With two thrilling installments in the bag and on the eve of episode three, we were able to sit down with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier star Erin Kellyman to chat about her scene-stealing role as Karli Morgenthau, a.k.a. Flag-Smasher.
Marvel Studios has a long history of being tight-lipped about character and plot details when auditioning actors, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that Kellyman found herself in uncharted waters when she went in to read for her role, having no idea which character she was up for.
"Honestly, it was really difficult because I didn’t know what I was auditioning for. I knew that it was Marvel, but I didn’t know the character or anything like that or that she would necessarily be a villain or anything like that. They had given me direction on how to play it, but it was quite tricky to play it a certain type of way when I really didn’t understand what was happening."
While the comic version of Flag Smasher obviously inspired the creation of Karli Morgenthau, Kellyman was given enough creative freedom to make the character entirely her own, which worked in the series' favor as the two characters have very different motivations.
"The freedom was definitely there, but I did look into Karl specifically. I didn’t go ahead and read a full comic or anything like that, but I would research his character a little bit. I did want to stay, I wanted to read it and understand the basics of him, but I also wanted to stay away a little bit because they are so different now and she has been rewritten into this whole other person, so, I didn’t want to get them too mixed up."
Having already worked on a big-budget blockbuster in Solo: A Star Wars Story, Kellyman credits her experience on that film with preparing her for the new challenges and epic scale of joining the MCU.
"I think it probably made me - the sets and the way that they shoot and the size of the production even just down to how many people are working on these productions. They’re very similar and I feel like having been on Star Wars, it prepped me for Marvel because it is different, but I had kind of done it before. Like I’d been on these big sets with people that I’d seen on TV before, so yeah, I guess it kind of prepared me in that way."
Now, as for whether fans will get to see Kellyman don some version of Flag-Smasher's familiar black-and-white costume, or wield the character's spiked mace from the comics, she - with a very big smile - tells us that ,unfortunately, she doesn't.
"No, Karli - this is how I feel that they’re different as well, she’s very low-maintenance and just trying to get the job done, keep her head down. She hasn’t really got time for fancy clothes or fancy hair, she’s just trying to lay low and get the job done."
Check out our full video interview (which includes mild SPOILERS) with actress Erin Kellyman below, and please don't forget to like and subscribe!
Marvel Studios’ “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson aka The Falcon, and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier. The pair, who came together in the final moments of “Avengers: Endgame,” team up on a global adventure that tests their abilities—and their patience. Directed by Kari Skogland with Malcolm Spellman serving as head writer, the series also stars Daniel Brühl as Zemo, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, and Wyatt Russell as John Walker.