Compared to say, Avengers: Endgame, the cast of the new Disney+ series WandaVision is pretty tiny, but that just gives each character living in this strange sitcom world more of an opportunity to capture our imagination. Thus, making a massive impression in the first episode was Debra Jo Rupp as Mrs. Hart, wife to Vision's (Paul Bettany) boss Mr. Hart (Fred Melamed).

Of the cast, Rupp was by far the most at home during the making of Episode 1, which in proud classic TV tradition was filmed in front of a live studio audience with multiple cameras... until, that is, things start to get a little weird, as Wanda's (Elizabeth Olsen) improvised dinner party takes a dark turn. This is because for decades Rupp has been feeding off the energy of live audiences at sitcom tapings, with credits including Friends, The Ranch, and of course That '70s Show, where she played Kitty Forman for 200 episodes.

Below, Rupp explains how she got asked to join the cast, why she had such a fun time on set, what it was like filming in front of an audience that didn't exactly know what they were in for, and how they filmed the first episode's big dramatic shift. She also agrees with me about why we never learn Mrs. Hart's name, and hints that we might see her character again down the line.

[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for WandaVision, Season 1, Episode 2.]

COLLIDER: So to start off, what it was like coming on to this project and being, of the actors, the one with the most sitcom experience under your belt?

DEBRA JO RUPP: Well, that part was lovely because I was also the oldest person there, I think. So it was good for me because I felt very rooted, so there was something I had a handle on. It made me feel safe — right out of the gate, I felt safe in the genre of it. That was kind of great, and I think it was partly why I was hired.

What was that process like, of being hired?

RUPP: I got a call from the director who knew me — I've been doing a lot of theater. I come from theater, I like a live audience. I get a lot of energy from an audience and I had just worked at [director Matt Shakman]'s theater in LA, the Geffen Playhouse. So he knew me from that and he called and he said, "I have a request." And then he tried to explain it to me and I understood nothing of what he said. And then my great-nephew said, "Aunt Debbie, if you don't take this job, I will never speak to you again." So it all came together and man oh man, I am so happy I did.

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Image via Disney+

Because your great-nephew will keep speaking to you?

RUPP: Well, my nephew will keep speaking to me, but it's the most attention I've had in I don't even know, and it's like younger people. Well, it's all ages I guess, but it's a lot of younger people that I've missed and so it's been really nice. It's been really lovely for me, actually.

For the first episode, I know they shot it in front of a live studio audience, but how closely did the actual experience of shooting it mirror your past experience doing multi-cam?

RUPP: It was very similar, absolutely similar. They set it up so that it was, we had a week's rehearsal like you do for a sitcom. It was very what I was used to. The difference was the reaction from the audience because the audience, they're Marvel people. They came to see a superhero Marvel show, and then got this. That was really fun. They got on board and everything, but in the beginning, it was like, "Ooh, ooh." I can only imagine what they were thinking, which made me laugh.

Of course. So there's a very specific era that you're invoking in Episode 1. Were there specific characters from sitcoms of that era that you were looking at for inspiration?

RUPP: No, not characters, but I did watch a lot of different black-and-white shows. And inevitably, there is a scene in every single one of those sitcoms where the boss comes to dinner, oddly enough and once in a while, there's the wife. So I did look at those and mainly, I was just trying to get more of a handle of how women were during that period. Women are very different in the '50s than they were in the '70s, than they are now, so I watched it to try to get a handle on that.

That really comes out because there are the scenes where it's the men are talking and Mrs. Hart is just sitting there. I think you can definitely there's a level of boredom and a level of just resignation to that.

RUPP: Right? Yeah, exactly.

I may have missed it but I'm pretty sure I didn't, Mrs. Hart doesn't have a first name, right?

RUPP: No. Well, I don't know, I don't remember. I don't think she does, but we're going to call her Vivian.

That's a lovely first name. But it's another thing that speaks to the misogyny of the era: "Why would the wife have a first name?"

RUPP: That's exactly true, I did not think of that. That's exactly true, yeah.

It's a fascinating episode just because you have the traditional aspect of it, and then you have that incredible shift during the choking scene. And I wanted to get your perspective on what it was like to film that, and what went into building the tension and the turn that happens?

RUPP: Well, first of all, it was the most fun thing I've ever done, ever, ever, ever. It was doing two things at once. It was very challenging, which I loved, and the director was extremely patient because I kept going, "Wait, what? You want me to do what? No, I don't get it. Wait, what?" He was so patient and then once I got it, it was like, "Oh, can I do it again? Can I do it again?" It was just so fun. It was really, really fun. Also, I knew where it fit in the episode and I knew it was pretty much the first crack, so that was very exciting.

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Image via Disney+

Of course. In terms of the filming of it, how did they shift the cameras?

RUPP: When we did the dining room scene, sitcom has three or four cameras but I think at that time it was three cameras. And then when we did the dining room scene, we went to one camera. So that's several different angles, but they can get closer, they can rip a wall away so that they can get inside. That was a really good question because it brings stuff up. So basically, that first episode combined sitcom, multi-cam, and single cam. So I was very comfortable in the multi-cam, and Lizzie and Paul were very comfortable in the single-cam, and then Fred [Melamed] can do everything.

He's a genius. So one detail I want to make sure I ask about with that scene is the fact that your character is saying, "Stop it," over and over again. And I can't imagine how many times you ended up saying that line--

RUPP: Not enough times, it was so fun. Not enough.

So your character also appears in Episode 2 and I'm not going to ask you how many more episodes down the line you maybe appear in. But I'm curious, Episode 1 to Episode 2, there's a shift in genre and timeline. In coming into Episode 2, were you given basically the impression that you're still playing the same character? Your costume is just a little different, your hair is a little different, but it's just a slightly different period of time?

RUPP: Yeah, she is one person. Yeah, she's one person.

So even though time is changing, she doesn't change.

RUPP: Well, time has changed, so she has to change because time has changed. So yeah, she changes I think in terms of tension.

Gotcha. Well, it was an absolute pleasure.

RUPP: Thank you, thank you.

And fingers crossed that we get to see more of you in the show.

RUPP: Fingers crossed, yes. I think you will.

New episodes of WandaVision stream Fridays on Disney+.