Marvel's “WandaVision” stars Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff), Paul Bettany (Vision), Kathryn Hahn (Agnes), and Teyonah Parris (Monica Rambeau) discuss their Disney+ TV series in this interview with CinemaBlend Managing Editor Sean O’Connell. Olsen and Bettany discuss wearing their characters' comic book-accurate costumes and their comedic chemistry, the cast talks about going to 'sitcom boot camp' and more.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Wanda.
00:07 Wanda.
00:08 Can you hear me?
00:11 WandaVision.
00:14 Oh, this is going to be a gas.
00:16 We see something in the trailer that wasn't
00:20 in the first three episodes, and it's
00:22 you in the comic-accurate Scarlet Witch costume.
00:25 And I'm curious what it was like putting
00:26 that on for the first time, and if you
00:27 realize how important it is for geeks like us
00:30 to just see it for a moment.
00:32 Well, I loved it.
00:33 I loved it.
00:35 And you'll see more than moments of it.
00:38 And I just thought it was such a joy to put the thing on--
00:44 to put the head-- the huge headband on,
00:46 and the leotard, and the pink tights,
00:48 and it was-- the whole thing was just hilarious.
00:53 So yeah, I'm right there with you.
00:55 I loved that costume so much because I didn't have
01:00 to work too hard for laughs.
01:01 So I got to see the first three episodes,
01:07 and to me, the classic sitcom miscommunications
01:11 were so incredibly funny.
01:13 When did you and Paul realize how strong
01:14 your comedic chemistry was together?
01:17 Because it's not something that was needed in the MCU.
01:21 I don't know.
01:22 I think he and I, we constantly just kind of felt like we
01:25 were swinging for the fences because we could with,
01:28 you know, with being in these sitcoms.
01:30 And he just really brought his Dick Van Dyke,
01:33 his inner Dick Van Dyke, and he was just fantastic.
01:36 Yeah, I don't know.
01:37 I guess it was when we shot episode one,
01:39 and we did it in front of a live studio audience,
01:42 and people seemed to really enjoy it.
01:45 And I was terrified, and so was Lizzie.
01:50 And so actually, maybe Katherine Hahn wasn't terrified,
01:54 but I certainly was.
01:56 And it was just such an awesome experience.
02:01 Hiya, kids.
02:03 Auntie Agnes is here, and I've got a couple
02:05 of tricks up my sleeve.
02:08 Let's just take it from the top.
02:11 Humor in the different decades, it doesn't
02:15 work from one to the next.
02:17 Like, what's funny in the '50s is not funny in the '60s,
02:20 you know?
02:22 And can you just talk about how you guys approached that?
02:25 I mean, that's a really great question, Sean.
02:28 Like, we did a sitcom boot camp, which was so fun.
02:31 I'm sure they've talked about it,
02:32 or someone has talked to you about it.
02:33 Well, first, we went through this whole sitcom boot camp
02:36 just to really understand the tone and the structure
02:40 for each different decade.
02:42 We've got to watch examples of every decade,
02:47 or every, you know, every sitcom that we were going
02:50 to be shooting from that decade.
02:53 And so that was very helpful.
02:54 In terms of the jokes, like, Jack Schaefer wrote scripts
02:58 that were very--
02:59 especially, like, I felt it in the '50s and '60s,
03:02 but in all of them, that were so--
03:06 that weren't satirizing or parodying that time period.
03:10 Parodying?
03:12 Is that it?
03:12 But that time period, but really were specific and true.
03:16 Like, it was important for us to get inside of the decade,
03:20 rather than make fun of it from the outside,
03:23 if that makes sense.
03:23 Our head writer, Jack Schaefer, just
03:26 did such a beautiful job being so particular and specific
03:31 for each decade, and making sure we captured that--
03:35 the spirit of each decade.
03:39 So that-- definitely huge shout out to Jack and her team
03:43 in making that--
03:44 those switches.
03:45 It's not very easy.
03:46 And then for us as the actors, you know,
03:48 sometimes you have laugh tracks, and sometimes you don't.
03:51 And how does the comedy and the pauses and all of that work?
03:55 It was definitely a learning situation.
03:59 Wanda, what's up?
04:01 Who are you?
04:03 I don't know.
04:04 I want to drill down a little bit even further, too,
04:06 is just in terms of the energy that you have to bring.
04:09 Your energy in the character is so different from the '60s
04:12 to the '70s.
04:14 And it's so totally different than what
04:16 I would assume that you're taught of how to act now.
04:18 You know?
04:19 It was really interesting, because a lot of times,
04:22 Matt, our director, would be like, well, you know,
04:24 you can do more.
04:26 Let's do more.
04:26 We're like, ooh, we really feel like we're
04:29 doing too much here, Matt.
04:31 And he's like, I promise you, you're not.
04:33 And then once you watch it, you're like, wow,
04:36 it really worked.
04:37 Thanks, Matt.
04:38 You know, glad we trusted you.
04:40 But it's just-- it really is a matter of trust,
04:44 because a lot of it does feel quite antithetical to how we
04:49 do movies, television these days.
04:52 That was really important to us.
04:53 And it is important to the show as well.
04:56 What comedy is or what humor is for each decade,
05:01 it evolves and changes.
05:02 I mean, the '80s become ridiculously sincere
05:05 with all of its--
05:08 you know, all these moments to--
05:10 these teaching moments.
05:12 And, you know, the sad music.
05:14 And it's like so strange what we watch
05:17 in the '80s and the '90s.
05:17 And then we get into kind of the aughts and the 2000s and '10s.
05:23 And it's so cynical.
05:26 Everything becomes way cynical.
05:27 So it's interesting to use that type of humor
05:33 and help tell our story.
05:34 The jokes were really, like you were pointing out,
05:37 like really true to that period.
05:39 And so we did it in front of a live studio audience.
05:42 We shot it like the '50s, was in front of a live audience.
05:45 We had no idea if those jokes were going to land in any way
05:47 because they were so from the era.
05:51 And it's surprising how much they did.
05:53 It was very hard for me, though, who likes to improvise to not.
05:57 And it was very hard for me who--
06:00 to run that kind of a tight ship.
06:02 Like it is just--
06:04 it's so much about literally just like timing
06:07 and rehearsing your moves.
06:09 I mean, I like--
06:11 I'm used to a little bit more like anarchic comedy.
06:13 And so it was really fun to just have to be so precision,
06:19 which is like I think what so many of those were,
06:23 it seems like.
06:24 It also feels like a style and an energy and a pacing
06:27 that you're just not trained to do now.
06:30 You know?
06:31 Right, right.
06:32 But yet you can see it when it's too much.
06:34 Like it's funny.
06:36 So yet there is such an ease.
06:37 Like watching those old Dick Van Dyke ones, you're like--
06:41 and Donna Reed-- like they're so relaxed.
06:46 And they have such an ease to them.
06:48 And their chemistry is so true.
06:52 And so we took a lot from the Dick Van Dyke show.
06:57 I mean, and I think it comes through with just
06:58 Lizzie and Paul's chemistry, which is just
07:00 like so off the charts and like just so real.
07:03 But there is such an ease.
07:07 It's so relaxed.
07:09 Even though you know that they've
07:11 worked those beats and those bits a bazillion times,
07:14 they're just tossed away.
07:16 And there's just something so punk about it
07:18 that I was really into doing.
07:20 Am I dead?
07:21 No.
07:23 Why would you think that?
07:24 Because you are.
07:26 [LAUGHTER]
07:27 I'm very curious if you knew about the show,
07:30 that you guys would be doing the show,
07:32 before you filmed Vision's death scene from "Infinity War."
07:36 No.
07:37 So when you found out then that you
07:39 were going to be able to return to the character
07:40 in that format, what did that feel like?
07:43 It felt like a relief.
07:44 I was-- you know, I got a call from the boss.
07:47 My contract was up.
07:48 And I got a call from the boss to come
07:50 and see him in the office.
07:51 And so you know usually what that means, right?
07:54 And so I looked at my wife and I said, well, I think that's it.
07:59 I'm getting the can.
08:01 And so I showed up.
08:02 And I didn't want anybody to feel uncomfortable.
08:04 So I kind of went in.
08:05 I was like, look, guys, it's been a great run.
08:08 Thank you so much.
08:11 I've loved it.
08:11 And they were like, are you quitting?
08:13 And I went, aren't you firing me?
08:15 And they went, no.
08:16 And I went, oh, right.
08:19 And they went, we're going to pitch you a new TV show.
08:21 And I went, oh, OK.
08:23 In comic book lore, you know, characters
08:26 come back in all different crazy shapes and sizes.
08:28 So when you filmed his death, did you
08:30 assume that was it, or you just figured,
08:31 oh, they'll figure out some way?
08:33 You know, I was sort of hoping that there would be
08:36 some sort of way to reanimate me.
08:39 But that was not on the cards.
08:43 And then, you know, Kevin is right.
08:52 Kevin is right.
08:54 Kevin is nearly always right.
08:57 And he said, you know, it's going to be more powerful
09:03 if we hold this back.
09:08 And he was right.
09:10 Kevin is right is a tattoo I feel like I need to get.
09:13 Kevin is right.
09:14 We are an unusual couple, you know.
09:16 Oh, I don't think that was ever in question.
09:18 So now that you've experienced both long form television
09:22 and doing the movies, if you had to choose
09:25 how you would want to continue telling Wanda's stories,
09:27 which one do you prefer?
09:29 I love the flexibility of both.
09:32 I mean, I think there's something
09:34 that's really tangible about going back to playing a film.
09:38 And you have this constraint.
09:41 And you have this time.
09:42 And the economy of time and the economy of moments in film
09:49 means something different to me now.
09:51 Like with Juan, just going to a film project
09:55 after doing WandaVision, you know,
09:58 you work so hard for all these moments.
10:00 But you're moving so quickly and so fast.
10:02 And there's so much to get through
10:03 that there's something really beautiful
10:05 about the economy of the film.
10:08 And so I'm loving both because I also thought the show was just
10:12 always meant to happen.
10:13 And it was just the most fun I've had on a project.
10:16 Are you here to help us?
10:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:22 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:25 What is Nia DaCosta going to bring to the MCU?
10:33 All of her wonderfulness.
10:34 I'm really excited for her.
10:36 Yeah.
10:37 We got to work together on Candyman.
10:40 So to have another turn to collaborate and work
10:45 with one another, I'm really excited.
10:46 And she's dope.
10:48 Gotta see Candyman.
10:49 Gotta see it.
10:50 All of this.
10:52 (upbeat music)