ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with The Marvels star Zawe Ashton about playing the villain in the latest Marvel Studios movie. The actress discussed her process for learning about Dar-Benn and how both her and her fiancé are in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Marvels is now available to purchase digitally and on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD.
“Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence,” reads the film‘s synopsis. “But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan, Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team-up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as The Marvels.”
Tyler Treese: Dar-Benn is an interesting character because, even though she’s a villain, we see that she’s been wronged and she does have positive attributes. She’s a natural leader, she’s trying to rebuild her people, and we see both sides. As an actress, what did you find most intriguing about that character? You’re not just playing like a generic evil villain.
Zawe Ashton: Thank you, Tyler! I really appreciate that, and I love your background as well — Teyonah [Parris] is just flying up out of your head. I think what I found intriguing was everything that you’ve just said, quite honestly. I was playing a character that had a lot of scope in terms of what we didn’t know about them. It was kind of up to myself and Nia [DaCosta] and the writers to fill in the blanks, I guess. One of the first things that really struck me was her humanity. How traumatized she was by this event that Captain Marvel is at the center of when she was younger and much more hopeful. I think, like lots of villains, there’s always that sadness there. Lots of people say anger is suppressed sadness.
And I think there was just so much in her that was still so sad about what had happened to her people, and that it was translating into this vengeance … I just found that so intriguing. I find the Kree, as a people, so intriguing. Their story feels so relevant. They were heartbroken people, they were colonized people, they were people that didn’t have anyone to really protect them. The fact that she’s this civilian who tries to do that, I just think, is so remarkable and, like I said, so human. So there was a lot to be intrigued by there. A lot of human qualities outside of all the incredible space stuff that was really just really intriguing and so fun to do.
I was curious, how was it finding the tone for your performance? You’re not over-the-top, but there’s this great fierceness to the character that I liked in your interactions. How was it finding the right portrayal of Dar-Benn?
I probably was very over-the-top. [Laughs]. It was very over-the-top in some bits. A lot of it actually came through my physical life. We are so lucky and blessed on these films. If you are someone who has to have a physical storyline, we have these incredible stunt teams who just surround us months before you’ve shot anything. Going into the stunt gym with them and working out how to wield my hammer, understanding why I use it, how I use it, understanding how she stands, how she throws a punch, how she takes a hit, was [all] sort of really incredible ways into her psyche, I guess. Getting the marble shoulders down, which is like these super shoulders, again, was a big part of feeling like a villain, essentially. [Laughs]. And like a badass.
So I would say the physical life really was a huge key in for me. And then the makeup and hair — the most amazing makeup and hair teams who just absolutely transformed me. We had lots of conversations about how Dar-Benn should look, because, obviously, it was this gender swap from the comics and there was all these blanks to fill in terms of costume, hair, and makeup. As it started to build, I started to understand more and more and more about who she was [and] how I was going to play her.
You mentioned the comics. How much comic reading did you do as prep? That is such a rabbit hole with just decade after decade of history. How was that?
It was really necessary to get a sense of it, if not only to get a real handle on just how beloved they are. You could go into these movies and be like, “Ah, these are the movies, not the comics.” I happen to have a lot of comic book self-professed nerd friends and the commitment and the effort and the time that they put into the worlds that those comics create … I just sort of learned first and foremost to truly respect that source material and truly respect the fandom that is surrounding that source material. That was the first step.
And then I did have to familiarize myself with Dar-Benn just from the comics, because that’s the only place that that character appears. There’s no real-life reference for Dar-Benn at all outside of them. So I read those. I have, now, a really great Silver Surfer comic where Dar-Benn appears. I wouldn’t say I familiarize myself with everything — that wouldn’t be honest — but enough to just truly understand the landscape that I was in. Of course, Captain Marvel is such a huge figure in that. More recently, Ms. Marvel. It was about getting a really great scope, but more than anything, just respecting them as source material was a beginning point for me, definitely.
This is a very unique role for you as well because you and your fiancé Tom Hiddleston are both in the MCU. How special was it to share that professional connection? I don’t think we’ve had a ton of MCU couples like that.
I guess not, right? It’s very special and very bizarre. I think bizarre in the best way possible. Like, you don’t plan for this kind of thing, you know? But I think any couple who have an understanding of each other’s work … I don’t know, just have a real privileged vantage point into what the other person has experienced and what they’ve gone through. It creates empathy understanding, and connection.
I think we are just very lucky to have this connection where I now know what it is that he does behind closed doors on those sets. I think any couple benefits from serendipitous things like that. But yeah, it is pretty unique to both be villains in a major franchise, I guess. [Laughs].
I read that you shared some advice that he gave you. Do you two usually go to each other for advice? You’re both great at what you do, but I could see it being kind of weird, stepping on each other’s toes. I’m curious about that dynamic.
It’s a good question. I think we do really well at keeping work and life separate and I think anyone in the acting profession does well to do that. Leaving the work on the stage or on the set, I think, is very healthy. To have a very three-dimensional and flourishing personal life, whether you’re a couple or whether it’s friends or whatever. I did ask him what he thought about me doing it when we started, and I have shared the advice that he gave me. I just said, “What do you think? What’s your experience been?” And to repeat myself, he was like, “What you put in is what you get out in these films. If you put in a hundred percent and you are able to truly just take it for the incredible opportunity that it is, um, you’ll have an amazing time and that, and that energy will come back to you.”
Because those are long days on those sets. It is not a joke being part of an ensemble who’s making a film like this. I think that was a huge lesson that I came back with every day. I was like, “Wow, this is a very, very specific type of work. This is a physical work, this is a mental endurance that you have to exercise as well as saying the lines in the right order on these movies,” you know? It’s been a wonderful window into a world that I, honestly, have the hugest amount of respect for and love for now in a way that I just couldn’t have from just watching the movies or the shows or reading the comic.
You share so many great scenes with Brie Larson throughout. What stood out about her as a scene partner? She’s so talented, but you two really worked off each other well.
Thank you so much. Look, Brie is hugely experienced and I think that’s a wonderful thing if you’ve just started doing these films, to be opposite someone who absolutely knows that world, physically knows the world, sort of energetically knows how to be in that world. It’s a lot. We’re all these adults in a sandbox, we’re playing and you can get quite self-conscious or in your own head. Brie bought this great experience to be across from. She knows exactly how to bring that world to life — the costume, the set, the intentionality behind the line. I just learned a lot from observing her and she’s great fun and she loves to laugh, which makes things very light.
When you’re playing mortal enemies, you kind of need that release as well. You couldn’t kind of go around scowling at each other all day. That would be really … I think that would be mentally quite draining. I’m so glad you think we have great chemistry, because it was great to be able to play this unbelievably powerful woman’s archnemesis and have there be a lovely mutual respect there.
