Daredevil Season Two is out in the world, and with it, we have gotten to know Elodie Yung’s version of Elektra, a complex character that fit seamlessly into the dark world of this Netflix series. She complicated Murdock’s life, adding some spice to every scene she shared with Charlie Cox.
Yung was interviewed by Den Of Geek, where she talked about her role on Daredevil. While her character was hyped as a sociopath before the season aired, she talked about how her role was about more than Elektra as a lone assassin.
I just thought that the way it was written initially was quite clever because we would actually see some of the previous relationship between Matthew and Elektra. I think that’s what was important to them, to get a sense of what this relationship was. It’s not about Elektra. It’s about the relationship between Matthew and Elektra and how Elektra coming back in his life today will have an impact on him. Showing how she became a killer and all that, that’s another story. I think what was really important in this season was to show that they loved each other and then something went wrong, and now she shows up again in his life, and how this will affect Matthew.
There was a lot of humor in the moments between Matt and Elektra this season. This comedic element was intentional, and a great part about their relationship both in the present day and in the flashbacks.
Oh yes, it was light and unexpected for her because she thinks that she knows pretty much everything. She’s traveled the world. She’s had men courting her and she’s quite bored about it. She doesn’t pay attention to that. She thinks he is one of them and actually he can see through the mask and straightaway he got her attention. He sees that she’s bored and she pretends to be the girl she pretends to be. So he got her attention. It was also one of the first scenes we had to shoot, Charlie and I. That was actually one of the audition scenes as well.
Of course, that audition scene was to determine if Yung and Cox had chemistry. Anyone that has seen Season Two knows that they most definitely do!
It was rounds and rounds of auditions before I got to the next level which was auditioning with Charlie. They call it a chemistry test, so they brought Charlie in the room and we had to do those scenes together and straightaway worked very well between us.
Despite being an accomplished martial artist herself, Yung says that the physicality of the role isn’t what interested her.
Oh, absolutely not. Not at all. It’s something that I enjoyed doing because I like to challenge myself. If it’s anything challenging, I like it and it’s quite challenging and demanding to do action scenes. So I enjoyed doing it but it’s definitely not something that I wanted to do. I liked the other aspects of acting which is getting in someone’s skin, getting to understand how emotionally someone functions. All those aspects were what I really enjoy. The good thing about Elektra is she has both. I could enjoy the fighting because that’s part of her character. She’s a very well trained killer. I got to do all that but she’s also a very complex character. This is really what I enjoyed doing with this character, just to explore and try to understand her. Trying to understand her was just a fun, fun task for me because she is hard to get. She is really hard to understand.
Elektra is a character that has been around in the comics for decades, and who has had previous appearances in film. As far as the pressure that Yung has felt, well, she didn’t really think about it until people started asking.
You have to let go and do what you think is right. I never thought of it before but now that I’m doing a few interviews and hearing that, I still don’t feel the pressure to be honest but I’m hoping that people will love this Elektra that I’m presenting her as much as I loved her, because I really cared about her and I just hope that they will welcome her. But if not, Elektra will move on. It’s fine.
It’s no secret that superhero costumes are not known for their comfort, but rather the look. With that being said, Yung went on to describe the less-than-glamorous first-wearing of the Elektra costume.
When I wore it at first, it needed a bit of work to be practical so I wanted to be very comfortable. We needed to do tweaks to be able to move and do all the crazy choreography. Then once this was done, then when I saw myself in the mirror I said, “Okay, I get it. I’m badass. I’m ready to go and kill people, no problem.”
While Elektra is Greek, Yung is from France, and didn’t make major changes in her accent for the role. Yung explains the worldliness of her embodiment of the character.
Yeah, she’s Greek in the comics. This is not something that they insisted on, the writers and Marvel. I think what they were looking for is someone who could embody a character, a woman that has traveled, that came from Europe, that had a weird accent and they were quite happy with mine. I guess it’s not a Greek accent but I don’t believe that Elektra, who’s traveled the world, would have a thick Greek accent anyway. So she has Greek ethnicity, that origin but that’s not something we address really in our version. Although it’s mentioned in the first series, but I think what they’d like is to have this European accent.
Already being a fan of Daredevil should have helped Yung get the part, except she didn’t know that she was auditioning for Daredevil.
Well, when I was auditioning I didn’t know it was Daredevil. Everything was secret. They’re secret agents. They wouldn’t give you any clues. I was a big fan of the show and I think it helped me, once I got the part, to really understand the world that they live in. It helped me during shooting. Other than that, not really because it was really a blind audition. Like, “Okay, just go in the dark and have fun.” I just didn’t know what it was for.
I really liked the show so I was very excited about this. Yes, all the stuff while I was doing the second season, I was already relating to the first season. I knew the world and I knew the fact that this was a very grounded superhero show, which to me actually wasn’t like a superhero show. It was more about the characters. I cared about Karen. I cared about Foggy. I cared about Matt Murdock when I was just a fan and just watching the series. Knowing I would go into this world which is a very grounded, gritty and dark show, it was a plus for me to know that.
Coming in on the second season of a show could be awkward, but Yung says that Cox made her feel right at home.
When I got on the show, Charlie was like, “Elodie, I know what it is to be on the second season of a show. It’s not always easy so let’s just organize a little dinner for us just to get to know each other.” He was just an English gentleman. It was so nice of him, so it was good.
The results of that partnership were also good. If you haven’t seen Elodie’s version of Elektra in Season Two of Daredevil yet, it is streaming exclusively on Netflix. If you have, let us know what you think about her and the show in the comments!
Source: Den Of Geek.
