It just felt right in my wheelhouse."
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you come to be involved in the show?
When it’s Marvel, you pick up.
Alfonso Bresciani/Freeform
I read the script and loved it.
I love the world and it was exciting to play in this sandbox.
No, it came at a time when I had been positioning myself to move into that world.
So maybe I put it out into the ether.
What did you respond to when you read the script for the first time?
It was a couple things.
Foremost, it was a good and had really good characters.
It has to start there.
I loved the fact that it was a black teen and this teen girl that were the heroes.
This was beforeBlack Panther, which of course changed the game.
It just felt right in my wheelhouse.
And the pilot opens with an instance of police brutality, too.
That starts with casting and the look of the film and the vibe.
They were right onboard with that.
The pilot is very gentle and sensitive.
In approaching this first episode, what tone were you guys trying to set?
For me, again, it started with truth and realness.
We’re dealing with teenagers.
It was fun to be real with it: What are real teens dealing with?
How are they dealing with it?
That was excruciatingly important in the casting process that we got real teens.
For me to bring out their truth, that was really the vibe of it.
Olivia and Aubrey give such natural performances in this pilot.
Can you talk about the conversations you had with them about these characters?
We just did some really deep diving into character.
I love working with young actors.
What did you look to for inspiration for the pilot?
Foremost, we wanted it to feel like a film.
So, I think those were two good ones.
How didArrivalinform the look?
[Cinematographer Bradford Young] killed that.
We loved the look of the flashbacks.
We loved the feel of it.
Even though it was this big film, it always felt intimate.
That’s what we were always going for as well.
You’re also attached toSilver & Black.
How has your experience with Marvel TV differed from working with Marvel on the film side?
The biggest difference is just the amount of money.
I would say that’s probably the biggest difference.
But again, you get to deal with these really cool characters and this really cool world.
I think the most exciting thing is that the audiences are so invested in these characters.
Silver & Blackwas recently taken off Sony’s release slate because you’re still working on the script.
I’m curious, what is the most important thing about nailing a movie about those characters?
That comes down to the story that we’re telling as well as the villain within the story.
So it’s really about that: how can we be different?
How can we be fresh?
Marvel’s Cloak & Daggerpremieres Thursday, June 7 at 8 p.m. on Freeform.
