Interviewing Daredevil: The Hypothetical Process

I've been watching many interviews about Daredevil. I could keep tally marks of all the questions repeated across the board.

- You play a blind character. How did you prepare for that role? Was it difficult?
- You're part of the Marvel universe. Do you think you'll be part of the Avengers? Will be Avengers make appearances in your show? Who will be included in season two? What about such-and-such?
- What would you like to see happen in season two?
- (At cons mostly) What was your favorite scene to perform?
- In your opinion, who is the hottest female superhero? (don't get me started on that one)
- Did you read comics when you were growing up?

The interviewer in me wants to go "Just do your freakin' homework and don't ask the questions that have been repeated a dozen times!" But then the journalist in me really starts to think, and I realize that (like serial articles) you have to interview and write as if your audience knows nothing about the subject. So, all those basic questions will be asked as a baseline for the other questions. And, knowing that, I want to turn around and ask the interviewer: "What do you really want to ask?"

We all have those little questions that bubble inside when we watch episodes or interviews. Silly ones that never get into the actual interview, or at least never get recorded or aired. Mine, in particular for Charlie Cox/Daredevil, is: "Did you go around writing giant Zs over everything when you wore the black mask costume?"

Think about it. ;)

(Follow-up question would be: "Did you grow up with images of Zorro in the U.K., or is that just an American thing?")

But then... if you work for an entertainment medium (site, magazine, show, etc), you have to assume that your audience is somewhat knowledgeable about trends. And Daredevil should be recognizable enough that most viewers already know he's blind. And it doesn't take much thought to determine how the actors would prepare for such roles. The studio would hire a consultant who would temporarily train the actor in key points about being blind. The studio would hire a personal trainer who would kick the actors into shape (or, in Elden Henson's case, eat a bunch of doughnuts). The actors would also dive into the comics to learn as much about their characters as possible, then learn which angle (in terms of authors; Frank Miller vs. Brian Michael Bendis vs. et al) the studio is using to determine how to portray the characters properly. Knowing that should enable the interviewer to break away from the standard questions and concentrate on something different. Can you imagine how happy the actors would be to encounter something different?

So what else would I ask?

- You are now a recognizable figure in the fandom world. How has your daily life changed because of this? For example, are you stopped more often by fans on the street? Is your daily routine interrupted often, or are you still able to go through your day without incident?
- Similarly, your promotional tours are much larger than ones from other smaller-scale productions. How much time are you able to spend at home between traveling for interviews and shooting the new seasons?
- Charlie, how did you physically prepare for such a strenuous role? What, specifically, did you do to embody Matt Murdoch? When did you begin the workout sessions after gaining the role?
- Now that you've tucked a season under your belt, what, if anything, are you looking forward to with your character in season two? Are you planning to explore or play with any aspects?
- Charlie, you were selected from the Boardwalk Empire lineup to play Daredevil. What other roles, if any, helped you to prepare for your portrayal of Daredevil?

I imagine that interviewing for something like this is a weird balance between wanting to interview the actor as a person, and the actor as a representative for the show/franchise. More often than not, the actors are answering questions on behalf of Netflix and are limited to what responses they can give. Usually, you can notice a trend of the first time an answer is given (which is full of pauses and filler utterances and stammers as the actors figure out what to say and how to say it). Over time, as the question is asked repeatedly, the actors develop a script. Then they must determine how to respond with the same answer but in different ways, as if that was the first time they answered, and as if it was the first time they happily said, "That's a good question," to the same old thing.

I want to get them away from that script. I want to get to the person under the official mask.

I wonder how to get a job in an organization that would allow the questions I want to ask...

Praised Questions from a Literary Evening with Paula McLain

Oh, where to begin? I really should take better care of this blog and update a day or so after things happen, to keep everything up to date and short. So instead of bombarding everyone with a massive update, let's do this one at a time.

A few weeks ago, Mike and I attended a Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures Literary Evening with Paula McLain.  The author is an adorable woman who lives nearby (Cleveland--in author speak, that's nearby) and managed to succeed when she had a moment of "inspiration meets desperation." Her personal history is astounding and at the time of the idea for The Paris Wife, she had quit teaching just to write the book. She said that if this book didn't work out (because the first one had flopped), then she would apply at Whole Foods. After listening to her talk about letter writing, personal language, and writing lifestyles, she actually persuaded Mike to read The Paris Wife, which is a rather feminist novel. He hasn't yet, but one day he might. It's at least on his list. Apparently her next big project is a book about Marie Currie, the announcement of which got all of our attentions. If she did this well with Hadley Richardson (Ernest Hemingway's first wife and main character of The Paris Wife), I can only imagine what she'll do with Marie.

At every event, we are allowed to stand up and ask a question. Mike and I always do this at these events. His question was about whether McLain had pieces of Hadley that were still part of her, whether Hadley's personality changed McLain's. She had already talked about falling in love with the character and immersing herself in this woman's language (which everyone can read because Ernest kept all their letters to each other and they're available at a library somewhere on the east coast). The question literally knocked McLain back a few steps. She said that a few pieces of Hadley's personality were there, and talked about the interaction and influence that comes from working so close with a character.

My question came next (not many people were standing by this point). I asked about whether she had intended to create a triangulation of events--how taking The Paris Wife, The Sun Also Rises, and A Moveable Feast reveals a central point of truth about what actually happened--and what she thinks about it if she hadn't intended that. It knocked her back again, and she praised the second balcony (general admission seating) for the questions, calling us the literary scholar balcony. She answered that she had intended something of the sort, kinda, and then chatted about it.

The problem with only reading one book by a favorable author is that when you stand in line for a signing, you don't know what to say. This is especially true when you say what you wanted to during the Q&A session. So in line, I said "Hi," to her again and thanked her for answering my question. I hope that one day, I'll meet her again... Maybe as equals. It would be nice to have an author friend who lives close.