Krysten Ritter has won plaudits for her performance as a private investigator with superpowers in the hard-hitting Marvel television adaptation, hotly tipped to win big at the Emmy Awards in September.
"This was always meant to be this dark, gritty, grounded psychological character study," she told the audience at a screening and panel discussion in Hollywood on Tuesday.
"So at that point I'm like 'Where do I sign? Give it to me.' And then Jeph [Loeb, executive producer] locked me in a room and took away my cell phone and I read the script and every page just got better."
"It was like everything I'd always dreamed to do, from walking around looking cool to doing these cool action sequences to having this really vulnerable, heavy dramatic work," she said.
Jessica Jones is the second Marvel television conversion after Daredevil, to form part of a "groundbreaking deal" with Netflix, which committed in 2013 to four 13-episode series culminating in a miniseries "programming event."
Ritter's co-star Mike Colter, who plays Jessica's love interest, is getting his own spin-off series, "Luke Cage," which is due to air later this year.
The pair are due to team up with Charlie Cox, the titular character in Daredevil, and Finn Jones, who will portray Iron Fist, in ensemble show The Defenders, at a date yet to be announced.
Cast members Rachael Taylor and Carrie-Anne Moss, best known for her role as Trinity in The Matrix, were also at the screening, with series villain David Tennant beamed into the Paramount Pictures studio from his office in Britain via Skype.
"It's four in the morning here, I'm wearing my pajamas," Tennant joked – gesturing to his off-screen bottom half, when it was put to him that he inspired fear.
Tennant, known worldwide as the Tenth Doctor in long-running BBC sci-fi drama Doctor Who, recalled initially seeing the part of bad guy Kilgrave in Jessica Jones as "a gamble."
"You just read the script and you go 'Well writing isn't this good normally – these scripts are just perfection.' So I just thought this is a gamble worth taking."
Netflix confirmed that Marvel's critically acclaimed series Jessica Jones hits production for another 13-episode season in 2017. First season showrunner Melissa Rosenberg will be back leading the show for its sophomore season.