Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, TV | Tagged: daredevil, daredevil: born again

Daredevil: Born Again: Ayelet Zurer on Season 2, Wilson-Vanessa Legacy

Daredevil: Born Again star Ayelet Zurer discusses Wilson and Vanessa's relationship, shifting priorities, that Season 2 shocker, and more.

The way that Daredevil: Born Again ended in season one, we saw the massive potential of MCU's reigning Bonnie and Clyde with Ayelet Zurer and Vincent D'Onofrio on top of the New York City's criminal underworld with D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk as NYC Mayor and Zurer's Vanessa at his side, making moves to help preserve his empire, including ordering the hit that would take out attorney Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), hiring Benjamin Poindexter, aka Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) to conduct the hit. As the resistance mounts a counterattack, Kingpin is doing everything he can to keep a firm grip, using his Anti-Vigilante Task Force to enact martial law on the city as they scour for masked figures and their allies. One thing they didn't anticipate was the dog they let loose and the ultimate cost of betraying him. Zurer spoke to Bleeding Cool about her return to the show for Dario Scardapane's Born Again after her season three introduction for the Drew Goddard Netflix series, Vanessa trying to change Wilson's priorities in favor of leaving his power-hungry ways and its eventual cost, what the art dealer-turned-queenpin sees in him that others might not, the shocking event that sets up the second half of season two's finish, what could have been, and flashbacks. The following contains major spoilers.

Daredevil: Born Again Star Ayelet Zurer on Making Sense of Wilson-Vanessa's Relationship, Series-Shaping Moment, and Future

BC: When I heard that they brought you back for the Disney+ series, I was so relieved. When I saw season one, and seeing Vanessa embracing that power and Wilson's darkness. I became intrigued and wanted to know where it could go. How did you feel when you got the scripts for season two about her journey?

Zurer: Well, I knew where it was going, because I got a call beforehand from Dario, then from [EP] Sana [Amanat], and obviously from Vincent, so it was just about reading how the journey is going to take place and where the curves and turns are that are important for me. I have to say that I was pleased. I was pleased with the idea that she's thinking, "Let's leave," which is like such a shift from the way we ended season one, where [Wilson and Vanessa are] so gloriously winning. Suddenly, she's waking up to the idea of like, "Okay, that's enough. Now we leave, let's go," and once she realizes it's never going to be enough, then there's a slide. A slow slide of fear, dread, and confusion, but at the same time, she's fighting it off and doing everything she can to protect Wilson.

What does Vanessa see in Wilson that others may not necessarily see? How did that translate on screen, working with Vincent on the three seasons since the Netflix show?

I think she sees the child in him. I think he's her father figure in a way, and she's his mother figure in a way. She sees the child who was brutally hurt. She digs the brutality that the child had become, the brutality that the child has gained, and the man he became. I don't know what he sees in her, but maybe the sense of control and calm. I also feel like the deal between them was always "absolute truth for loyalty," and they're very loyal to each other, to a fault. That's also what we like about them. That's why audiences react, but they're intrigued by him, because while they're doing bad things. They're also crazy in love and completely loyal, which are qualities that people relate to and want in their lives.

In your death scene, I found the part where Vincent is holding your character and wailing really poignant. He cracks his normal Wilson Fisk voice back into his normal one. I'm just wondering what it was like filming that scene? Was it sort of a pleasant surprise-type moment?

No, I've seen Vincent doing these things. Sometimes it just didn't get in the edit, but I have to say, this was a really emotional day, because it was also saying goodbye, not just to Vanessa, but also to Vanessa as a whole. To say goodbye to Vincent and Vincent to say goodbye to Ayelet. There were so many layers to the goodbye there. Yeah, it was beautiful. It was a very touching scene, and the set was very quiet that day; everybody was feeling it, whispering to us quietly when we were there, and then it was special.

In the back of your mind, do you feel like the time was right for Vanessa's exit? Or do you think so much more could have been done?

Oh, I know that we've done so much more with her, but it's not just about her, or not even her and him. I think it's about the story and where they want to take the story. Once we serve the two main characters, right? Everybody around, we're like the stars, and then they are the sun and the moon or whatnot. If they need the sun and the moon in a certain place, they need the other stars to move in a certain way to create a storyline that creates an explosion. I think they really wanted for that season to be explosive in ways that you've never done before or never seen before, so they needed the big gun, so yeah, that's why.

There were some flashback scenes as well, which rewrote the narrative of how Wilson and Vanessa met for the Netflix show. What was it like adding that nuance and layer to that narrative? Is it something that maybe down the line, that's been talked about, you might come back for season three in that capacity, similar to the way Elden's Foggy, or do you consider that book on Vanessa closed?

Who knows? Flashbacks are always a thing in those shows and stuff. Specifically, the flashbacks really were a way to sort of tie the knot from the beginning to the end, and we did discuss it in some ways. Is it memory? Did it happen that way? Or is it part of who she is right now? Is that the way she remembers the past? I feel like it's her now, remembering the past, because I feel like she was not as naive as the beginning in those…she's already partially who she is now, um, and I try to give it that.

Final question, what has been the biggest challenge being on the show, since so much of the bulk of your screen time is spent with Vincent and so little with the other cast?

Yeah, I think that the hardest thing about the show is reading the scripts, because honestly, they're so complicated. Sometimes, you must read it more than three times to understand what's going on with whom. Since with us, I don't need to read the others' storylines necessarily, because it's their storyline, but the problem is that we are the masterminds of everything that's happening, so everything is related to us as well. I can't tell you how many times I had to ask, "Wait a minute! Why is that connected? How is that connecting to this? Why are they doing that? Oh! That's why, so maybe that." Of course, walking in very high heels, that can kill you.

Daredevil: Born Again, which also stars Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Genneya Walton, Margarita Levieva, Nikki M. James, Arty Froushan, Michael Gandolfini, Zabyrna Guevara, Hamish Allan-Headley, Clark Johnson, and Krysten Ritter, streams Tuesdays on Disney+.

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