more about morality and choices and, well, municipal politics. And as a result, the characters seem a lot more grounded and human than they do in all the other Marvel series. Karen Page and Foggy Nelson are going off and doing heroic things on their own throughout the series, but on a smaller scale, and with real risk to their lives.
Yeah, they do.
But nobody flies, nobody explodes …
We all obey the laws of physics. [laughing]
Yeah! It’s a realistic treatment, and that’s kind of great. So how was it pitched to you, and how did you approach it?
Well, as I’m sure you know, Marvel’s super-secretive. I was given an audition with sides that were not from the show … I think we suspected that it was a Daredevil TV show for Netflix, but we really didn’t have any confirmation, so I just auditioned for the first time with those fake sides, and then came back in with real sides [to audition] for the producers. And then, they let me read a couple of episodes. It’s like they’re slowly drawing you into their Marvel web, you know? And you are so happy to be led there.
Did you have any opportunity to shape the character?
As a woman in a television show about superheroes, you certainly go, “Well, I don’t just want to be the love interest, or just the girl, or the damsel in distress” – you know, all of those [tropes] that we try to avoid. So I was concerned about those things. I’d also come off of a long series, and the idea of jumping right into potentially another one was a little daunting. So I got on the phone with [Marvel Studios head of television] Jeph Loeb, and we spoke for about two hours. He was so generous with his time. And by the end of that conversation, I really knew I wanted to be a part of this.
Karen Page certainly isn’t a damsel in distress. She’s introduced that way – the show’s first episode has her framed for murder and turning to Nelson and Murdock to save her – but it takes several episodes before we really understand the kind of person she is. She’s really guarded and careful.
One thing I really enjoy about that first episode is that she doesn’t trust them right away. And I think what a lot of lesser series would have done is that she would have instantly recognized that they were the good guys, and told them anything. But I love that she doesn’t! She holds it back! And it’s because she’s been betrayed by this company she was working for, and so many people are trying to kill her – so she doesn’t instantly trust them. She goes back to her apartment to try to find this thing, the only thing that can save her life, and she doesn’t trust the boys to go do it. And I think that’s great, that she’s careful about that.
It feels like that wouldn’t be possible in, say, a Daredevil movie. The series makes room for character development, whereas if you told this story in a two-hour space, you basically just end up with an origin story like Batman Begins.
And you’d have to speed it up so much. I like that our characters really got to breathe that way, she’s not [just] a love interest. If we take it real slow into these relationships, then we buy them as genuine. They’re not plot devices. So, yeah, I’m very pleased at the direction they took.
Character development also allows for acting, which a lot of these projects don’t always have time for.
[laughing] I’m so glad to hear that! Because sometimes I think people will be like, “Why aren’t they punching each other right now?” So I’m glad that people are looking forward to the talking bits.
I guess I’m not as invested in the action stuff. I mean, we know Matt Murdock will beat the bad guys – it’s his show, he’s the hero.
But I do like the way they’ve done the fight scenes – or at least what I saw of them – I worry for him, you know? I know he’s not gonna die, because he’s the lead and we need to have a series, but part of me goes, “But he could break a leg!” I really do feel like there’s danger there.
That’s true the characters do get hurt, and hurt badly. There’s a sense of wear that we don’t often see in action sequences.
I like when they get tired. That’s really brilliant, when you see the effort behind a punch because he’s hurt. I think there’s something about that that’s unique and terrifying, you know? If it’s that hard to punch the guy, maybe you should run. You know?
And the show is all about pushing yourself into battle – Matt keeps getting back up, and taking more punishment, for what he thinks is the greater good.
But that’s what’s brilliant about Matt, is that there’s a part of him that wants to. And I think similarly, to Karen, there’s a part of her that wants to be in the thick of that. She’s not getting into trouble just because she’s a girl and she’s associated with [Daredevil] she gets into trouble because she goes out looking for the people who cause trouble. There’s something in her that goes, “This is a life or death situation,” and the adrenaline is rushing – that’s dopamine.
And yeah, about adrenaline – you’d just finished seven years of True Blood, which I assume was pretty physically demanding.
Yes.
Daredevil has its share of action scenes and standoffs. Was it different, or was it just more of the sort of thing you’re used to?
Well, obviously I did less physical work with Karen than I did with Jessica, but it’s the same requirement of you emotionally every time – whether you’re fighting someone physically or with your words.
And there’s that one particular scene towards the end of the season that’s especially intense.
Even though I’m sitting for 95% of it, I was so tired at the end of that shoot. Almost more tired than you would be if you were ninja-fighting someone.
Well, your body doesn’t know you’re acting – that’s Stella Adler 101, right?
Absolutely. It has no idea.
There’s something else I wanted to ask you about the way Daredevil works, and forgive me if it’s indelicate. Your boyfriend, EJ Scott – with whom you produced a documentary, Running Blind – has a degenerative eye condition, choroideremia, and he’s slowly losing his sight. Superpowers aside, Daredevil’s lead character is blind, but he’s played by a sighted actor, Charlie Cox. Did you offer any advice on the set? Did your personal knowledge of sightlessness inform your performance as Karen at all?
I wanted to be very careful about that – you know, obviously Daredevil has superpowers, and my boyfriend does not. And I didn’t want to take on that responsibility. I’m an actor I’m a hired hand for this job, so I was certainly invested in it being done appropriately, and I think if I had ever seen anything that was in any way offensive, I would have stood up. But I never did. And frankly, Charlie was just the most respectful keeper of that information. He came into every scene with that in the forefront of his mind – saying how this action would accurately be done, and how we could do it in a way that is sympathetic but not pitying. I’m maybe more personally proud of it because of my relationship to my boyfriend and his struggles than maybe another person would be. And we’re very open about it, because we are, you know, trying to fundraise and things like that.
Yes — how’s that going?
It’s going well, actually. We have a big new thing coming up. This is a fantastic opportunity for us, for the world to see a really fantastic blind character. And I know he and I are really proud to be a part of that.
normw@nowtoronto.com | @normwilner
