Marvel’s Newest Superhero Takes the Wheel

Seija Rankin
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On the day of Geraldine Viswanathan’s THR interview, the actress is in the middle of an overstuffed week of promotion for her starring role in Ethan Coen’s latest film, Drive-Away Dolls, which, until that point, was the biggest thing to happen to her career. But Viswanathan, 28, also was just cast in Thunderbolts, Marvel Studios’ next tentpole. She replaces Ayo Edebiri, who had to depart for scheduling reasons but offered her an “epic” handoff. “Ayo and I go way back, and she’s actually looking after my car right now in L.A.,” says Viswanathan. “That Kia Nero is the love of my life, and Ayo is one of my closest friends. She was really instrumental in my decision to take the role, and it’s been nice to be able to talk about it with somebody who knows what it is.”

Thunderbolts comes swathed in the level of secrecy that is now expected of Marvel movies, and Viswanathan is hesitant to cross any of those lines, but she can say that the material (and the filming experience) will be in stark contrast to Drive-Away Dolls. The dark comedy, written by Coen and his wife Tricia Cooke, is a lesbian road trip saga in which Viswanathan’s Marian and her best friend Jamie (Margaret Qualley) inadvertently drive to Tallahassee with some very sought-after (and R-rated) cargo. It’s a bit of a return to delightfully-filthy form for the actress, who first broke big in Kay Cannon’s 2018 virginity-truce comedy Blockers but has spent the interim years in less bleep-able projects like Bad Education, The Broken Hearts Gallery and Cat Person. “I’m just trying to hit all the different ways that I can be in a dick movie,” she laughs. “This time, I’m quiet and shy.”

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Her character, Marian, is the straight man — too shy to date, leaves the gay bar to read Henry Miller – to Qualley’s more brash and sexually emboldened Jamie. Viswanathan at first gravitated towards the latter role, as she’s more used to playing the more audaciously comedic roles. But she soon realized how much she related. “I got to connect with my introverted side; I can be shy and very sensitive and quite romantic,” she says. “And also, I hadn’t gotten laid in a long time.” She says that, ironically, Qualley first auditioned for Marian, but Ethan Coen called her to let her know that the role was already spoken for (by Viswanathan) and express his interests in her playing Jamie. “We wound up being told we had the roles at around the same time because I remember I saw she started following me on Instagram, and then I got a DM saying, is this real life? I was like, aha, she’s been cast.”

Viswanathan (left) and Margaret Qualley in a scene from Drive-Away Dolls.
Viswanathan (left) and Margaret Qualley in a scene from Drive-Away Dolls.

Though Drive Away Dolls isn’t technically a Coen Brothers Film in the true sense of the phrase, it retains many of the filmmaking duo’s signifiers: a strong supporting ensemble (this time it includes Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo, Matt Damon and Beanie Feldstein), a noir vibe, and a bit of gratuitous violence. To prepare, Viswanathan rewatched all of their films, a practice she calls a mistake. “I thought it would be educational, or helpful in finding a tone and stylistic choice, but it just made me super intimidated,” she says. “I just really wanted their approval.”

Drive Away Dolls will release almost six years after Blockers, which was her very first movie role. She’d long been a fan of the industry, even dragging her family to watch the arrivals of the Bridesmaids from the sidewalk during a family trip. Now, looking out at her career from the other side of the red carpet barricade, she’s just as focused on expanding her resumé as she was back then. “After Blockers, I was trying to see what I was capable of, and what it felt like to do drama or different types of comedy, and I’ve always just wanted to be everything at once,” she says. “I feel like such a Gemini in that way. I want to be limitless.”

This story first appeared in the Feb. 21 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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