Briana Venskus – Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

By starrymag | May 10, 2019

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) What are the recent projects you are working on?

A) I was doing “Good Trouble” and then “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Then, I did “The Walking Dead” this past year for Season 9. So, yeah, I’ve been hopping around and going a little bit of everywhere.

Q) Were you filming any of it at the same time?

A) I was! I was flying back and forth from “Agents of SHEILD” to “The Walking Dead.” So, I would be between Los Angeles and Atlanta. Then, when I was shooting “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” the show “Good trouble” started so I was going back and forth between them. It was definitely a busy year!

Q) What can you tease is in store for “Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D.” this season and and Agent Piper?

A) This season is going to be bananas! [laughs] I know they showed part of the first episode at WonderCon this year. But there is definitely going to be more of Piper. You’re going to see a little more of her personality, I think. You are also going to see a little bit of a bromance with her and Max’s [Osinski] character, Davis. We get to kind of team up this year, which is great.

Q) What continues to challenge you about your portrayal?

A) For that show, I think it’s an acting challenge. I want to make her the most well-rounded that I can while also still understanding that she is running around fighting aliens that are not real. [laughs] So, I think the biggest challenge is keeping it grounded and if this was actually happening what would I be doing. It’s keeping it fun and light. The one thing I love about “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is that it has such a great element of humor to it. It’s very witty, sharp and smart. I just love the way that they write so it kind of makes my job easy. So, I think mostly it’s just making sure that those words come to live through the snarkiness that I present. [laughs]

Q) What kind of physical prep goes into preparing for the role?

A) There are some really cool stuff that we did. It’s so funny because we shot the season so long ago it feels like. It literally feels like we shot this a whole year ago, which it almost is. There is a lot this year that just involves a lot of stunts, which is great. We have such a solid stunt team on the show and they are just really incredibly talented people. But a lot of the stuff I actually got to do myself this year, which is really great. I did a lot of work with the stunt girls in terms of being thrown into things and being tossed into stuff. There is a lot of really interesting camera work that we’re doing this season that I think personally. I mean, the show has always kind of been ahead of its time in terms of how it shoots action sequences and regular back and forth shots. I think that this season really combines a lot of the stunts and puts some interesting camera work to use, which I think makes it look so cool. The show just looks so unique and the visual effects this season are just out of control. I don’t even know how they do it because it looks awesome!

Q) Was there anyone you were looking forward to working with more this season?

A) Yeah, I love working with Elizabeth [Henstridge]. I’ve worked with Chloe [Bennet] a bunch. I’ve kind of been around Clark [Gregg] a bunch and Ming [Wen] obviously. Henry and I kind of had a little back and forth a couple seasons ago, but I really hadn’t worked with Elizabeth that much. I get to work with her more this year, which is great because she’s so insanely talented, so sweet and just such a goofball offset. She’s extremely talented, too. This year she was doing a lot of shadowing of the directors and kind of learning that side of things, which was really awesome. She’s just so lovely and I’m so glad I got to work with her one on one.

Q) For this season are you able to tease some favorite moments that fans can look forward to seeing?

A) I don’t know what I can tease. There is one episode in particular where…I’ll just put it this way, there is one episode where Piper is the only one that knows what is going on. Everyone else is a little…What’s the right word to use without giving it away? Out of sorts. Everyone is a little out of sorts and Piper is the only one who has her shit together. So… [laughs] That was a fun episode because it’s always difficult when you are playing the person…When it feels like you’re the only one who has their shit together it is almost really boring, but I found this episode to be fun because I got to run around, be snarky and make fun everybody, which is great.

Q) Is there any bit of Briana in Piper?

A) Oh 100%! [laughs] I would say there is a large portion of Briana in Piper. The cool thing about the character was that when it was first brought on the show it was maybe supposed to be a minor recurring character that would kind of come and go in a couple episodes. I think I hit it off with the cast and the writers saw that a lot of myself to the show. So, in episodes they really started writing more towards the tone that I presented – that kind of snarky, back-handed compliment tone of voice. One of my favorite writers on the show, Drew [Greenberg], have like a twin brain when it comes to snarkiness. So, his episodes you can almost always tell which they are because it’s so me. The words come out of my mouth are clearly words that I would also say. So, it’s even easier to present it as Piper because I’m like, “Oh yeah, I would say that, for sure.” [laughs]

Q) What do you continue to love about portraying her Piper?

A) I think the coolest thing about it is suspended belief. The world that Marvel has kind of given us to play in is so interesting. This season you’ll see. It’s just so out there. They have such an insane imagination as to what is possible. So, I think as rooted as you can be in a character (and obviously half the fun is being the character) the different scenarios that you get thrown into every season and every episode are just so unique and unlike anything I’ve ever done on television, for sure. Especially in the Marvel universe, when you look at it Avengers obviously have a unique place that they travel in all of their stories. For something that is on TV and something that is accessible, for an actor like me when you think of the Avengers I think of Robert Downey Jr. and all these very well established people. But to have moved to LA, get a role on this show and still be able to experience the storylines of the same caliber, but for myself, is really, really cool.

Q) We loved seeing you also on “Good Trouble.” What did portraying Meera mean to you?

A) I really love that role. I’ve always been a bit of a character actor. I’ve hopped around on a bunch of different shows. I did “Grace and Frankie” and I did Let’s Be Cops. I’ve done different, unique characters. What I really loved about Meera was she was just a normal person. It sounds odd, but I just hadn’t played that much. [laughs] I just hadn’t played a person that sits down and has a conversation about their fiancée or has a conversation with their fiancée’s ex. I really loved when I auditioned for the show I auditioned with a scene from later in the season. I think it was maybe episode 11 or 12 where I’m sitting with Alice (Sherry Cola) and I’m kind of having a heart to heart with her about how Sumi’s (Kara Wang) really difficult, but I think you’re awesome and really funny. I just want you to know that I think you’re really cool. It was just one of those leveling conversations where you kind of get to be a decent human. I, honestly, up to that point had never done one of those in my career. So, that was really special to me to kind of just show a different side of what I’m capable of and to show that I can kick ass and run around with a gun, but I can also be sweet and have feelings. [laughs]

Q) You posted on social media that you stated you had gone to a casting call for a role that you didn’t get because you didn’t look “authentically LGBT” enough. I thought your post was great because the industry needs to stop pigeonholing characters as stereotypes and people as certain looks. I’d love to know how it felt to see that post get such positive traction and open a dialogue about stereotyping for LGBT roles.

A) Oh man! That was like the coolest. Honestly, I was so nervous about putting that out there just because a person I’ve never really considered myself…I don’t want say “whistleblower” because it sounds controversial, but I’ve never really considered myself so much of a person that is out there to make a statement and kind of overthrow some sort of set way of life. That was just something that was so personal to me and I think that it really just hit me in a way that I just felt really deeply offended within my being. I was like, “What?! That doesn’t make any sense.” So, I decided to put something up and almost immediately I started to get really lovely feedback, especially from my closer friends and friends that work in the industry. I would get messages and they would be like, “Who was this?! Who said it?! Tell me where they are and we’ll beat them up!” [laughs] It was sweet. Not actually go beat them up, but being protective. It was really lovely and I think it just kind of shows even more so how many people feel that way and how many people they are not being represented correctly on shows. It spoke obviously to a larger issue and I’m just glad it could even provide a brief moment of shining some light on that. I think in the long run it got a lot of a people’s eyes and I did a little interview with Bustle, too, which was great. The more people that have those thoughts in the back of their head I feel like the more progress is going to be made. That’s the biggest thing. If anything, I just planted little seeds that maybe the next time a casting director doesn’t think a person looks gay enough they’ll be like, “Wait a minute. That’s not the right way to look at this.”

Q) Getting to be on such the LGBT friendly show “Good Trouble” must have meant a lot to you.

A) It was really lovely. Honestly, what they are doing on that show (between Bradley [Bredeweg], Peter [Paige] and Joanna Johnson]) they have created such a space for young stories…Not even young stories, but for kids who are coming up who may feel overwhelmed by the number of options we have in this day and age with you can be this or that or you can be this way that I think there is just so much coming at young people right now. Even adults! I think the show does such a great job at providing a discourse and conversation about all these options and these choices and it does it in a way that it really makes you feel accepted no matter what you choose. I think that’s the kind of content. When I was on that show and I ended up having the role that I did I was like, “Yes! This is an important project because it opens that dialogue and it is nonjudgmental and it’s there to show you what life can be like without any of the bullshit.” Which is awesome because that’s what life is! I look at my friends and it’s like the smartest group of people and they are all different shapes, colors and sizes. It’s just really lovely to see that come to life on TV from people who are as smart and as fun as they are.

Q) What can you share about Meera and Season 2 of “Good Trouble?”

A) You know, I don’t know much about what is happening with Season 2 of “Good Trouble” because I got married at the end of Season 1. So, I’m still waiting to see what is in store for Meera with that one. They did just start filming it though and I think it starts airing in June again, which is awesome. So it will be right back on air.

Q) And with Beatrice on “The Walking Dead?”

A) With “The Walking Dead” we’ll see. Oceanside is still out there kicking in the world. So, I’m interested in seeing where they come to play in Season 10 and if in any respect. I love Atlanta and I love going back in to play with those guys. That’s also something I’m looking forward to.

Q) We’ll cross our fingers then that you avoid the Whisperers.

A) I feel like I’m pretty crafty on that show. If I still haven’t bit the bullet I feel like she’s got a little something up her sleeve that nobody else has. I think I can avoid them for now. [laughs]

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way to connect with your fans?

A) It’s funny, in this day and age I think if you choose the life of an actor and are public on social media or in some sort of influential position, I think it’s almost… A lot of people are like, “I don’t want to dive into that. Social media is just for pictures of me doing things.” I’m like, “No!” If people are following me and they are looking to see what I’m doing, how I live my life is a very big part of what I present to the world, which is social media. So, if something stands out to me, I have to say something. The way that people connect with me online through Twitter and Instagram – even in person if I see them on the street sometimes – it’s lovely to kind of know that there are people out there who benefit from someone saying something or a benefit from someone living a certain way and going like, “You know, I wasn’t sure about this, but then I saw your post or you went and did that and I went and did it too and it made me feel really good about myself. Now, this is my new trajectory is to be positive about myself and move forward and take no bullshit.” I think that’s great. Honestly, if you are going to use a social media platform for anything it should be for that type of message and not the self-publication nor anything like that. It should be to benefit the greater good.

Q) What would your dream role be?

A) Oh man! I was actually just talking to someone about this the other day. I was like, “I really want to get on a procedural. I want to be like a badass detective like a ‘Law & Order: SVU’ type of thing.” I grew up watching “Law & Order” so for me growing up being on the show was like the pinnacle for me. [laughs] That was like the top. I would love to do that. They are rebooting “The L Word” and I really want to be on “The L Word’ reboot. It’s so iconic and for it’s time it was groundbreaking so I can only imagine what they are going to do with it now. I think that’s like a dream role. I think getting on “The L Word” be legit. It’s crazy when you even look back a few years how much TV has changed and how much we’re now willing to talk about. It’s so funny because I feel especially with the way it is happening people are like, “Oh! The world is changing so fast! All of these new things are coming out of nowhere.” I’m like, “No. They were always there. We’re just finally talking about them. Gay people didn’t just pop up out of nowhere.” We have all these people who identify as something different now or are really using the plus in LGBTQ+. It’s not like these people weren’t there before. They didn’t just pop up because somebody said they could. They’ve always been there, but now is just the time to kind of let them have their moment in the sun and really show their stories, talk about it and dive into this population of people that have kind of gone unnoticed. I think if TV can kind of continue in this direction and storytelling can continue in this direction, I think it’s going to be a really great couple of years of content for people and its’ going to be very eye opening.

Q) On a side note, I’d love to thank you for taking your time to go to all of these conventions and speaking up and giving others the opportunity to speak up and share their experiences.

A) It’s been really, really wonderful. I just went to ClexaCon in Las Vegas. I went last year and it was really, really wonderful. This year has been kind of touched a little bit more on the creation of content and kind of our representation in the media and how we can move forward through what we have just been given and how we can start creating our own name for ourselves. And I think that was really lovely and it is such a unique convention that gives so many people hope for seeing themselves on TV and seeing themselves in the world, really. So, it’s been awesome. I’m glad people respond really well to them. Honestly, I think there is no worth in my opinion if you don’t hear the other person’s opinion. It’s a back and forth. You can’t just be yelling at a brick wall. You have to really do a give and a take and understand that you’re only a part of a story. You have to respect and honor other people’s journeys as well. I’m glad that it can translate and people can feel it is a positive way to be and to communicate. Hopefully, we can just get some more of that in the future.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and the work you do?

A) First of all, obviously thank you. It’s like a small, but mighty coalition of people who really adore the stuff I do. I mean, it’s great. For me, it’s so fun to just connect with people and talk to them. A storyteller and an actor are really nothing without the people who are taking in the story from them. So, I clearly could not do this without them. And also, too, I just think the interactive space that we’re in where people can reach out to you and tell you what this episode means to you or how much they like you on this is a special way to kind of connect with people. Keep it up. Keep saying hi. The more I do the more I hope people keep watching and steamroll it into a little army of people who love watching my shows.