We already shared Jude Laws' comments about his character's connection to the Kree Supreme Intelligence in Captain Marvel, but now it's time to dive into the full roundtable interview with the leader of Starforce. While visiting the Los Angeles set of the film back in the summer of 2018, I joined a group of journalists for a chat with Law to uncover whatever we could about his Kree character. At this point in time, many signs are pointing to Law playing the character Yon-Rogg, but during the set visit, Law and the rest of the filmmakers made a concerted effort to keep Law's character's name under wraps.

But even without any name-dropping, we still got to discuss his character's relationship with Brie Larson's Carol Danvers, how he views the Skrulls and their abilities, how the Kree view Earth, and so much more. You can read about all of it in the full roundtable interview below! Captain Marvel hits theaters nationwide on March 8th.

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Can you tell us who is your character and what can you tell us about him?

JUDE LAW: He heads Starforce which is an elite special forces-esqe group of Kree warriors, and also mentor to Carol, Brie's character. 

Is there anything you can tell us about how they meet up and a little bit about the origin of their relationship? 

LAW: Not really because of the order in which the story is told, but their bond and their relationship as mentor and mentee, pupil and sensei, and how they met and what they offer to each other is very much at the heart of the film and the journey that Brie's character goes on. That kind of would be the spoiler of all spoilers to be really honest. [Laughs] You hit the nail on the head there. 

We know that the Skrulls are antagonists to the Kree. Could you talk about how your character views the Skrulls? 

LAW: The Kree and the Skrulls are constantly in conflict, so both communities are living really at high alert and both obviously live with a huge wariness of each other. And as a member of the military, not only that but as a commander of the military, and not only that, as a poster boy of the military obviously of the Krees, my character is somewhat judgmental and full of hatred of the Skrulls. The Skrulls to the Krees really represent despicable maneuvering and manipulation. The Skrulls have this way - they can simulate other people, they can turn into other things, and so it's this idea of subterfuge that you're not who you really are, whereas the Kree have a kind of purity about them and an honesty, as far I see it. 

Can you talk about the other members of Starforce beyond Carol Danvers? 

LAW: Yeah, I can. I can talk about Djimon, right? Korath who appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy. Obviously this is a few years before, so young Korath, he is second in command. Minn-Erva played by Gemma Chan is a sniper and a long range specialist. We have Bron-Char who is basically a blue giant played by Rune Temte from Norway, and Al Gennis, he plays Atlas. He’s another sniper expert or weapons specialist. Have I left anyone out? No. Me. That's it. [Laughs] It's very elite. There’s only six of us. 

Do you get a considerable amount of action sequences? 

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Image via Marvel Studios

LAW: Yeah, a fair few. Three in total. One of them's been really fun which we’ve already shot, which is sort of training. And it was kind of fun because we were out of our suits so it was much more - you know, when you do stunts sometimes if you're in huge suits it hides a lot of the movement. And I've been doing boxing and martial arts for years - we're literally dressed in this sort of stuff and so you get a lot more hands on, tactical, hand to hand combat. And then there are a couple of other fantastic battle sequences, yeah. The scene we're doing today is a scene prior to a mission that leads to a fantastic battle. 

How would you describe your relationship with Carol Danvers? The mentor-mentee thing, would you describe it like a Yoda/Obi-Wan …

LAW: [Laughs] I wish! Do I look like Yoda? 

Or more of a karate master?

LAW: I like that one! Just because of the age, it's not like a sort of wise old master. It’s much more, I’d say that as leader of the group I lead by example, so he's very much hands on combat. The relationship really is about containment. There's a sort of control to my character, there’s a sense of focus and clarity and discipline, and really that's one of the things I think of the piece, is trying to contain and what is being in control and what isn't. 

With most military characters there seems to be an overall focus and then also a personal focus, so is there something in your character in particular that drives him?

LAW: It's interesting. He has a very particular relationship - and any of you who know a lot about the Krees, there's a sort of a divine element called the Supreme Intelligence, and that comes to play in this. And each of the Starforce, indeed each of the Kree warriors, has a particular relationship with the Supreme Intelligence, and my character has a very particular relationship with Supreme Intelligence which becomes revealed and is quite complex and ultimately very revealing of what it is that motivates. I've kind of based him almost on a sort of, not religious fanatic, but he's got a kind of divine sense of purpose because of his relationship with this greater being.

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Image via Marvel Studios

What’s the Kree's relationship to Earth?

LAW: That's a really good question. I think it's a curiosity. It's described as a shit hole by someone actually, [laughs] as is often the case in these, isn’t it? We're always pitied. [Like], ‘Why would you want to possibly stop there? They're so backwards.’ And it’s not much difference. I think, as usual, we are viewed on the scale of things as unthreatening, rather idiotic, and somewhat backwards. Not far wrong really! [Laughs]

We’re talking about epic space battles that have existed within this world for hundreds of years. How do you put yourself into the mindset of someone who’s invested in this otherworldly thing that I feel like is hard to emphasize with?

LAW: I think a lesson I learned over the last few years is when you take on characters with enormous sort of backgrounds or world-views or situations that seem to be beyond one's personal imagination, it's always possible just to play an individual and an individual within that. And whether they are in awe of it or whether they’re just dealing with it daily, you sort of root it in simple things. We just talked about one; what's the motivation? And what's your relationship with those around you? And try not to get overwhelmed by the scale that you just described. I think it’s better to just focus on the individual, you know? And obviously you list character traits and you have certain boundaries within that - humor’s a big one. Does the character have a sense of humor? Do they laugh at themselves? Do they ever laugh? Things like that. Is there a sense of irony or not? So you build a sort of set of implements that you can facilitate as you maneuver through the world. I think if you look up too much, you can get dizzy from the scale of it all, you know?

What kind of learning curve did you have to have to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Were you pretty conversant with it?

LAW: Yeah, I was pretty conversant. I'd seen most of them. Well, the test is the Infinity War, isn’t it? If anyone goes to Infinity War and [says] ‘Who's that? And what's that all about,’ then you haven't seen them all and I didn't ask that question once [laughs], so clearly I've seen all of them. I had a couple of people next to me going, ‘Who's she? What’s he she doing?’ So I was pretty conversant. My character in particular, there was a question I have in my head, ‘Should I go back and read up?’ This is a very interesting chapter I think in the Marvel Universe, because it's split off in several ways, and I know a lot of them have come out in different guises, but this one even more so. I chose really just to follow the script.

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Image via Marvel Studios

You mentioned that you box and do martial arts. Was there anything else you had to do to get into Marvel shape?

LAW: Just going to stunt school every morning for months, yeah. There's always a level that you haven't achieved because, you know, they're asking you to do something that you've never done before.

Sam [Jackson] showed us videos of Brie pushing a jeep up a hill ..

LAW: I know! I haven't pushed a Jeep up a hill. [Laughs]

We've learned that Carol has been sort of indoctrinated into the Kree army and she thinks she’s Kree and has kind of forgotten her humanity. Does that apply to your character as well? Does he think he’s a Kree or is he an actual Kree?

LAW: Not that I know of. I mean, they could always throw a curveball at me. I'm playing it at the moment that he is a Kree. [Laughs]

We were trying to figure out the timeline of how long this team has been together from watching that scene. Is that something you could shed some light on?

LAW: Yeah, that’s an interesting question. I would say, in that formation, it’s been about, let me see - it’s been about 15 years.

You talked about the Skrull being able to shape-shift. Can you talk about how that poses a problem for Starforce?

LAW: That's what they feed their insecurities and their paranoia on. There are posters that you'll see around in Hala which say, "Know your enemy. It could be you." And there's a great line in one of the scenes where one of the warriors is asked whether he's ever been “simmed” and he says he has and then he had to kill himself. [Laughs] So it can be psychologically very scarring.

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Image via Disney

Can you talk about some of the abilities your character has?

LAW: He's a pistol and knife man. I've got this kind of cool business I can do with gravity. [Laughs]

Can you talk a little about the camaraderie on set with the actors?

LAW: Yeah, of course. This has been a real joy actually because on a big piece like this obviously there are many moments where it’s very fragmented so I've done an awful lot on my own, I've had some great days with just Brie and I. The last couple of weeks have been the first time really Starforce have all been together. I knew Gemma before and I’ve worked with Djimon several times but it's a nice feeling when you're suddenly putting a team together, and if anything just that we can all complain about where our suits are chafing, you know what I mean? [Laughs] Genuinely it's always nice to have that camaraderie because, you know, film sets are fun places. There’s a camaraderie with a crew, but there’s also a sense of, ‘We’ve gotta get on. We've got to do this. There’s a lot to do,’ and so to have moral support around you and  build those relationships and that chemistry is always good, and it’s often the highlight of the jobs for me.

Your character probably views the Kree as the heroes, but do you yourself view the Kree as the heroes of this film?

LAW: Yeah, because I'm a Kree. [Laughs] You always have to get on the side of the character that you're playing because otherwise no one else will. No, absolutely, yeah, yeah, the Kree’s are ...

They're a very militaristic society, too.

LAW: No, no, not at all. They're defending themselves and you see lots of Kree civilians, too. There’s wonderful scenes where we go through the subway of Hala … and you get a real sense of Kree society.

Captain Marvel hits theaters nationwide on March 8th. For more of my Captain Marvel set visit coverage, check out the links below:

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Image via Disney
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Image via Marvel Studios

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