Ayelet Zurer, who plays Vanessa Fisk in Daredevil: Born Again, recently opened up about her character’s complex and twisted relationship with Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) in an exclusive interview with TheWrap. The Disney+ series has taken fans on a wild ride through one of Marvel’s most fascinating romances. The show has transformed Vanessa from the elegant art curator we met in the original Netflix series into something much darker. Her character’s journey includes managing a criminal empire during her husband’s absence, taking a lover, attending marriage counseling, and ultimately committing shocking acts that cement her as one of the show’s most complex villains.
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Zurer revealed she initially struggled to find her footing in the role after so many years away, stating, “People change. And to be honest, I’ve changed. My point of view changed. You know, life goes on.” When Zurer returned to filming, she discovered the character had evolved significantly from her previous portrayal.
[RELATED: Daredevil: Born Again Is the MCU’s Make-or-Break Project]
A Relationship Built on Brutal Honesty — and Affairs?
What makes Vanessa and Wilson’s relationship so fascinating to viewers is their commitment to brutal honesty with each other.
“She’s not a villain, per se. She’s a woman committed in love, deeply in love,” Zurer explained to TheWrap. “They’re kind of halves of each other, in a way.”
This mutual honesty forms the foundation of their dark bond, even as it leads them down increasingly disturbing paths throughout the season.
One of the most surprising developments in Born Again was Vanessa’s affair with an artist named Adam, which Zurer admits was initially difficult to reconcile with her understanding of the character.
“I always saw her as the most loyal-to-a-fault person, the most honest. That honesty is one of her traits, and so, in that setting, how is it possible for a person like that to have a lover?”
After leaning into the new writing, Zurer found fresh dimensions to explore in Vanessa, seeing her as “a grown-up woman who became very successful in what she does because she understands human behavior.”
Season 2 Promises Even Darker Turns
With filming for the second season already underway, Zurer has begun teasing what fans can expect next in the Fisk saga. In a recent interview with GamesRadar+, the actress expressed her excitement about the upcoming season, describing it as “even more exciting and crazy than the first.”
Zurer also revealed she feels “much freer” returning to the character under showrunner Dario Scardapane’s complete creative control.
“Because the nice thing about Dario is that he writes in a nuanced way, for her especially,” the actress told TheWrap. “There’s a lot of digging and interesting choices that you can take with anything he does.”
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