She-Hulk’s Tatiana Maslany, Director, and Writer Talk Production of the MCU Series

MovieWeb recently attended a press conference that was hosted by Disney for the upcoming series, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Director Kat Coiro, head writer Jessica Gao, and lead star Tatiana Maslany each attended the event which was moderated by Amanda Salas. During the conference, each participating member revealed tons of insight behind the production of the series and how She-Hulk is different compared to the previous MCU projects. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law follows Jennifer Walters, a lawyer specializing in cases involving superhumans, who also becomes the green superhero She-Hulk.

Kat Coiro on Her Inspiration from the She-Hulk Comics

“I remember very vividly, being a little girl and seeing the cover of a She Hulk comic amidst the sea of male comics. And just not knowing who she was or what this was but knowing that I was moved by it. And that the idea of being large and in charge and, you know, taking control. Taking up space was something that really resonated with me. And I remember, I bought that comic book. And so, when this show came along, it was really the culmination of a real dream. “

Jessica Gao on Setting Apart She-Hulk from the other Female Superheroes in the MCU

“I think the beauty of television is, unlike the movies, we actually have time and space to really sit with the character and learn more about them. And really get to know them as a fully fleshed out person. And what’s great about Jen Walters, She Hulk, is that because of Tatiana Maslany, she was able to immediately from day one make this feel like a real human being.”

She continued: “You feel like she’s lived a life, she has life experiences, she has relationships, she has a family, and she has friends, you know? And also, that she changes, like, she might feel different in the morning than she does in the evening. She might feel different today than she does yesterday. This is a real person who actually feels things and processes things and, like most people, has highs and lows.”

Tatiana Maslany on Receiving Hulk Advice from Mark Ruffalo

“Mark was just so open to like whatever my process was with coming to She-Hulk, he never was prescriptive. But one thing I did witness him do was like he was lying down on the ground outside as Bruce, and he gets up as Hulk. Like truly, from a lying down position, he’s suddenly standing. It looked incompletely inhuman. And I was like oh, that is like what 10 years of playing this character and like physically embodying him and like being so inside of him, like you get to do cool stuff like that. To me, I was like oh, cool, I want to be able to do that sometime.”

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Kat Coiro & Jessica Gao on Why Tatiana Maslany was the Right Choice for She-Hulk

Jessica Gao: “There IS nobody else. There WAS nobody else. There was really no other discussion. And, you know, from her previous work, we knew that she had a range and could embody so many elements of the human experience. And what’s so interesting and different about Jennifer is that as Tatiana said, she maintains her sense of self, and yet her sense of self is influenced by the way she presents when she changes, it’s a different way of walking through the world. And so, it required a nuance of performance that really only Tatiana could give.”

Kat Coiro: “We talked about how important it is for this character to be human first. And truly from day one, the moment she stepped into this role, it immediately was like right before your eyes, you’re like oh, this is a person. Before, like a second ago, this was just words on a page and now I’m seeing a real person who I believe has lived this entire life, has all these relationships, and has all these feelings, you know? And then on top of that because I only knew her as a dramatic actress, and on top of that, she’s super funny. I was just so thrilled.”

Kat continued: “And the other wonderful thing about Tatiana is she has such a good instinct for characters and for the story because they really go hand in hand. And there have been so many times where she’s kind of like pinpointed something, you know, that didn’t quite feel right just like instinctively, but also intellectually and it was always right. Like it always forced us to work together to get it to a better place that was more real and that was smarter and better. And for that, I’m eternally grateful.”

Jessica added: “I keep finding myself saying like Tatiana has amazing chemistry with Mark, Tatiana has amazing chemistry with everybody. And it’s really because she listens, and she engages. And as Jessica said, she approaches things on a macro intellectual level, but is still able to approach on a micro emotional level, which is very rare in an actress. Because of that humanity and soul that she brings to it, it’s also what’s so fascinating to watch what the difference is between the Hulk and She-Hulk.

So, the Hulk’s initial struggle is like he’s out of control when he’s the Hulk, and it’s primitive, you know? She is conscious in this other form and it’s uncomfortable, you know what I mean. So, you’re watching this super thing very aware of how she is in the world and how she’s being viewed when she’s special, and when she’s different, and when she has power. So, it’s this other perfectly cerebral and complex and funny thing that Tatiana’s so gifted at that’s really like cool to watch in comparison to the Hulk’s journey.”

All six previous episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law are currently streaming exclusively on Disney+ with the remaining new episodes arriving weekly on Thursdays.