Agents of SHIELD Interview: “None of us really knew what was gonna hit us”

Kambole Campbell hit up the press junket at London’s MCM Comic Con to see what the cast had to say about the show. Questions came from a multitude of reporters who also attended. 

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KC: What have been your highlights from this season of Agents of SHIELD?

Elizabeth Henstridge: I just feel like so much has happened this season! The highlight for me is probably when they gave me the planet episode (NOTE WHICH ONE THIS IS), just the challenge of it.

Luke Mitchell: That was a highlight for me too, I got a whole episode off.

EH: Yeah everyone left me!

Nick Blood: I think I went home that week.

EH: …so yeah that was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done, there’s something about being in an ensemble show that you just have all your mates around you, and then if you suddenly end up on your own you just feel like Billy no-mates. It was good to do it, but I was glad to get back with the others.

 

KC: How has being on the show changed things for you?

EH: None of us really knew what was gonna hit us; we got sat down before we shot the pilot and just got a big pile of comics dropped in front of each of us and Jeph Loeb from Marvel said: “your life’s about to change”, and to just look after each other basically. We really took that on board and that was the most wonderful and surprising thing about being on the show really. We’re a family, and Clark Gregg is the head of it. Ming’s the mother hen.

NB: I wouldn’t trust Ming to babysit. (laughs)

“None of us really knew what was gonna hit us”

EH: Yeah she leads us astray, if anything. But Clark has said from the outset that we had to talk to each other, and that if anyone had any issues to come to him, which I do most days… (laughs) …I’m sure he’s regretting that now. It makes it great to go to work.

NB: Mo and Jed and Jeph really set the tone as well, so between them and Clark they run a good ship and keep everyone happy

 

KC: With your cast being such a family, what happens when characters don’t make it through certain points?

NB: Like someone has kidnapped your siblings.

EH: Yeah! There’s nothing you can do about it.

NB: Or like they’ve gone off to university, or got married –

EH: – and haven’t told you.

NB: They’ve flown the nest.

EH: You know when you sign up for something like this that not everyone is going to make it to the end, but it feels like a shock everytime – we have to find out at the last minute, it feels like losing a limb.

NB: A week before, if you’re lucky.

 

KC: With the new phase of Marvel films, do you feel like there’ll be more crossover?

EH: Well… that’d be great! (laughs) We kind of just go where they tell us to. Logisitically, it’s so hard – we film during about ten months out of the year, crazy, really long hours – so we pack a lot in, but I reckon we’d be up for it…

 

KC: If you could be in any of the films, which one would you go for?

NB: ‘Any of the films’? You mean any of the films ever made? (laughs)

EH: Yeah that’d be something, “what about DC?” (laughs)

 “I’d love to be in the lab with the Hulk.”

KC: Alright, any of the Marvel films?

 EH: I’d love to be in the lab with the Hulk.

 NB: I’d love to be in a Fitz-Simmons rom-com.

 EH: You could be in a love triangle!

 

KC: How was it to film the relationship between Simmons and Fitz?

 EH: Ohh well… Iain and I get on really well, and we are really good friends, but have you ever tried to kiss a friend? (laughs)

 EH: Those scenes are awkward, but once you get it out of the way it’s fine. We did have so many conversations where we’d stop and say “hey dude this is weird”, but at least we were both feeling weird about it. Still, I love them as characters and I love that they got together. I hope that they can stay happy – this is Agents of SHIELD after all, nothing stays good for very long…

 

KC: Going back to Simmons, apart from that relationship, how do you feel she has evolved as a character? We’re definitely starting to see a different side of her.

EH: I’m just really proud of her – her and Fitz needed to separate to get to know who they were, they’re back together now as individuals who seek out a relationship rather people just needing each other and grasping ahold of each other. She’s gotten a bit more feisty – she’s not by any means an amazing fighter, which I’m quite grateful for because it means I don’t have to be! She also has had a bit of a dodgy relationship with the Inhumans now, though she’s coming around to the fact that things aren’t simply black and white when it comes to these people.

 

KC: There’s been a lot of discussion of the strength of the prescence of women, particularly in the MCU, and in the comic book genre in general – how do you feel Agents of SHIELD has come to address that?

EH: One of the things that’s great about our show, is that it’s just never mentioned. Agent May is a brilliant agent, and also just happens to be a woman – it’s a big deal, it’s just equal.

It doesn’t matter what your nationality, your sexuality, or your background is – you’re only judged on your merit, and that’s the most important thing. We have a really diverse show and a really diverse crew, and we’re just proud of that. It just works.

It doesn’t matter what your nationality, your sexuality or your background is – you’re only judged on your merit, and that’s the most important thing.

NB: Yeah it doesn’t feel imposed on you.

 

KC: If you could be any superhero, who would it be?

NB: Banana Man.

EH: Ooh good one. That’d be an awkward outfit.

LM: Captain Planet!

NB: A Banana Man film hasn’t been done yet, I’m just hedging my bets.

EH: I’d just like to be someone cool, like Black Widow…

NB: You looked so sad when you said that. (laughs)

EH: It’s never gonna happen! Maybe I could just be her stunt double.

 

KC: You brought up the Inhumans earlier – how does it feel to be a spearhead for such a big part of the Marvel universe?

LM: Nerve racking! (laughs). Look, I didn’t really know anything about Inhumans when I was cast – I wasn’t even my character was Inhuman, so it was a very fast education for me. I quickly discovered there was a very rich history in the comics, and it’s a really cool thing to be one of the first representatives of that and introduce people who haven’t read the comics to them. Kinda like the X-Men, but not really (laughs).