Simone Missick spoke to Hypable about her groundbreakingly amazing role of Misty Knight in Marvel’s Luke Cage.
Marvel’s latest Netflix collaboration hit the internet today, starring Mike Colter as the titular man with unbreakable skin. But while Colter’s reluctant hero takes center stage in Luke Cage, fans are already enraptured by the series’ female protagonist, Misty Knight.
Simone Missick plays the streetwise Harlem detective, rapidly established as unswervingly dedicated, cuttingly intelligent, and fearless in pursuit of her goals. In her deft and versatile performance, Missick represents the first black woman to play a lead role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It’s not an easy task — but Missick is happy to take it on.
“It’s great to be able to play just a strong woman — and to be black! Because I’m that every day!” she laughs. “I can’t take it off!”
While Missick admits that there is “a certain amount of pressure to be true to who you know the fans love, and who the fans want to see,” she also felt that “as an actor, you just have a responsibility to tell a story.”
“It was exciting to be able to tell this kind of story — to have this character, who’s got so much history, who’s so strong, who’s so badass, but then you see the beginnings of where that comes from,” Missick says. “I think that it is time to see Misty onscreen. It’s amazing that she hasn’t been explored before, but I’m just thankful that I’m around to be the one to do it!”
Missick is also keenly aware of the impact that Misty will have as an exhilaratingly competent Black woman.
“I think it’s important for women to recognize, of all ages, that they don’t have to diminish their light,” she says. “That they don’t have to shrink themselves to be powerful, that they can stand in their power and ascend.”
Speaking of a scene in Luke Cage where Misty speaks with another high ranking detective — also a Black woman — Missick observes that “Those two women… are both very confident in what they’re doing, and both very well-accomplished and decorated. And they’ve gotten that way, to that level of their career, not by shying away and hiding their light and deferring to men, but by doing an amazing job.”
“So I hope that young girls and women recognize that we are powerful, and we are strong, and we can ascend to ranks that men are traditionally in,” she adds.
And speaking of other powerful women, Simone Missick is wryly amused by the idea of a confrontation between Misty and Jessica Jones — Luke’s previous (and extremely tumultuous) love interest.
“Jessica has superhuman strength. Misty has a bionic arm,” Missick says carefully. “And Misty’s from Harlem. So, she fight a little dirty, I’m just gonna say that!”
“But,” she adds, “I don’t see why they would fight! They would be friends. They would totally identify with each other and go and have beer.”
Marvel’s Luke Cage is now streaming on Netflix.
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