Going Green

TATIANA MASLANY on hulking out as Disney+’s reluctant new superhero…

What appealed to you about playing Jennifer/She-Hulk? I’ve never seen a superhero story that focused so much on what it is to be human – that, to me, was really interesting. She-Hulk has these two very different bodies – one that no one pays attention to, and one that everyone pays attention to, and she navigates walking into rooms as both of them. As a woman, that’s very relatable – it says a lot of interesting things about what society expects women to look like, and which women will be respected.

I hope young women who watch this will feel connected to what it is to be outside the norm. She’s a full human being and I think her wholeness is what makes her a superhero – that’s inspiring to me.

How does Jennifer react to gaining her powers? There’s a real resistance to accepting that she has to be She-Hulk now.

I think all of us can relate to that thing where we have a dream of what our life is, and we do everything we can to pursue that dream, then something happens and now our life has changed completely.

That’s an incredibly painful thing to contend with, but I think this story is really about accepting all parts of yourself and not denying any of it, because it’s all you. That’s a fun theme that we definitely explore with her.

Is this series more comedic in tone than some of the other Marvel shows?