As Jeri Hogarth on Jessica Jones, Carrie-Anne Moss plays a lesbian lawyer whose personal and professional lives begin to entangle in a bad way when she decides to leave her wife, Wendy (Robin Weigert), for her assistant, Pam (Susie Abromeit). On top of that, she’s attempting to clear her client, Hope, of killing her own parents, which requires a lot of collaboration with ass-kicking PI Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter).
We caught up with Carrie-Anne during Netflix’s day at the Television Critics Association Press Tour where it was announced that the show was picked up for a second season.
Caution: Spoilers ahead! If you haven’t watched all of “Jessica Jones,” stop now!
AfterEllen.com: We never really see a morally ambiguous type lesbian character. Is that part of what drew you to her?
Carrie-Anne Moss: Yeah, I was just excited about playing an interesting woman, right? An interesting character. And I loved that there was no cliché. I hate characters that are a clichéd or an idea. And ultimately that’s my job to not play it that way but the writing—it can be written that way. So that was very clearly put to me, it’s a human story and not any cliché.
AE: With Season 1 left the way it was, I was wondering what they could do with Jeri in Season 2?
CAM: I have no idea. No idea!
AE: Do you think Pam will still be around?
CAM: No idea!
AE: What would you like to happen?
CAM: I wouldn’t want to limit myself by my thinking because the writers are gonna—you know what I mean? I haven’t gone there yet because I just found out today.
AE: There’s a pretty brutal scene you play with Robin where you go through multiple stabbings. What was that like for you and Robin? Was that challenging?
CAM: It was. It was intense, yeah. But we got along so well, so we had fun. It was fun until I hit my head twice, just because I got too into it—too into saving my life. But it was fun.
AE: A lot of people think that there’s a sexual undercurrent—
CAM: But don’t people always say that? Ever since grade school people—whoever’s your best friend, it’s like people can’t accept that love, except by putting on it, it has to be romantic. So I don’t know. I feel like that’s where people go. It’s cliché to go there. Give me a break.
AE: I also love your character the way she dresses hold herself. How much did putting that on help you get into character?
CAM: Totally. Because I don’t dress like that. So that was helpful. Because it just made me feel like power woman; a businesswoman. Because I am so not, at all. I’m an artist. You know what I mean? I’m kind of like, airy. So it was helpful to make me [feel like Jeri], yeah!
AE: What was the biggest challenge in playing her?
CAM: I loved every minute. I don’t know. I think the biggest challenge was just trust that it was unfolding and not to get in my head too much; not to try and figure it out.
AE: Did that surprise you when you saw it on the page, and thought “Oh, this is where they are going with this!”
CAM: I think when Robin gets killed, yeah. That was kind of like “Oh!” Because I kept kind of thinking maybe they’ll get back together, you know? That Jeri was leading with sex and maybe she’s gonna find—”Oh my god, what did I do? Take me back!” I kept thinking that in my mind.
AE: Do you see Jeri as a bad person?
CAM: No. Do you?
AE: I don’t. I think she’s complicated, and that’s why people love her.
CAM: She’s honest. She’s not bullshitting anybody. She’s fierce. I love her.
Season 1 of Jessica Jones is available on Netflix now.
