The Marvels Villain Zawe Ashton Turned To Tom Hiddleston For MCU Advice
As non-industry folk are hopefully learning during the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, the vast majority of the union's members are not multi-millionaires. Acting is a job, and if you want to maintain a successful career, you can't always be as picky as you'd like to be. You have to audition aggressively, take what's offered, and, as soon as you've completed the gig, start fretting about doing it all over again.
If you're really lucky (and, it goes without saying, extremely talented), you might eventually piece together a body of work that serves as a calling card. At this point, you're a known quantity, someone for whom a writer might create a character. Or perhaps your strengths as a performer will make you a director's first choice for a specific role.
For most actors, it's a long, hard road to this kind of rare success, and once they've attained it, they take nothing for granted. That's why someone like Samuel L. Jackson works so frequently; he slugged it out in small, often thankless roles until he broke through in Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever." From that point forward, he's taken parts in Oscar winners and B action films, and, judging from interviews, seems to enjoy every minute of it.
Of course, the film industry was very different when Jackson rose to stardom. Studios still made mid-range budgeted adult dramas through which one could show off their acting chops. Nowadays, if you're looking to pop in a Hollywood movie, odds are you'll do it in a pricey studio tentpole. And there's nothing wrong with that! Just ask Zawe Ashton.
From an indie flick to an MCU goliath
Ashton is a classically trained actor who got her start via long-running British television dramas like "The Bill," "Casualty" and "Holby City." She began earning raves for her West End theater work in the late 2000s, and scored her first Broadway triumph in 2019 alongside Tom Hiddleston in a critically acclaimed revival of Harold Pinter's "Betrayal." As for movies, she impressed in pitch-black satire "Velvet Buzzsaw," but has yet to break through in a big way.
That could change this fall, when she steps into the role of Kree warrior Dar-Benn in Nia DaCosta's "The Marvels." It's a villain part, which, in an MCU movie, typically allows for plenty of scene stealing. For proof, she need only look to her fiancé, Hiddleston, whose Loki is one of Marvel's most popular baddies.
Ashton was surprised to land the part in the first place. According to an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she spent the early part of the pandemic discussing a potential indie project with DaCosta. Fast-forward a year, and she's delighted to hear from her agents that the director is offering her a role in her next movie. Finally, she thought, that indie flick was a go. "They were like, 'No, it's actually to join the cast of Captain Marvel 2,'" said Ashton.
A potentially Marvel-ous boost to a rising career
Ashton then turned to Hiddleston for intel on what it's like to work in the MCU, where fan expectations can result in temper tantrums if the film falls short. While he had some practical pointers on surviving a shoot in a supervillain costume, he was mostly eager to sell her on the experience of working in this mega-budget realm.
As Ashton told EW:
"One of the main takeaways from our conversations was 'What you put into Marvel, you get back.' He said, 'If you go into this with an open heart and a great work ethic and just want to provide an amazing experience for the fans, you'll have an amazing experience on those sets.' He really empowered me in that way."
Say what you will about the MCU (and if you're reading this article, you likely have said plenty and loudly), these movies offer great exposure for working actors. They're less effective as springboards for directors, but a memorable turn as Dar-Benn could earn the 38-year-old actor a whole new legion of fans. And maybe, just maybe, she can convince them to go see a Broadway play!
"The Marvels" zaps into theaters on November 10, 2023.