[This story contains spoilers for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law episode five, “Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans.”]
On Tuesday night, Jameela Jamil repeated her mischief it-Hulk character, Titania, prior to her return to the series in the fifth episode, “Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans”. This isn’t the first time the British actress has used the method to promote the show, as she previously spray-painted the name Titania across the set of Sunset Boulevard. it-Hulk posters. Jamil’s last works began with the appearance in character at Kourtney Kardashian’s Boohoo fashion show and somehow ended up with her at McDonald’s in Times Square.
“I took it too far. … I went to officer the party. I partied with Dixie D’Amelio. I went to Times Square and walked up the iconic red grand staircase and worked up a storm. I went to McDonald’s, all in this fashion,” says Jamil The Hollywood Reporter. “The reason I like doing these things is because I’m tired of hearing about all these great actors acting a year before the project. What about actors who method act for a year after the project? This is the real deal. I’m kidding.”
Jamil also foreshadows what’s to come for Titania as her feud with Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters isn’t over.
“Oh, Titania is just like COVID. There is always a new variant of her bad mood that keeps coming back. It’s never over. She never knows when she will call it a day, and so it will come back. She’s just the thorn in Jennifer Walter’s side—a fabulous, glittering, diamond-encrusted thorn,” says Jamil.
In a recent conversation with THRJamil also explains why she has said no to Marvel auditions in the past.
So in the spirit of Titania calling her fans Titaniacs, you’ve named your fans Jamillionaires?
(laugh.) Oh God, no. It would be so terrible. No, I haven’t, and I won’t. I will not. I am English.
Well, I won’t put the name down like Titania did to Jen.
You snooze, you lose, Jennifer.
Courtesy of Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel
So why have you said no to Marvel auditions in the past?
Just because I’m so clumsy. I have a very shy run and would describe myself as a puddle of breasts. So that’s probably the general gist of why I didn’t think they’d like me and didn’t bother setting myself up for this rejection. But it turns out they did [want me]. They tricked me into getting this role and I’m so happy because [director] Kat Coiro saw something in me that I couldn’t see in myself. She was so relentless to me in the audition, and this role has now changed my life. Titania is and always has been my favorite Marvel character, and so I’m pretty stoked right now. I don’t really know what’s going on.
When you were coming up, did you ever imagine yourself playing a superhero or superheroes?
Definitely not. No way. I was a Pakistani Indian kid and there were no people who looked like me playing superheroes in comic books or on screen. We weren’t even playing love interests; we weren’t really there. We were just being mocked by white people pretending to be us based on stereotypes. So I never could have imagined that this would happen now. I wish I could get in a time machine and go back to tell my younger self that one day, representation would be there and that would be it.
So who had the brilliant idea to show up in character at a fashion show?
(laugh.) That was me. I took it too far. I showed up at [Kourtney] of the Kardashians [Boohoo] fashion show. I went to officer the party. I partied with Dixie D’Amelio. I went to Times Square and walked up the iconic red grand staircase and worked up a storm. I went to McDonald’s, all in this fashion. (laugh.) So it was one of the funniest things I’ve ever done, aside from spray painting the word Titania all over it-Hulk posters on Sunset Boulevard. The reason I love doing these things is because I’m tired of hearing about all these great actors acting a year before the project. What about actors who method act for a year after the project? This is the real deal. (laugh.) I’m kidding.
What can you say about the origin of Titania’s powers in the MCU? Because I know she was improved by Dr. Doom in the comics.
Well, she got them from Dr. Doom in the version I know. She was just desperate to have superpowers. I don’t think Titania was ever really evil. I don’t think she’s like a Thanos. I think she’s someone who just wanted to be famous and powerful and respected because she wasn’t when she was a kid. And so we can’t tell that story on this show, because that’s it [head writer] Jessica Gao’s 2022 LA iteration of Titania, which I also love. But I was able to use a bit of that just to show that it’s uncertainty that drives Titania’s every action. She’s very hungry for attention in a way that’s kind of greedy, but she’s also very, very key to playing a super influencer, many of whom are villains.
Looks like Titania isn’t done with her She-Hulk feud yet. What can you tease?
Oh, Titania is just like COVID. There is always a new variant of her bad mood that keeps coming back. It’s never over. Throughout the comic, she is never done. She never knows when she will call it a day, and so it will come back. I won’t say what she does, but she’s just the thorn in Jennifer Walter’s side—a fabulous, glittering, diamond-encrusted thorn.
How involved were you in the completion of Titania’s photography? Ms. Marvel? Did they have to clear it with you first?
They don’t have to ask for any permission. I had no idea until it aired. I found out from the fans who must have noticed my skirt. It was hard to tell, but they noticed my image. That’s how I found out from Marvel fans and their eagle eyes.
Courtesy of Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel
From her costumes to her hair and makeup, Titania certainly has some bold looks it-Hulk. Was every look already at eleven when you were first introduced?
They wanted to go for eleven just in general on her style and everything about her. We wanted to represent this kind of great character from the comics, but just updated so it feels current and present and now. Everything about Titania is over the top. Her hair is so big and her clothes are so extra. She is just desperate to be noticed all the time. She wants to absorb all the oxygen in the room, and so we did this with every possible inch of my body.
And it was also important to me that she looked very fake in every way. So I had big butt pads to make it look like she had injections. I had done all my makeup to look like I’d had plastic surgery, wrapping my lips and sticking out below my nose and exaggerating my cheekbones. I wanted everything about her to be the exact opposite of Jennifer Walters, who is very pure and very natural and very real. Titania had to scream uncertainty and yet feign complete confidence.
it-Hulk now streaming on Disney+. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
