"Marvel's Jessica Jones" quite possibly broke the Internet after the television series' release. The Peabody-winning Netflix and Marvel collaboration has inspired conversations around both sexual assault and consent, as well as PTSD. And viewers are introduced to an unconventional, grittier female superhero.
Krysten Ritter, who plays Jessica Jones, doesn't think of herself as the superhero type.
She doesn't drink copious amounts of whiskey. She's not a sports fan, but she rooted for the Cavs during the NBA Finals because, well, "Lebron James is the sh--." She does, however, box three times a week, and is completely in awe of the response to "Jessica Jones" the character.
espnW spoke with Ritter and talked female superheroes, her killer 'Jessica Jones' workouts and what was really in all those cups of whiskey ("it's actually peppermint tea").
espnW: Were you expecting this kind of massive and positive response to "Jessica Jones?"
Krysten Ritter: It was definitely a surprise. It's so exciting. We all worked really hard on this show. I knew the show was special and am so proud of it, but the response and the life the show has taken on since coming out has just been amazing. Fans come up to me and see themselves represented through Jessica, which as an artist it becomes bigger than you. Since the show, I've been able to experience it in a totally different way. It keeps going!
espnW: Jessica Jones is not your typical superhero. She's reluctant to say the least, and she doesn't look the part. How did that inform your approach to the role?
KR: I love all of that about Jessica! I love that she's so left of center. I never imagined myself playing a superhero because I don't see myself the way superheroes have been portrayed or shown to me my entire life. And then, when I read the script and talked to Marvel and our show-runner, Melissa Rosenberg, I loved what they were doing. I just played her like a woman with a traumatic past, who is very strong. You don't meet Jessica at the beginning of her journey. You meet her at the beginning of this inciting incident of Kilgrave coming back into her life, but we're really meeting her at the end of a journey. I just felt like she was so strong and could handle anything. The superhero element, the powers, the strength, I didn't play as some supernatural thing, I tried to play it as real as possible.
espnW: I want to go back to what you said about not imagining yourself playing a superhero because you don't see yourself in the way those characters have been portrayed. What did you mean by that?
KR: Well, I think we all know what the drawings look like: an hourglass figure, the boobs, and the hair and all of that. I don't see myself that way; I don't think anybody sees me that way. Most women I know don't see themselves that way. That's why it never really crossed my mind, and I think that's why Jessica Jones is having such a big life and such a moment. She's unlike anything we've seen before, especially in this genre.
espnW: Did you have to your work out to prepare for the role?
KR: Oh my God, yes! I had to put on 10 pounds of muscle. I'm a lanky girl, naturally. I've always been gangly and long, and I didn't want it to look like I was going to break. So I did a lot of crazy training for the show, I'm in training now actually. It's fun; it's empowering; it helps me find my physicality. It also helps build up my [stamina] so I can do these long shoots. It's changed the way I've felt in my body because I'm not like [Jessica] at all. The physical transformation really helped me sort of find her and the weight of the world she carries around.
espnW: Ten pounds of muscle is a lot of muscle!
KR: Yeah, it wasn't easy. I ate so many hard-boiled eggs that it makes me want to puke just thinking about them. I felt good in my body. I felt strong; it changed my posture. I was probably delusional in thinking this, but I felt like I could defend myself if necessary. It's always fun to change it up and get outside your comfort zone. Typically, I would just go to spinning, Pilates, and yoga, which are things I absolutely love, but when you're sparring in a boxing ring you take on a whole other life form.
espnW: What is the "Jessica Jones" training work out?
KR: I box three times a week right now, and I'll go into doing heavy weights and circuit training. Last year, I had a much shorter amount of time to get ready, so that was five days a week for an hour and a half of hardcore training with a trainer over two months. I have more time, so I've been able to space it out. I started with five days of Pilates, and then incorporated three days of boxing. [Boxing] is a much harder work out; you've got to build up stamina.
espnW: Would you say you have a healthy relationship with your body?
KR: I do. What I love about Jessica and playing her, is that she's so refreshing, which I haven't thought much about before. I don't have to go through a lot of hair and makeup. I don't have to look pretty. I never felt pressured to be fresh and rested. I've played a lot of roles where I've been made up, in high heels, and tight dresses, and it was awesome to just be in dirty jeans and boots and sitting [cross legged] on the ground. I feel like now I've really embraced the low maintenance approach. If I'm not working, I don't even put makeup on. There's so much pressure that society and all the bullshit on social media puts on us, that if we take it back, if we care less maybe there won't be that pressure.
espnW: How did that work in terms of showing your body on camera?
KR: I didn't actually show a lot. There's no nudity in the show at all. I never felt like I was being objectified, or that they were gratuitous. They always felt like they came from inside the character, so I was comfortable with that. I'm not comfortable with the kinds of sex scenes that are like pornography and graphic, and relying on the woman to be sexy. I'm not interested in watching that or doing it.
espnW: It sounds like you derived a new sense of empowerment from doing this show.
KR: I think so! I've felt a responsibility in a lot of ways to carry this show and do this character justice. Like I said, I hadn't seen a character like this portrayed before and I wanted to it justice so that more will follow. They haven't really made a lot of female superhero movies, and they're always quoting the failures of "Elektra" and "Catwoman", two movies from forever ago. I've never seen "Elektra" or "Catwoman," but I would just hear about [them] a lot when originally prepping for the show. People would talk about no one watching female superhero movies, because of these two, and those movies are very old. We haven't tried. We haven't tried enough to say that female superhero movies haven't worked. "Supergirl" came out this year and also "Jessica Jones." People are eating it up, and obviously there's an appetite for it.
espnW: What's next for you?
KR: I just finished shooting a movie with a great cast called "The Hero" that will be out next year. I'm going to "The Defenders" and "Jessica Jones" season two, and right now I'm prepping for that. I'm writing a lot and taking time for myself. When I'm shooting, that's all I do. I have so many other interests, I'm trying to make time for all of it.