Adrianne Palicki on Playing Mockingbird in SHIELD
Adrianne Palicki discusses her new role as Marvel Comics' Avenger Mockingbird on Agents of SHIELD.
11 NOV 2014 BY ERIC GOLDMAN
Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night Lights, G.I. Joe: Retaliation) recently made her debut on Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD in a very notable role – Bobbi Morse, known to Marvel Comics fans as Mockingbird.
I spoke to Palicki – herself a longtime comic book fan, whose brother writes comics – about joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, her character’s relationships with her teammates and more.
IGN: You know what it’s like to take on roles, whether it be Wonder Woman or Lady Jaye in G.I. Joe, that have pre-existing fanbases. But for this -- considering this wasn’t just an already established show, but how big Marvel is at this point and how this is part of this bigger universe -- was it particularly exciting or daunting?
Adrianne Palicki: Yeah, it was incredibly exciting and very flattering when they came to me. But also nerve-wracking because having been through this before, the last thing I want to do is disappoint the fans. There’s such an amazing fanbase and they are the reason that Marvel’s as big as they are right now. There’s people out there going to the films and watching the show and so it’s always scary taking on a role like that because you don’t want to disappoint anybody but you also want to bring your own flare to the character. You try to find a balance, I think.
Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse, AKA Mockingbird, in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD.
IGN: We met her in an interesting way because she was undercover. You got to kind of play two layers there of Bobbi but also Bobbi pretending to be “uptight and evil”, as she put it.
Palicki: Well, I think that’s one of the funny parts of the character too. She has this spy side to her. I don’t think it’ll be the last time we see her in an undercover, covert mission. So it’s definitely fun to play those roles. It’s like playing a role within a role.
IGN: Did they fill you in how much they’d been talking about Hunter’s ex before your arrival, so that it would be very funny to reveal who you were?
Palicki: Yes. And in fact, watching the show, knowing that it was coming up and every time he’d mention her I’d just start laughing out loud like, “Oh my God, he’s talking about me! I’m not evil, I promise!”
IGN: Is it interesting to explore that history and that kind of weird place they’re at now because they’re exes that didn’t end on a great note but now they’re co-workers again?
Palicki: Absolutely. And it’s fun and I love Nick [Blood] so much. He’s such a fantastic actor and I think this storyline brings kind of a new arc to the show, a little bit of a different flare, and it’s interesting to see the dynamic between the two and it actually adds a little light-heartedness to it as well.
IGN: Beyond Hunter, might we start to learn a little bit more about her history with SHIELD and maybe some of the specific times she might have worked with some of these guys before?
Palicki: I think as time goes on, you’ll see the layers get pealed back a little bit and you’ll get to see little glimpses into how Bobbi is affiliated with all of these different people and how long she’s known them. Like when she sees Mac in that first episode where Bobbi’s introduced; there’s obviously some level of history there where they knew each other or worked together before. So it’s kind of giving you the sense that she’s known these people, or at least him in particular. I think, again, you’re going to see how she’s known all of these different characters in the past.
IGN: Clearly, your character has some very impressive fighting prowess. You’re no stranger at this point to action scenes. Have they been keeping you on your toes on this show?
Palicki: Well it’s definitely keeping me in shape, so that’s always a benefit. It’s actually become the thing I love to do most, to be honest with you. I love doing the action stuff and I love doing fight sequences. Between Wonder Woman and G.I. Joe and John Wick, and this, I’m learning how to kick somebody’s ass. It’s pretty awesome. I’m going to feel good in a dark alley somewhere, you know what I’m saying?
IGN: How’s working with the battle staves? Are you becoming a pro at those?
Palicki: I’m working on it. I’m like, I can’t disappoint. This is her thing! But between the amazing stunt team we have on the show, and my fiancé, that’s what he specializes in. He’s a stunt guy himself so I’m getting little classes at home as well so I’m trying to get as good at them as possible.
IGN: We saw you sort of off on a mission last week with Hunter and with May. Will we get to see how she works with the rest of the team soon?
Palicki: Absolutely. She’s a field agent, so she’s going to be out there undercover, doing more jobs, and getting a lot more action. I really love the storyline between her and Simmons. I think it’s a really sweet, nice, sisterly relationship. You see more of the softer side of Bobbi with that relationship.
IGN: Do you think there’s something in Simmons that brings that out of her?
Palicki: Yes, and I think there’s something in Bobbi that brings out an edgier side of Simmons as well, you know?
IGN: So maybe they could learn a few things from each other?
Palicki: Exactly. And I love working with Elizabeth [Henstridge]. She’s like maybe the nicest person on the planet. She’s one of those people. It’s crazy. I’m like, “You can’t be for real.” But she is. It’s amazing.
IGN: What is Bobbi and Coulson’s dynamic like? Clearly he knew her, he trusted her, but right now we’re at a weird place with Coulson where he doesn’t know if he can trust himself.
Palicki: I think everybody is concerned about him at this point. I think that some people know more about what’s going on with him than others so I don’t know that she’s completely aware of all of the alien writings and what not. She’s completely new to the game and he entrusts a lot with her and I think that relationship will come to light further down the road.
IGN: I know you’re sworn to secrecy on anything specific but is the kind of a cool thing about this that you’re dealing with this whole larger world -- Marvel just announced movies through the next 20 years it feels like – where there are so many possibilities where this character could go; through this show, but also even other films and TV series?
Palicki: That’s the thing. It’s endless. The thing about comic book world, and having grown up in it… My brother’s a comic book writer and that’s one of the conversations we have all the time. The thing about comics is anything’s possible in them and to kind of have this open-end situation where it’s like she can go anywhere. We don’t know. I don’t know but just to have the ability or the possibility of that is really fun and interesting and hey even if I just end up playing her on Agents of SHIELD, that’s awesome enough because it’s been so much fun.
IGN: I’m curious if you know Jeremy Renner at all and if it’s amusing to you to have fans curious about the romantic potential between your characters, considering you’ve never worked together?
Palicki: [Laughs] I’ve never met Jeremy Renner. I’m a huge fan of his but yeah the Hawkeye/Mockingbird thing is huge. It’s one of the biggest parts of the character so I’m interested to see if that comes to fruition in the future. I hope it does.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/11...-palicki-on-taking-on-the-role-of-mockingbird
1st of all, I rooted for Gunn & Fred on "Angel", so I didn't like how that Love triangle ended. Although I didn't hate it either.
Let's see what happens first, before we say they've chickened out. They still got Simmons fawning over nikkas a couple episodes ago.
Looking at the opening credits for this week's episode, B.J. Britt (Agent Triplett) is still NOT part of the regular cast. He's still a recurring character.