Executive produced by showrunner Melissa Rosenberg and Marvel’s Head of Television Jeph Loeb, Marvel’s Jessica Jones (available to stream at Netflix) is back for a third season, as Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) crosses paths with a highly intelligent and very deadly killer. At the same time, Jessica has cut the newly powered Trish (Rachael Taylor) out of her life, as she struggles to live up to her mother’s expectations for being a hero, but in order to survive the madman who wants to put an end to the super-powered, the two must find a way to repair their fractured friendship and work together.
At the Los Angeles press day for the show’s final season, Collider got the opportunity to sit down and chat 1-on-1 with actor Eka Darville (who plays addict turned private investigator Malcolm Ducasse) about the journey Malcolm has taken, over the course of the series, what he’s most enjoyed about playing this character, feeling satisfied with the resolution of Malcolm’s story, what Malcolm thinks of Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss), getting a love interest, how complicated things are with both Jessica and Trish, working with Krysten Ritter as a director, the show’s awesome fans, and which TV series he’d love to do a guest spot on.
Collider: Malcolm has had one of the biggest character journeys, out of all of the characters on Jessica Jones. What’s it like to be at this place with him?
EKA DARVILLE: Very astute observation. The theme of this character, for me, has been the graduation through these different phases. In Season 1, he was in one place. In Season 2, he was in a very different place. In Season 3, it’s equally as different as the previous two. And as an actor, that’s what you live for. It’s the opportunity to play that much of a scope. This season leans into the darker aspects, and it was really fun and really cool to get some heavier stuff to work with. Malcolm is finding his own feet and standing up to Jessica, which was a lot of fun.
When you sign on to do a show that’s called Jessica Jones, you never know just what kind of character arc you’ll get. Did you have any idea that you would take this big of a journey with him?
DARVILLE: Absolutely not, and neither did the writers. My character was meant to be in 10 of 13, and be done by Season 1.
Malcolm has always been a really interesting character to balance Jessica out.
DARVILLE: It is an interesting dynamic. I really appreciate it. He’s family in a show that nobody really has family in. He’s like her brother, and that’s a really unique dynamic in the show, and one that fluctuates and changes as they grow.
What have you most enjoyed about this character since day one, and what did you grow to appreciate about him as you’ve gotten to see the journey that he was taking?
DARVILLE: For me, as an actor, the thing that I’ve appreciated the most is the diversity and scope, and the fact that he moves and has become many different people seemingly within one show. As a character, I really appreciate his goodness. He really gives a shit, and sometimes to a fault, in a big way. In a world that’s populated by some pretty gnarly, grizzly characters, in terms of their ethics and morals, it can get pretty dark, and I feel like Malcolm can be a little light of his innocence, at least in the first two seasons.
When and how did you find out that Season 3 was going to be the end of the journey for these characters?
DARVILLE: Vaguely, at some point, during Season 3.
As an actor, you have to let every character go, at some point. Is it more difficult sometimes than others? Is this a character that’s hard to say goodbye to?
DARVILLE: Yeah. There’s a lot more nostalgia in it for me, just because it was the lens that I saw my life through, for five years, and I did a lot of growing, creatively, through that process. So, I’m very grateful for the character and it’s sad that I won’t get to reprise the role again, in its next evolution, but I’m also really satisfied because I feel like the resolution of Malcolm’s story, in Season 3, feels like a really good button on the end of this big arc that’s he’s been on. It makes a lot of sense to me, but it’s bittersweet. As an actor, we’re never satisfied. I’m always thinking about what the next thing is. I’m super excited for whatever it is that comes next, and sad to say goodbye to something that has been really good to me.
Does doing something like this, that is such a quality project with such great storytelling, change how you want to approach the next thing, or what you want to look for?
DARVILLE: Yeah, it does. Nobody wants to go backwards. It sets the bar at a particular point that then, hopefully, propels me into even greater stories that are different and something that I haven’t done yet.
360Is there a type of project that you’d love to do, but haven’t gotten the chance yet?
DARVILLE: I don’t have so much of a plan like that. I really just look for characters. If it’s a cool project that has people that I really respect involved in it, then I’m gonna be interested in it. And the big piece is that it could be the coolest project ever, but if it’s a character that I don’t resonate with or it feels like what I’ve done already, then I’m not doing it. For me, acting is a personal growth tool. I get to experience parts of myself through these characters and have that make me a better human being that allows me to understand what it is to be a human being, in a more full way. I’m always interested in something that I haven’t done yet.
Is there a current TV show that you would love to do a guest spot or guest arc on?
DARVILLE: There’s so much good TV, at the moment. My personal favorite shows are Peaky Blinders, which I absolutely love, and Mr. Robot. I particularly love the first season. And there’s a lot of other really, really cool and interesting stuff happening, that isn’t even out yet, that I’d be super interested in. There’s stuff happening all over the world, as well. So, I’m excited for what comes next, and I’m not gonna pretend, for a second, that I know what the hell that’s gonna look like.
Malcolm is definitely all in with Hogarth, this season. What does he admire and respect about her, and where does he draw the line?
DARVILLE: It’s about respect for him. He’s a young, black male who’s been the stereotypical image of failure and being a junkie. He hates being seen, in that way, and wants to create respect for himself. It’s the balance of his very strong, internal moral and ethical compass, and this even stronger desire to be respected. Those two things play tug of war, all season, and it leads to some questionable choices and some admirable choices, and everything in between.
Do you think that place that he came from, when he was so much lower, is what really has helped define his moral compass?
DARVILLE: Yeah, definitely. He’s also studied social work. He went to college to study social work and was very much committed to wanting to help people. That’s always been a part of him. What he himself doing, in the world, was being of service to humanity, but it came from a very black and white viewpoint. So, by having to live what he had judged as an addict has moved things more into the gray.
The dynamic between Malcolm and Zaya is an interesting one, as a love interest, because they are so different, from very different backgrounds.
DARVILLE: Yeah, that was a really great experience, to have a proper love interest and to have that relationship built, throughout the season. It was a big part of his motivation for these choices that he was making because you could feel the realness of what he had and what he was willing to do, in terms of keep that. I think that makes sense to people, on a very basic human level, of what we’re willing to do, in order to maintain and nurture the relationships that we value.
How would you describe Malcolm’s relationship with Jessica, this season?
DARVILLE: This is the least close that they’ve ever been, by far. I would even describe him as an antagonist, this season. He’s moved from putting her on a pedestal to putting her in the pit, which is a very well-known psychological gradient. It’s the necessary next step, in order to find a place of seeing her in a balanced way because he’s never been able to do that.
At the same time, how is it for him to see someone like Trish going through what she’s going through?
DARVILLE: Malcolm’s relationship with Trish is fucking complicated. That’s the extent of it. That shit is complex. They have a total love/hate and everything in between relationship. This season, a lot of his relationships have swung from pedestal to pit. He saw Trish as this ideal that he went after in Season 2, and it helped validate his self-worth because of the value he placed on her. And then, this season, he’s beyond her, in terms of his career, and he’s done with her because he sees her making these choices in a situation that he’s been in. He judges it because he sees her as being weaker.
What is the dream for him? What does his ideal life look like?
DARVILLE: I don’t think he knows, and that’s the problem with Malcolm. That’s the biggest difference between myself and him. His sense of direction is external. He takes feedback from the world, whether it’s from his patients, or Jessica, or Hogarth, or Zaya. He takes his sense of self from his external world of what’s reflecting back at him, whereas I feel that I’m the opposite and I have a very clear sense of self, of who I am, and of what I’m doing, and that’s always been the case. It’s actually been really good one for me, because I’ve judged people who are like him, in the past, when I’ve seen them as being weak. Now, I have a lot more compassion because I feel like I understand it.
Krysten Ritter also stepped in and directed an episode, this season.
DARVILLE: She did indeed.
How was the experience of working with her, in that sense?
DARVILLE: She was so great. She intimately knows so many different aspects of the filmmaking process. She was heavily involved in a lot of the rewrites, in the later versions of the script, so it made a lot of sense to see her in that role. She stepped into it super easily and seamlessly, and she absolutely crushed it. As an actor, working with another actor is so much easier. They know what it takes, in order to get to a certain place emotionally. She knows exactly what to say, in order to get me there, and she can articulate exactly what it is that she’s looking for, in a way that’s uncomplicated and clear. I was like, “Oh, I know exactly what that means, and I know how to give that to you.” It was super refreshing. And then, she was just a giant ball of joy because she was so stoked to be doing it that she brought so much life to set. She was there first thing in the morning, just frothing all day, so stoked and very, very, very sweet. Undoubtedly, I see her going into that, a lot more.
Is that something that you’ve thought about doing, yourself?
DARVILLE: Yeah, definitely. For me, it really comes down to the story. It would need to be a story that’s personal for me, in order for me to do what it takes to bring something into the world. Stepping in to direct an episode of something, I could see myself doing that, but it’s not really where I see myself going. I write, so directing something that I’ve written makes a lot more sense to me because I would intimately know the story and it would be something that I care about, and I don’t know if I’d even be able to find somebody else who could see it through to the fruition, in that case. I’m not as technical as some people. I don’t have a degree in cinematography, so it would be really important for me to work with a kick-ass DP, who could fill in the blanks for me.
Jessica Jones has had some pretty incredible fans, who have been very loyal and dedicated, throughout the run of the series. What has that meant, hearing from fans and getting feedback from them?
DARVILLE: Jessica Jones fans are awesome. They’re really intelligent and they ask astute questions. Because the show has some pretty heavy relevant themes, specifically for women, for some people, it really has had a huge impact to see characters that are dealing with the things that are really close to them, on a personal level. And with Malcolm, he’s an addict, and I’ve had a bunch of fans come up to me, in various stages of emotionality about what Malcolm represents, seeing somebody go from being an addict to graduating out of that, and what that has meant for them, in their lives. I’m infinitely grateful and thankful for all of the support, along the years that have now come to a close.
Marvel’s Jessica Jones Season 3 is available to stream at Netflix.
