Morena Baccarin is known for playing great characters, but Elena Fedorova in The Endgame might just be the most complex and challenging character Baccarin has ever played. Remezcla had a chance to speak with the actress about embarking on this new adventure, the kind of show The Endgame is and the twists coming our way.
And there are twists, that’s for sure. We’re only two episodes in, and the show has already managed to surprise us more than once per episode. “You got to pay attention to what’s going on, it’s not a brainless kind of show,” Baccarin shared with a laugh, as she explained why the show just draws you in immediately.
Off the bat, this show is about two women. Strong women, yes, women who fit no stereotypes, and who, above all things, get stuff done. “There’s a really strong emotional connection between the two women and their goals for the season,” the actress shared, something that’s obvious even if the two start out on opposite sides. But not much about this show is obvious, not to viewers, and not to Baccarin herself, who confessed she asked a lot of questions when she got the part.
“I wanted to know what the plan was,” she told us. “So, (going in) I knew a little bit about the little picture, but I still learned new things whenever a new script came out.” And though Baccarin promises there really is a great, orchestrated plan for the season, one of the best things about the show ends up being that “as soon as you think you know what’s going to happen, she (Elena) kind of pulls the rug from under you.”
She doesn’t do it the typical, way, either. And that’s great, because women, we aren’t just the facets we typically get to see on TV. We are many things, just as Elena Fedorova, who Baccarin advocated could be even more than what was on the script. “When I got this part I said, I think you should embrace the things about me that we can use on the show.”
This is how we end up with a main character who’s got very strong ties to Eastern Europe, but who is also half Brazilian, and who gets to speak Portuguese, and be authentic in a way that showcases that our communities are not just one thing, and that there isn’t just one way to be latine.
Just as there isn’t just one way to look it, as Baccarin, who spends much of the first two episodes in a beautiful blue dress that definitely doesn’t go with the prison she’s in, made clear. The dress – which Baccarin stumbled upon and fell in love with – is a testament to the work that goes on behind the scenes when a performer is committed to the role she’s playing. Plus, there are plot and visual reasons for dressing Fedorova in a bright blue dress, to contrast with the grey of the prison walls.
“It’s a distraction,” Baccarin shared, “from the fact that she’s got this incredibly complex plan laid out.” It’s the character playing on our expectations – as well as that of the other characters – and making everyone think she’s less smart than she is.
But Baccarin, who embodies this smart, confident woman who can be many things at once and will never settle for the box anyone else is trying to put her in – literally or metaphorically – needs no distractions. We already know not just how talented she is, but also how good she is at picking her roles. And that means we will happily follow Elena Fedorova wherever she wants to take us.
New episodes of The Endgame air Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.
