While in LA for the Avengers: Age of Ultron press junket, I visited the super secret set of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and when I say that it was super secret, I mean that...I can't even tell you where it is located! I think the element of secrecy made our set visit even more exciting! We met with Brett Dalton, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain de Caestecker and Henry Simmons and learned a little about what it's like to work on the show, and they had us rolling with laughter with their real-life chemistry and good-natured jokes. Just a note, all photos in this post were taken by ABC/Adam Taylor.
Just in case you aren't familiar with the real-life names of the cast, Brett Dalton plays Grant Ward, Elizabeth Henstridge plays Jemma Simmons, Iain de Caestecker plays Leo Fitz and Henry Simmons plays Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie.
We asked Brett: How did you feel about the change in your character from the good side to the bad side?
No, I didn’t know before. They let me know about the episode before … so there wasn’t a lot heads up on that.” ( I loved this though) “I appreciate the Wikipedia entry where somebody said they let me know in the beginning of the season, so I could subtly play it every scene."
We asked the entire cast: How did you feel about the revelation concerning Brett’s Character?
Brett: Yeah – I was very sad. They didn’t let me know before. They let me know the episode before, so there wasn’t a lot of heads up. I appreciate the Wikipedia where somebody said it, they let me know in the beginning of the season so I could subtly play it every scene… So, yeah, it was a big change – but I think it really, rounded out the character in a way… after you get all of the back story underneath, the pain and danger. I don’t know, it really fleshed him out – made him really fun to play.
Elizabeth: We were all mortified. We were shocked. And, we could only speak to each other about it. So we would call each other, how you doing? I don’t know, today’s hard. It was, it was tricky.
Iain: It’s still a pretty hard subject for me, so I don’t want to bring up the past.
You can tell by Iain's response that this plot twist really affected all of the cast, right? When we interview the cast of television shows and movies, it's usually US asking them questions, but Elizabeth actually turned the interview around and asked Brett a question about this turn of events herself!
Elizabeth asked Brett: Do you think he misses the team? Think he misses us?
Yes. I do. Because his weakness, as Agent Garrett has always said, is that he has compassion.
We also had a chance to interview Adrianne Palicki, who plays Bobbi Morse, after we met with the other cast members.
We asked her about her character, because on the show, it seems she is quite conflicted. I love getting the actor's insight into their character during these interviews - it really helps to bring the show to life when we get these insights!
Adrianne told us:
You know, she’s been part of this other SHIELD from the beginning, and she’s been with Gonzales, she saved his life, you all saw that. But, at the same time, she cares about these other people. She doesn’t think Coulson is a bad person, she’s just concerned as to where some of his loyalties stand, and you know, alien blood and all of that…. We don’t know where she going with all of that, but she cares about these people. She’s definitely conflicted, and she’s trying to find her path. But at the end of the day she’s a soldier, and she’s thinking that she’s been doing the right thing, this whole time, so now she’s starting to think, maybe these people aren’t being treated the way they should be treated. She’s a little concerned. I think you’re going to be seeing that girl, a little bit more.
We also saw a little preview of episode 218, which airs tonight at 9 PM EST on ABC, and it's going to be a good one!!
Get social with Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.!
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/AgentsofSHIELD
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/AgentsofSHIELD (#AgentsofSHIELD)
On Instagram: https://instagram.com/agentsofshield/
Official website: http://abc.go.com/shows/marvels-agents-of-shield
Watch past episodes: http://watchabc.go.com/marvels-agents-of-shield/SH55300807
Drew Bennett
I agree, the secrecy of the whole thing did add to the overall experience.
Ana @ Miami Mommy Savings
I love that we were secret agents for a few hours, it made the experience a little bit more interesting. I love your post, thank you for sharing your experiences with us.
amy - toothbrush travels
Avengers AND Sheild?
I think my capacity for envy is full! xo