Posted in: CW, TV | Tagged: Angela Zhou, death and other details, exclusive, interview, Pestilence, supergirl, the cw
Supergirl: Angela Zhou on Those Supersuit Struggles as Pestilence
Angela Zhou (Death and Other Details)shared some memories with Bleeding Cool of her time in the Arrowverse as Pestilence on Supergirl.
Article Summary
- Angela Zhou reminisces about playing Pestilence on CW's Supergirl.
- Shares amusing anecdotes about the tight-fitting Pestilence supersuit.
- Recalls the challenge of bathroom breaks due to cumbersome fake nails.
- Details behind-the-scenes moments with castmates in partial costume.
Few actors can say that within 10 or so years, they get to be in an opportunity of a lifetime in a superhero genre as Angela Zhou did, playing Grace Parker and her alter ego Pestilence (aka Blight), one of three genetically engineered Kryptonian Worldkillers along with Reign (Odette Annable) and Purity (Krys Marshall) on The CW series Supergirl. Pestilence was initially sent to Earth before Krypton's destruction and adopted by a woman who gave her the name of "Grace." She grew up to become a medical doctor becoming National City's top surgeon, until she became disillusioned with the world and her career. Her Pestilence side awoke once Reign was ready and embraced death with her nails that infected any she would scratch until their eventual encounters with Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and the DEO. While promoting her Hulu series Death and Other Details, Zhou spoke about her time in her arc in season three and the issues she encountered as Pestilence.
Supergirl: How Angela Zhou's Issues with Her Costume
When asked what stood out most about her experience on Supergirl, "Oh, my goodness! That was so much fun as well, and everyone on set was so lovely there. The funniest thing was seeing everyone before we would go on set," Zhou said. "We would have our superhero costumes, right? I didn't realize how intense the fittings would be for the costume. When I first got my Pestilence suit on, they came and tightened, like airtight there and then they sewed it smaller. Then I put it on, and they tightened it again. You do two series of tightening so it fits like a glove, like a skin, onto you. It fits so tightly, and because I had those scary Pestilence fake nails, every single time I needed to go to the bathroom, people had to help me take the suit off because I couldn't get it off with my hands with my nails [laughs]," she said. "You would see all the other actors behind the scenes. We would be sitting with our suits, like only on the bottom, and our arms and stuff would be out. It was so funny to see people texting with suits on at the bottom, but our arms, not in the suits."
New episodes of Death and Other Details, which also stars Mandy Patinkin, Violette Beane, Lauren Patten, Rahul Kohli, Hugo Diego Garcia, Pardis Saremi, and Linda Emond, stream Tuesdays on Hulu.