Krysten Ritter on all women directors for Jessica Jones: I feel more at ease
The second season of Netflix’s Jessica Jones is almost upon us. I’ll admit I was only so-so on the first season but I liked it enough to give the second a try. Even with losing David Tennant in that role (my God, he was incredible) I really like Kyrsten Ritter and I think she’s great as Jessica. However, another reason to support the series is because, as we discussed after season one, Netflix committed to hiring female directors for all 13 episodes. Now that the season two is (finally!) here, Krysten talked about what that meant to her and the show in general.
On getting into Jessica’s dark headspace: I’ve gotten a lot better at that, in Season 2. The more you use that muscle, the better you get at it. I feel like I am able to find a balance and am able to bounce back. I also make sure to do nice things for myself and go out with the crew. I realized that I like to laugh a lot and have fun, so I make sure to find those moments and have balance. In Season 1, I got really depressed and wasn’t able to shake it off like that. Now, I feel like I was able to be a little bit more disciplined, in that way. But yeah, Jessica is in a really dark headspace and you have to take good care of yourself, mind and body to stay in that level of darkness for six months.
On having all 13 episodes being directed by women: It was really great. Our show is already so female. Season 1 was so female. It’s already in our DNA. But having all women this season was exciting because it’s never been done before, which is stupid. The content that we cover and the dark subject matter and the sexual stuff, to be honest, having those conversations with a woman is a lot easier for me. I feel much more at ease and safe, and able to be vulnerable and raw, when you’re planning this stuff out with a woman. It just takes something away from a conversation, when you can’t be really real and raw. I love it! Within the industry now, there’s a lot of mandates to hire women and for diversity, which is amazing because that wasn’t there ten years ago. They went into this season with an eye to hire as many women as possible and to represent diversity, and then they started interviewing people and wound up with more than half, and then more than three-quarters, and then decided to do it all. Those women ended up being the best people for the job. I can’t wait for it to be totally commonplace and not that crazy.
On working with Janet McTeer: Oh, my god, it’s heaven! I love her! I absolutely worship her! She is so fierce and so smart. She’s one of the most exciting actresses I’ve ever worked opposite. Sometimes she’s super adorable and I’d ask myself, “Am I in love with Janet McTeer?” We had a great time together. We needed a heavyweight actor, after David Tennant in Season 1, and she is that, let me tell you.
The rest of the interview deals much more with the show’s plot and characters. I’m wondering what Krysten is referring too when she said, “it’s never been done before,” because Queen Sugar’s hired women directors exclusively for their second season. Maybe she meant in the superhero or comic genre. But I agree with her, given the subject matter and the baggage the women in JJ are carrying, a female director’s perspective would help immensely, particularly conflict resolution, which I don’t think season one handled well. I also like that Krysten reiterated that the women were hired not just as a diversity push but because they were also the best for the job.
You can read Colliders review of the new season here. It has season one spoilers. I didn’t watch The Defenders but Collider said that’s not a problem to get into JJ season two, it largely ignores her part in The Defenders. Janet McTeer’s role is being kept hush-hush, she hasn’t been named and she’s not giving anything up in her interviews. She’s the bad guy, right? She has to be the bad guy. Or the good guy who did Jessica wrong. Or Jessica’s abandoned childhood dog back in human form. Or – I honestly don’t care, I’d watch Janet play anything, I can’t wait to find out who she is in this. Season two starts streaming tomorrow on Netflix.
Photo credit: WENN Photos
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