Why 'Jessica Jones' Takes Krysten Ritter to a Dark Place

After turning heads on Breaking Bad and Don't Trust the B---- in Aptartment 23, Krysten Ritter burst into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with her star turn in the title role of Jessica Jones.

The actor recently revealed that the role took a tole on her after the first season, due to the dark headspace Jessica seems to remain in the series. Ritter spoke with Newsweek about playing the tragic private detective, and how she's coping for Season 2.

"After Season 1, I was depressed," said Ritter. "I'm a person who likes to feel light and free, and Jessica's headspace is very dark. I had to learn how to manage my schedule filming Season 2, whether it's knitting between takes or listening to music."

But don't take that to mean she doesn't enjoy filming the show. She relishes in the opportunity she's getting with the well-reviewed Marvel Television series, comparing playing Jessica to "going into savasana in yoga."

The role has also made her more confident in what she brings to the production, emboldening her to voice her opinion on certain matters.

"In previous projects, when I was younger, if I felt I hadn't been given a seat at the table, I'd just stay quiet," Ritter said. "But on Jessica Jones, I felt I could say, 'I don't think she cares about how she looks.' She's not secretly hoping the women in her life will think she looks good, or that the men will think she's hot. She dresses dumb, wears the same thing every day, no makeup, nothing going on with her hair. It's all an act of defiance."

Series creator and showrunner Melissa Rosenberg praised the actor's performance and lauded her abilities on the set.

"Sometimes we'll even cut dialogue during rehearsals, because Krysten expresses it more profoundly through her physicality or what she's doing with her face," said Rosenberg. "With Krysten, there is no holding back. She goes so deep."

And though the series has been praised for its portrayal of issues many women face in the world today, Rosenberg said Jessica Jones was never meant to have a message but is simply the next step on the road to progress.

"It's a conversation women have been trying to have forever, from Katharine Hepburn to Anita Hill to Thelma and Louise to Buffy the Vampire Slayer," said Rosenberg. "It accrues over time, across suffragettes in the 19th century to feminism in the '70s."

Rosenberg had previously worked on Dexter and the Twilight series, writing the script for Breaking Dawn, and relayed the lesson she learned that makes Jessica Jones so compelling.

"I had to learn this on Dexter, but it's never about the powers or the case file or the villain. It's about the character, no matter the genre, and Jessica is a damaged, embattled person who just wants to put good into the world. That's what she is."

Jessica Jones returns to Netflix for Season 2 on March 8th.