Yesterday was International Women’s Day. So I celebrated the only way I know how, by watching a TV show featuring a strong female protagonist – Marvel’s Jessica Jones. Only this time I watched it with a bunch of fellow fans (including the dynamic duo from Phantastic Geek, the official unofficial voice of the Marvel Cinematic Community), at the Paley Center for Media in New York City.
Following the screening of the first episode, which had actually already dropped on Netflix at 3am EST, there was a panel featuring the entire cast plus the show’s Executive Producer & Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg along with Allie Goss, Vice President, Original Series at Netflix and Jeph Loeb, Head of Marvel Television.
If you hadn’t guessed already, the premier date was not a coincidence. But I think you already knew that. Going into the panel, we also already knew that the entire second season was directed by female directors(!!!) and that the show’s supporting cast and characters would have more to do in season two.
What exactly “more to do” means will remain a mystery to me until I can binge watch the rest of the new season, hopefully over the weekend. Even though all thirteen episodes had been released out into the world, all the panelists remained pretty tight lipped about anything plot related (it is Marvel after all). They did share some other tidbits though, here’s what I learned:
- Krysten Ritter described herself as “hardcore,” but did admit that the role was actually really hard both physically and mentally, but that she also loves it. She later jokingly described herself as “adorable” when explaining how her voice differs from Jessica’s.
- Speaking of voice, getting into the physicality of the role was the biggest part of prep work Ritter did for the character prior to filming season one. As for her voice, she speaks in a lower octave when in character. Figuring out how Jessica walks was also crucial, she has a swagger that Ritter had to work out.
- When the panel moderator broached the topic of Jessica’s powers and how she uses them, pointing out that she doesn’t train or have a mentor like the other powered people we’ve meet in the Marvel Netflix world, there was an interesting divide in the way Krysten Ritter and Melissa Rosenberg viewed them. Rosenberg perceived Jessica as being unapologetic about them, she has them and that’s the way it is. Ritter on the the other hand felt like Jessica had contempt for them, or at least for the way she recieved them.
- Rachael Taylor admitted that while she views the Jess and Trish relationship as the heart of the show, Trish is not always the perfect friend to Jessica this season.
- According to Krysten Ritter and a few of the other actors, stunts always seemed to be filmed last or late at night, like 2am late.
- Re: The new character Oscar, played by J.R. Ramirez, the moderator joked that we’ve been trained as an audience to assume he’s a love interest. He said the characters main motivation is to be a good dad to his son, so that’s not a “no.” In the first episode he’s introduced as the new building supervision in Jessica and Malcolm apartment complex.
- We were told even less about Janet McTeer’s character, the other new addition to the series. When questioned about how she got involved in the show McTeer did share that she was asked and admitted to being a fan of the series so she was happy to come onboard. She also called the role an awesome adventure, to which Rosenberg added that she “kicks ass, literally.”
- Janet McTeer also explained that as a Brit with a theater background and who’s someone who has worked in British television, it was weird to not have all the scripts before shooting. She said, “You pretend to like it, but you don’t.”
- Carrie-Anne Moss who plays Jeri Hogarth said that this season there’s a scene between her and Jess in Jessica’s apartment. When they went to shoot that scene she realized that neither her, nor her character had ever stepped foot on that set before.
- Eka Darville put on like 20-lbs of muscle for the second season because he had to slim down to play addict-Malcolm in the first season.
- When asked about the show’s signature noir and shadowy look, Melissa Rosenberg said a lot of the credit goes to the Director of Photography as they often shoot during daytime. Ritter was quick to add that they do sometimes shoot overnight.
- In total, there’s about 7 pairs of Jessica’s infamous boots in the wardrobe department.
- The movie Jessica is watching from her rooftop in the first episode of the second season is the 1946 film The Killers.
- How many seasons will Jessica Jones have? Loeb said, “If you keep watching we’ll keep paying.”
