Even Teyonah Parris didn't originally know what was going on in WandaVision
As a viewer, sometimes it’s all too easy to want answers before the mysteries are even done being outlined. This was certainly true of Marvel’s WandaVision, which did three episodes of full-on TV parodies before throwing in a cliffhanger that revealed the world outside of an idealized, sitcom-ready Westview, New Jersey. Before the show even had a chance to say, “See, Wanda has recreated the idyllic sitcom fantasies of her youth, tapping into previously unknown amounts of power in a desperate bit to hold on to the happiness she found with Vision,” people were filling social media feeds with theories, questions, and demands to know what the hell is happening, already. But now, those people should rest easy, knowing that even being one of the starring cast members didn’t make it any clearer at first.
That’s Teyonah Parris’ explanation, anyway. The actor, who plays Geraldine in Wanda’s reality (later revealed to be S.W.O.R.D. agent Monica Rambeau, daughter of Captain Marvel bestie Maria Rambeau) on the Disney+ series, tells the New York Times in a new interview that even after auditioning and getting the role, she had no idea what the hell was going on. “I found out I got the part,” she says, before adding that her excited response to the news was, “What part? No clue.” The befuddlement is understandable: Being given some pages of lines to read without any context or clues—not even about her own character—will do that to you.
But as the layers of reality were slowly peeled back to reveal what was happening, there was still a fair amount of “Wait, what? Okay, just go with it” in Parris’ response to the super-powered justification for all the goings-on. “Once I read the script, I was like: ‘OK, wow! This is crazy and amazing and, wait … how, again, does this work?’” Still, once it was revealed that Rambeau had been imbued with some abilities of her own, any lingering confusion gave way to pure enthusiasm. “I was so excited I think I overdid it—I’m still feeling some wonkiness in my hip from doing that stunt,” she said of performing her character’s first official superhero landing. “I probably should’ve let the stunt double do more than I let them, but I so wanted to hit that pose.” You can read the full interview here, and be sure to also check out our video with Parris, in which she talks about the fans’ casting of her years prior to landing the role.