Marvel is known for keeping its secrets under tight lock and key, including from its own actors. Teyonah Parris was the latest victim of that in “The Marvels,” as she wasn’t informed that a certain X-Men character would be showing up with her in the movie’s post-credits scene. However, the actress thinks that may be “for the best.”
At the end of “The Marvels,” which is now streaming on Disney+ and available to purchase on Blu-ray and digital, viewers find Monica Rambeau (Parris) in a hospital bed, having just fallen from the sky after quite literally repairing a rift in the universe. When she awakes, she realizes that not only is her mother Maria (Lashana Lynch) alive and next to her, but she’s also greeted by Kelsey Grammer’s Beast asking questions about what happened.
It turns out, Monica is now in an alternate universe — one where her mother is alive, only not her mother, and where the X-Men exist. But, as it happens, Parris had no idea Grammer was reprising his 20th Century Fox Beast in that scene, as they didn’t film together. In fact, nobody ever told her, so she experienced it for the first time in theaters with fans.
“I enjoyed the live experience, in the shock and the surprise,” Parris explained to TheWrap. “But also, I’m like, guys, don’t you think my reaction would have been a little different had I known it’s not a human, it’s a beast. It’s someone — in this universe, do I know him from somewhere else? Is this shocking?”
She continued, “The actor in me was like, I would have liked — and the Type A in me — would have liked to process that differently. But ultimately, people are not worried about my reaction to that. They’re just like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s Beast!’ I think it’s fine, and I did enjoy being surprised as well with everyone else.”
Thinking a bit more on it, Parris admitted that she probably would’ve overthought her performance while filming, had she known about the big reveal.
“It’s probably best that I didn’t know, because then I would have tried to play like, (gasp) ‘Surprise, my mom! Surprise, a blue man!’ Like, it could have just been all over the place. So it’s probably for the best,” she said.
You can watch TheWrap’s full interview with Teyonah Parris in the video above.
“The Marvels” is now available to stream on Disney+ and available to purchase on Blu-ray and digital.
