Courtesy of Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel
She-Hulk star Ginger Gonzaga has such a keen fashion sense that her own clothing ended up in the MCU.
Gonzaga plays Jen Walters/She-Hulk’s (Tatiana Maslany) best friend and paralegal, Nikki Ramos, and besides being an ideal companion that everyone dreams of having, Nikki’s eye for fashion stands out in virtually every scene of hers. Gonzaga credits costume designer Ann Foley for being so open to collaboration as wardrobe is a key component of Gonzaga’s process as an actor.
“I didn’t feel comfortable as Nikki unless she was wearing something a little defiant or something that she shouldn’t be wearing at work or something that’s a little too high fashion and really racks up her credit cards,” Gonzaga tells The Hollywood Reporter.
The original version of the character was always described as being “high fashion,” but the role ended up being rewritten to resemble Gonzaga herself. So the costume department took that idea a step further by actually buying the actor’s own clothes.
“Sometimes, they bought my personal clothes off me for Nikki. I lost a lot of wardrobe on this job, but they paid me for it,” Gonzaga says with a laugh.
In a recent conversation with THR, Gonzaga also discusses why she and Maslany got in trouble during their chemistry read.
Audition stories are usually a dime a dozen, but not in Marvel’s case. So how did your casting go down?
Well, I had worked with Kat Coiro before, so she put my name into the hat along with the casting directors [Sarah Finn, Jason B. Stamey]. So I got the audition, but for Marvel, you don’t know what you’re auditioning for. They use dummy sides, so you become like a detective trying to investigate. “It said the character is high fashion, so does that mean she’s this, this and this?” as you scour Wikipedia. But I just sent in a tape, and then I had a chemistry session on Zoom with Tatiana, which was really fun. I also improvised a lot. That’s always my test to see if people even want me there because I can’t help myself on set.
And then I did a different read, but they eventually kind of wrote this character, Nikki Ramos, for me, which was rad. They had a character, but they allowed it to have a lot of Ginger as Nikki. During my chemistry session with Tatiana, we kept gabbing and talking and getting in trouble. They had to stop us and remind us that it was an audition, so that was a good sign of our chemistry.
And what happened when the good news was delivered?
Oh my God, it’s highs and lows because I was like, “Woo-hoo!” and then my puppy decided to defecate in my living room. So I was literally cleaning up after my puppy as I was trying to celebrate that I was in the MCU, but it was still exciting. Honestly, it was in the middle of the pandemic, so I was just grateful to have a job and know that I would be working. It was a weird time for all of us, but to get such a special job during that time was a dream come true. It’s so wild.
So Nikki is Jen’s (Tatiana Maslany) best friend and paralegal, and she really goes out of her way for her friend. I know she’s similar to you, but did you pull anything from your own friends?
Yeah, I did insofar as I have a really wonderful squad of really powerful, supportive, emotionally intelligent, funny friends. We’ve cultivated each other and it’s great. So Nikki is very much a cheerleader for her friend, and she wants to see her friend reach her full potential. And she also communicates with the language of love. One of my best friends is Aisling Bea, the actress/comedian from This Way Up, and she and I operate very much like Jen and Nikki. And what’s funny is I had a weird role reversal where art imitates life. In one of the episodes, I’m flipping on a matcher app for Jen Walters, and I’m like, “Ugh, you can’t be dating these people. Let me flip, flip, flip.” And one time, when I went out with my friend Aisling Bea, she stole my phone and literally did that on my dating app. So I was like, “Aisling, stop it! This is literally a scene from She-Hulk! The roles are being reversed, and I don’t like it. I’m not in control.” So I do pull a lot from my really effing-funny friends.
When you’re acting with She-Hulk, what practical adjustments do you have to make?
I need to get my neck adjusted, which is very expensive. (Laughs.) Tatiana wears a weird rig where she has this green dead-eyed alien suspended two feet above her head. So I can’t look her in the eye most of the time, unless she’s on a riser, which is also very difficult. So they have to build these ramps for her. But a lot of the time, I’m looking up at this thing, and it’s just a weird thing to get used to. Otherwise, my eyeline, as Nikki, ends up being directly to She-Hulk’s boobs, and I can’t have that for nine episodes. So it’s a lot of that. But Tatiana’s physicality is always informing who the character is, even if I’m not looking her in the eyes. So it’s just a slight adjustment that kind of hurts your neck.
Courtesy of Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel
The series begins by asking this question, but in the real world, if someone acquired powers like Jen, do you think they are obligated to help others?
Oh my goodness, I would think so in that I feel like we all have a purpose. So I don’t think that would happen to someone unless they have the magic and the soul for the correct purpose. So it might be a burden to deal with it at first, but the universe or whatever gave you this for whatever reason. And that’s a nice allegory for everyone and what they’re really special at, whether you’re a really good singer, a good interviewer or a really intuitive therapist. Everyone has their own unique, weird power that can be a skill that they develop or they’re born with, and it kind of aligns with their purpose. So I don’t think it would be an accident if my friend suddenly became a Hulk, and I would hope that they would use that for some sort of bravery to help the world.
Nikki is very well-dressed like you mentioned. Did you and the costume designer have a good time collaborating?
Oh my God, yes. I’m very lucky that [costume designer] Ann Foley let me collaborate. I care so much about fashion, and it informs how I perform. So I really wanted Nikki to have such a specific look, and Ann allowed me to collaborate a lot. Sometimes, they bought my personal clothes off me for Nikki. (Laughs.) I lost a lot of wardrobe on this job, but they paid me for it. I was also able to design a lot of my hair and makeup looks with [key hair stylist] René Warnes. We really pulled a lot from the runway. I couldn’t do it technically, but Steven, my makeup artist, would paint this thing that I Google image’d. So it was an honor to be really collaborative with these artists and to have them understand how important it is to me. I didn’t feel comfortable as Nikki unless she was wearing something a little defiant or something that she shouldn’t be wearing at work or something that’s a little too high fashion and really racks up her credit cards.
***
She-Hulk is now airing on Disney+. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.