Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
DC StudiosMax is an animated show for adults Creature commandos surprised fans new and old. He was not alone his first season Another amazing show to add to Juggernaut’s phenomenal repertoire of series in the comics, and a harbinger of what’s to come It will look like the future of DC Studios Under the guidance of James Gunn. It certainly didn’t hurt that it had all the talent, humor, heart and sex appeal that’s previously unheard of for a DC project.
It’s very similar Suicide Squad (Gunn’s version), Creature commandos sees a strange assortment of DC oddballs tasked with completing deadly missions fit for a monster. Among the rejects, the main role is Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), The Bride (Indira Varma), GI Robot (Son Gunn), Weasel (also Sean Gunn), Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Dr. There is Nina Mazursky (Zoe). Chao), Frankenstein (David Harbour) and Circe (Anya Chalotra).
While many of the above characters are initially shown to be more than they seem as a force for good throughout the show, Princess Ilana Rostovitch proves to be quite the opposite. In tandem with the show’s season finale, we spoke to Princess Ilana actor Maria Bakalova to ask her if those fluttering eyelashes and Disney Princess front are real or just playing on audience sympathy.
This interview has been edited for brevity.
Isaiah Colbert, io9: This isn’t the first time you’ve worked on a James Gunn comic book project. Your first was at Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 like the talking space dog, Cosmo. What drew you to another Gunn endeavor?
Maria Bakalova: This is James. I’m just a huge fan of everything he does. He’s such a master storyteller in the way he builds characters, the way he builds stories (and) the way he tells stories (and). This is unusual.
You can always find his signature thanks to the humor, the love in these characters and the idea of finding your place in life and finding people you can identify with. You can find a degree in the family of your choice. You can make friends and you can feel like you belong somewhere, I think as humans we’re always like, “I want to belong somewhere. I want to be seen by someone. I want to be understood by someone.” we see this with Creature commandos. We saw it with this Guardians of the Galaxy.
All of these projects have these misfits, monstrous beings, who are somehow united by the idea that they are outsiders in the world and don’t fit in anywhere. However, they may end up being the ultimate heroes, and you’ll find yourself falling in love with them, rooting for them, wanting them to succeed in their mission. Although I’m a little biased here (and) I don’t want them to kill my princess, let’s say she’s part of the creature commando team, because I don’t want to go to jail either.
io9: Creature commandos It’s filled with a cast of characters who aren’t what they seem at first glance, including Ilana. Throughout the show, Ilana transforms from being a Disney Princess-type figure to a cold and cunning villain. How did you balance those two different tones between his character?
Bakalova: Ilana is a character I haven’t played before. I’ve started working on a lot of interesting projects that are very different from each other, but I’ve never played a villain before. I haven’t played someone who uses manipulation to get what they want. Sacrificing one’s dignity and humanity to achieve the goal of power and control over society. It is interesting.
I’m always interested in how people get to this place and how they go from it being just a thought to actually taking action. She is a complex woman. She can seem innocent and fragile and really in need of protection. But he’s not as stupid as he plays, and he’s not as fragile as he wants people to think he is.
Even though she showed herself a little bit in front of Rick, “I’m a woman and I get what I want. I know I can handle a lot. I don’t need a boy. I want a man.” Maybe it’s not what he thinks. He wants to play with his charm, he wants to play with his femininity. He wants to play with the idea that he’s not dangerous, he’s in danger – when he’s the biggest threat of them all.
I played something similar in 2020 trying to convince people that my character was a real person. Borat (Next Movie). Sometimes you have to let people believe what they want to believe, and I think that’s what he’s all about. He just lets Rick and the creatures believe they need to protect him. So he plays like, “Okay, I need protection, just stay out of my way.”
Later we reveal that he is a completely different person, especially when he speaks his own language. He is a monster. He has terrible ideas about the future. Yes, he is an interesting character to play.
io9: You mentioned Snake having an affair with Rick Flag – an unprofessional one – which leads to a funny scene where Dr. Phosphorus covers their intimate relationship. James Gunn shared a clip on the social network where you kiss the back of your hand to make that noise. Was it a scene that required a proximity coordinator, or was it just a matter of going into the booth and doing as many shots as needed to work?
Bakalova: No. As much as I think if you need an intimacy coordinator, for this particular scene, at the end of the day, I personally didn’t. If I needed someone to be with me, I could always ask for it. It’s always an open conversation with James and everyone behind DC.
But what James is good at is always using humor. Yes, it’s adult animation, but it’s made with a lot of humor. It’s not that serious. Even looking at the scene itself, we listen to the people in front of the door being so angry and violent. And it’s like, ‘How long is this going to last? What even happens? ” It doesn’t look like a romantic scene. not like Beautiful Woman. It’s a scene about two characters who somehow, let’s say, use passion to distract themselves from real danger and real trouble. And funny. It’s funny.
They shouldn’t, but they do that. Rick realizes it’s none of his business, but he does it anyway. Ilana knows she shouldn’t because she might expose herself, but she does. And it’s weird. And funny. And it’s weird.
It was fun to hang out with him because Creature commandos it’s a great show. It’s a multi-layered show full of characters, locations and music. It’s beautifully edited and a lot of fun too. It’s not heavy and it’s not finger-pointing (this is wrong, this is right). It’s a fun show. Dark but fun. I didn’t need an affinity coordinator. I don’t know about Frank (Grillo). Maybe if he needed one, he would have, but we had so much fun doing it.
io9: Speaking of darker moments, in the sequel from Circe, we see Serpent take over the world and kill the pantheon of DC heroes, including Peacemaker and the Justice League, including Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman. Which member of the Justice League do you think would be the most ruthless towards Snake and why?
Bakalova: Oof! Maybe if I had known that the Bride would kill me, I would have been the most cruel to her. This is my worst enemy because I can fool almost anyone, but the bride is my biggest problem.
io9: Throughout the show, Serpent’s villainous status is played ambiguously, as the creature’s commandos run into whether or not Sirkin’s views are true. All of this wasn’t helped by Snake endearing himself to characters like Flag and Weasel. Was the snake’s love for them real or a facade?
Bakalova: I think it’s a bit of a facade. Maybe with Weasel, (it’s) not much of a facade. But to be completely honest, you just have to play the game. If he wants to achieve his goal, he just wears a mask that he is very fun, cheerful and enjoys interacting with them. At the end of the day it is very fake. He has a greater mission. He has dominion over the world. If he has to pretend he likes them a lot, he’ll like them.
Maybe when we’re not around, he kicks Weasel and leaves when Flag isn’t around. Maybe there is someone else to have fun with. I don’t think he has any empathy for them.
io9: Even though your character dies at the end Creature commandosare there any other comic book roles you’d like to play?
Bakalova: Who knows? I’ll keep it to myself for now, but sure. I want to play some more comic roles.
All seven episodes Creature commandos It airs on Max. A second season is on the way.
Want more io9 news? Check when the latest is expected Marvel, Star Warsand Star Trek releases, why next The DC Universe in Film and TVand everything you need to know about its future Doctor Who.
