Elizabeth Henstridge spoke with Hypable about Simmons’ journey through Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2 – and the fallout of that totally insane final scene.
The season finale had no shortage of surprises, but I think that final shot of Simmons being sucked into the Kree stone definitely took the cake. How did you find out about the ending?
I just read the script! We were all excited to get the final script, so there was anticipation there, but there was no call before. Because I hadn’t gotten a call, I didn’t worry so much. But then I went to set the next day and I was just kind of casually hovering round someone important and there was nothing, so I just thought, okay, I’m just going to keep my head down and get on with this!
It’s such an unexpected development! Were you guys trading theories during filming?
There were a lot of theories going around, yeah! There was just tons of “Where is it? Am I in the rock? Am I changed?” Because we still don’t really know what this is. We know that the Inhumans want it back, but we don’t know why. So there was tons of theories.
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And the finale is just jam-packed with tons of stuff – there was a lot of conversation between takes, for sure.
It does feel like just about anything could happen to Simmons at this point. Are there any particular theories you’re partial to?
I would quite like to go to another planet. I feel like Simmons would really enjoy gathering all her little specimens and seeing all the aliens! But I don’t know… because then you go into, well maybe it changes her in some way, and she’s different – and that would be cool. For some reason I just don’t think that that is going to happen, but you never know, it’s just wide open. I like the idea of her going to another planet, I kind of like the idea of her being changed on the other side, just from an actor’s point of view, in some way.
But then what if… you know, she’s just confessed her love to Fitz! Does this mean that she forgets that, or she doesn’t feel that anymore? Maybe he can’t reach her? I mean, all I cared about, reading the script from Simmons’ point of view, was that conversation between her and Fitz.
And then they have to take me into this flipping stone at the end! Just when it feels like it was going right!
There’s so many avenues they could go with it. One theory was that it was somehow time travel, and I came back and no one knew who I was, and Fitz didn’t know who I was… but I’m sure the writers have something much cooler than I can think of in mind.
It does seem very likely that Simmons will be strongly impacted by this experience, one way or another. What kind of change would you find most interesting to play?
I think any sort of change in the character is great for the actor to play. I mean… the characters on the show are always evolving and always changing, so it’s something that we relish. If you’re character’s changing, it means that they’re staying interesting and something’s happening. So that’s always fun to play.
I think for her at the moment… well, she’s coming from quite a stable position. She trusts Coulson, she trusts the people on the team, and she’s back on good terms with Fitz. I feel like she’s in quite a good position at the moment to deal with some sort of change, so I feel like she’d be okay. And you know, I’d be okay too! It’d just be fun. I’m so excited to read episode one of season 3 and just see what the deal is.
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I think regardless of what happens, she’s going to have changed a lot, because this will be her first… well, I suppose she did get changed by the Chitauri virus, but this will be her first major happening. And she’s not on guard in this situation, she’s doesn’t really go out in the field, and I think the guys that do, they’re kind of expecting the unexpected.
Whereas she feels like she’s safe, and isn’t prepared, and then this just happens! So it’s definitely going to change her – whether it changes her physiologically, I don’t know.
Speaking of changes, Simmons has always been on the practical, scientific side of the Marvel Universe. It’s going to be fascinating to see her literally plunged into these magical, alien elements.
[Yes,] now that she’s going to have experienced it. [Before] she would have looked at that rock and gone “For heavens sake, why are we scared of it?” I mean, she says just before, we could just drop a probe in there. She feels very secure in her science, and then this happens. It’s something that can’t explain, and that’s going to really freak her out.
Next: Elizabeth’s thoughts on revenge, revolution, and – of course – romance –>
On that note, do you think Fitz will freak out at Simmons’s presumed disappearance? How might he respond to this change?
Well, he’s just come from killing Gordon, so Fitz has kind of advanced more in combat than Simmons has. He’s been on a few missions now, and had to do actual, proper fighting. I think he’ll do whatever he can to figure it out, and having this renewed relationship, I think that he will have extra impetus to find out what happened. And you know, I think the whole team will – I’m hoping!
Or they’ll just be like, “Aw, never mind!” [laughs]
Of course, that renewed relationship with Fitz is one reason why Simmons’ disappearance is so painful. Many fans have been rooting for FitzSimmons since the pilot, but what are your feelings on their romantic developments?
Iain and I spent the first year of press saying “No, we’re like brother/sister, it’s kind of like a platonic relationship, family, family,” really believing it. You know, we’ve had so many conversations about “No, boys and girls really can be friends!” and then we spent all this time spinning stories that we believed, and then this finale, it was like, “Oh! So that was all untrue, then!”
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I think it can work both ways, but I think they’ve gone through so much together that, you know, who else is going to be their boyfriend of girlfriend at this point? How do you communicate with someone that has no idea what you face everyday? I enjoy them being together now, at first I didn’t think it was going to happen. The way that the story has gone, it totally makes sense that they would at least try – how far they get, who knows!
Simmons’s arc overall has been really compelling this season. Many fans have seen her moving in a darker direction, given her feelings on Inhumans and movements against Ward, but what are your thoughts on her development?
I think Simmons has always been very practical, and I think she’s always relied on the logic of science. It’s something that we haven’t necessarily seen from her before, but I don’t think her reacting in that way was really a change from what we’ve always seen her. She deals with specimens, so she gets in a mindset of curing viruses, and it being a bit of a mathematical problem that you save as many as you can.
And, you know, Bobbi said [that] in the finale when she was explaining to Ward. Everybody that signed up for S.H.I.E.L.D. said they’d make the best out of a bad situation. You save as many people as you can, if that means losing one person then you have to do that. So [Simmons has] always had that mindset, I think.
I wanted to play her thoughts and her view truthfully, I didn’t want to sugar-coat it. That’s a valid point, but it just wasn’t the most compassionate or the most wise opinion. And I think that’s what you see – you see her gain wisdom in the second part of the season, particularly when it’s to do with Skye. That’s a no-brainer for her, she’s very loyal to her friends. Then there was a complete switch of, “Oh, well actually, let’s not kill all Inhumans.” And she needed a dose of reality – that they’re humans too, and that it’s a life, and you can’t just be so clinical about it.
And I think the thing with Ward is that maybe… I would be interesting to see if her and Fitz continue on this good path, it would be interesting to see if her view of Ward changes. Because up until this point, she blames him for her losing her best friend. And it’s one of those things where, “Do whatever to me, but don’t you dare hurt that person.”
And Fitz is that person to her, and she hates [Ward] with pure venom. I think that she – I mean, she tried to kill him and she failed, and she would absolutely try again. And I hope that at some point she can resolve that; I don’t think killing him is going to resolve those issues for her. But that is one area that she isn’t logical in. She can’t see through the rage still.
Regardless of where her decisions fall out on a moral scale, Simmons always acts with incredible conviction. Where do you think she draws that from?
I think that she has a lot of confidence, and that’s what makes her have conviction. That’s something that was tested in this season – she thought that she could never be wrong, really, and she was proved wrong by finding out that Skye was an Inhuman, and therefore she was friends with one of the supposed enemies. So that’s when I think that she did the most growing.
And for a bit I think she was very unsure of herself – she didn’t know who to trust and didn’t trust her own instincts, whereas now I think she’s kind of come back around to being a just a bit more compassionate, really.
Simmons also doesn’t waste many words; her scenes are often very much to the point. How was that to play?
You have a sort of advantage when you have a shorter scene – you kind of just have to get stuff done. There was a scene with Fitz in the finale where Simmons is trying to explain that she has feelings for him that are stronger than friendship. That was a very short scene, and there was a lot to get across in those moments, and there was such a huge moment for them.
Jed Whedon and Maurissa [Tancharoen], who wrote the episode, Jed spoke to me. We talked a lot about that scene, because every line was so pivotal, I just wanted to make sure I was getting everything I could out of it. He was brilliant. The thing is, you can say a million things with a glance. So a lot of the time, having too much to say is not helpful. So it just means that you really have to think about what you’re saying, and why you’re saying everything.
This has been such an intense season, with incredible ups-and-downs for every character. Do you have a favorite moment overall?
I think probably my favorite scene was when Ward was back, and we were all in tac gear and all in the command center. He was trying to brief us all on this mission, and obviously there was so much tension against him, and it was the first time since season one that were all together, as the original six. And it was just really fun!
My favorite scenes are when we’re all in them, because we just have such a good time, and there’s a chemistry that has been built up that’s just from time and shared experiences that you can’t make up in an audition. But when you work with people and you love and you know them so well, it just pings for me.
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So yeah, I think was the most memorable moment – and also one of those times where you go, “Look how far we’ve come!” Look how everything’s changed, and how different people look. It’s a nice little anchor in the journey just to kind of take a moment and reflect on the past 44 episodes. It’s crazy, the amount of time we’ve spent together! So I think that was my favorite.
And then also, Simmons finally having that confession scene at the end. I was so happy that that was there. Because I didn’t think that that would come until way, way, way down the road – so that was a nice surprise!
What are you most looking forward to when filming begins for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3?
It’s like we’re all addicted to reading these scripts and finding out what happens next. I swear I’ve gone cold-turkey, and having that script every week, coming to your inbox, and it all being so secretive… so I can’t wait to get back in July and get on that train again.