We chat with Elodie Yung about Daredevil Season 2, becoming Elektra, and living up to fanboy expectations.
Elodie Yung makes a surprising entrance as assassin Elektra, bringing even more turmoil to Hells Kitchen.
When Elektra (Yung) appears onDaredevil,she and Matt Murdock already have a complicated past.
Den of Geek: Was your introduction at the end of that episode the first scene you shot?
I dont know what is going to come next.
I dont know whats in the writers heads.
I might have to show some stuff like that.
I think thats what was important to them, to get a sense of what this relationship was.
Its not about Elektra.
Showing how she became a killer and all that, thats another story.
Are filming those flashbacks almost like a romantic comedy?
Oh yes, it was light and unexpected for her because she thinks that she knows pretty much everything.
Shes traveled the world.
Shes had men courting her and shes quite bored about it.
She doesnt pay attention to that.
He sees that shes bored and she pretends to be the girl she pretends to be.
So he got her attention.
It was also one of the first scenes we had to shoot, Charlie and I.
That was actually one of the audition scenes as well.
Did you audition with Charlie?
I did, yes, eventually.
It was rounds and rounds of auditions before I got to the next level which was auditioning with Charlie.
Was action something you were always interested in doing when you got into acting?
Oh, absolutely not.
Its something that I enjoyed doing because I like to challenge myself.
If its anything challenging, I like it and its quite challenging and demanding to do action scenes.
So I enjoyed doing it but its definitely not something that I wanted to do.
All those aspects were what I really enjoy.
The good thing about Elektra is she has both.
I could enjoy the fighting because thats part of her character.
Shes a very well trained killer.
I got to do all that but shes also a very complex character.
Trying to understand her was just a fun, fun task for me because she is hard to get.
She is really hard to understand.
Have you ever played a character with this wealth of source material behind her before?
So I do now feel a pressure but no, I never got to do that.
I know that its a different version because this is an adaptation and this is another medium.
It will not be a copy of people have already read over the years in the comics.
I dont mean to make you feel pressure.
Youre the only one because all of your colleagues say, So, do you feel the pressure?
I never do things fearing I could do right or wrong.
I just do it because I just follow my guts.
This is really how I did it for Elektra because I was just amazed by all the comics.
You have to let go and do what you think is right.
But if not, Elektra will move on.
How did you feel when you first saw yourself in the full Elektra costume?
How did I feel when I wore it first or when I saw myself?
We needed to do tweaks to be able to move and do all the crazy choreography.
Im ready to go and kill people, no problem.
Do you have any Greek background or feel comfortable playing a blended ethnicity?
Yeah, shes Greek in the comics.
This is not something that they insisted on, the writers and Marvel.
So she has Greek ethnicity, that origin but thats not something we address really in our version.
Well, when I was auditioning I didnt know it wasDaredevil.
They wouldnt give you any clues.
It helped me during shooting.
Other than that, not really because it was really a blind audition.
Like, Okay, just go in the dark and have fun.
I just didnt know what it was for.
Did you watchDaredevilafter you found out?
No, I watched it already.
I really liked the show so I was very excited about this.
It was more about the characters.
I cared about Karen.
I cared about Foggy.
I cared about Matt Murdock when I was just a fan and just watching the series.
And did the cast welcome you into their fold?
They are the best.
Seriously, its not always the case.
You always have a bad apple on a show or something like this.
It happens anywhere, work, colleagues.
Not everyone always gets on with each other.
Its a very collaborative work.
Its a very healthy environment in a way that people are putting the best in their job.
The artistic side of it is flourishing.
you’ve got the option to really express yourself and work hand in hand with everyone.
I couldnt believe that I booked a job like this.
Its a dream job, seriously.
The character is fantastic and the environment is great to express yourself.
He was just an English gentleman.
It was so nice of him, so it was good.
Anyone at Marvel give you any specific issues of comic books?
No, nothing very specific.
They didnt tell me, This is the line that were following.
So when it comes to Elektra, they didnt follow one of her specific story lines, you know.
They really tried to capture what comes through the comics, but theres not one specific storyline.
