WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "As I Have Always Been," the latest Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode.
Enoch just gave his life to protect Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. In "As I Have Always Been," the team found themselves stuck in a time loop after the Time Drive was damaged in a Chronicom attack. The repair -- and thus, their only way out of the time storm -- required a certain Chronicom device. Unfortunately, that device was one of the few keeping Enoch functional and alive. He gave it up to them without hesitation, saving the day but sacrificing his own life in the process.
Speaking to CBR, Enoch actor Joel Stoffer reflected on his time with the series and how his character grew over the years. He discussed his character's death and explained his own personal interpretation of Enoch's final words to Daisy and Coulson. He weighed in on the odds of seeing Enoch again in the series' final four episodes. He also shared his favorite memory from set, what it was like to film without Fitz actor Iain DeCaestecker at his side and more.
CBR: Back when you joined the series at the tail end of Season 4, did you ever in your wildest dreams expect the role to turn out this way?
Joel Stoffer: I did not! [laughs] I was just even thrilled to get that one episode, and then they had said that it might be one or two more episodes if they go for a Season 5, and so I was thrilled when that happened. Then, when they told me they wanted me to keep going with -- you know, they kept adding two or three or four episodes here.
Then, in Season 5 episode 10, he sacrifices himself for the first time, and I thought that was it! I'll never forget it. Jeff Bell and Jed Whedon, they came into my trailer. I think it was episode eight or nine, before before the 10th, and they just said, you know, this is gonna be it for you. I just thought it was so awesome that those two guys walked to my trailer to say goodbye, basically, and let me know what was happening. Then, as they did it, they said, "You never know what can happen. It's Marvel! So you never know what might happen."
And so, of course, I spent the off-season just wondering, "Am I gonna be back?" So they brought me back for Season 6 and then they told me Season 7 and it was a dream come true. It was really such a great way for it to happen. You don't get to experience that as an actor very often.
In your experience, how has the fan reaction to Enoch changed over the years?
It's been amazing! I mean, I think there was some initial response that even that I'm sort of surprised by. I didn't expect there to be much response to Enoch at all! And I was glad that it was well-received. Then, after Season 6 came about, just to have the fans react that way and be still positive and embrace Enoch as a character and as a part of the team, the S.H.I.E.L.D. team, it was tremendous. It's been so great and gratifying and I'm curious to see how they respond after tonight. [laughs] But yeah, what a joy it's been for me. It really has.
Enoch is such an interesting character, in that he has all these intense emotions but they come through in these subtle, understated ways. How did you strike that balance?
It wasn't really a formula, per se. I think I just took each script one at a time. The main thing that came through for me, that stuck in my head, was that he was a sentient Chronicom. So he had the ability to have some empathy and some emotion, but anytime that I would have emotion come up for the character, I would play it as curiosity and from the perspective of an anthropologist and an observer.
I mean, I didn't get that information until, I think, it was episode 5.05. When I finally got to get some descriptive words about what this guy was, I ran with it and it was always a question of walking the line between how much human and how much Chronicom to play.
You know, I would have talks with Maurissa [Tancharoen] and Jed about -- they would want me to play a little more human. Then, you know, it may be able to go in too far in that direction and somebody would say, "Okay, come back a little bit," but they always trusted me to walk that line and it was an interesting experience. I can't say that I enjoyed it enough.
How did you learn about Enoch's impending death?
They told me that Enoch was going to die in episode nine, but I didn't know how. They didn't tell me any other details other than that. I think they told me that around the middle of the season. You know, I'm not even remembering when they told me or exactly how they told me, but it might have even just been like, "You know, this is coming up," but it wasn't until I read the actual script of 7.09 that I learned how it was gonna go, and that was all I needed.
I mean, when I saw the way Enoch gets to go out, in such a grand exit? I was so honored. I felt the love from them, from the whole crew, from the producers and the creative team. That was just a great moment for me.
As we now know, Elizabeth Henstridge made her directorial debut on the episode. How did that impact the filming of Enoch's final scene?
Well, I think it was just the right combination, because, I mean, Elizabeth is such an incredibly talented actress and I just respect her so much. I know that she's had experience directing on her own projects, and because she was obviously so comfortable in the show, working with the crew, I trusted her immediately and she trusted me. She just let the scene play out and the discoveries were made as we did the scene.
She didn't really need to say much, you know? And I think she knew that. If I had a question, I would talk to her about it, and it would be a pretty brief conversation. I think we just kind of found the heart of the scene and went with it. It was exactly what I think that I needed as an actor, and it was just what Enoch needed too, in terms of just being able to trust where to go with the scene.
Enoch left Daisy and Coulson with a cryptic message about the team's feature before he died. Were you filled in on what Enoch meant before you filmed that scene, or did you have to take some creative license?
The latter. I had asked about it, and the only answer was, "I'm a Chronicom and I've had all this experience, and it's possible that I've traveled into the future and seen this." It comes out in a moment that I am about to die. It's sort of like I'm vacillating between life and death, and I have maybe this out-of-body vision of the future, as that's happening.
I mean, that was kind of the choice that I made for it. So it's not necessarily that Enoch is somehow a fortune teller or anything like that. It's just that he was able, in that moment, to see a very specific future for the S.H.I.E.L.D. team as he's transitioning into death, and it's sort of a vision that comes to him.
Since the series has been playing with time quite a bit in Season 7, what are the odds we'll see some other version of Enoch in the final few episodes?
Oh, I don't know! I mean, I think there is always the possibility, because Marvel and you know death isn't really death when it comes to Marvel. [laughs] But I mean, it's clear that this is Enoch's end in 7.09. But anything is possible with Marvel, and that's all I can say to that.
In this season, Enoch has really gotten involved in the action aspect of the series. How much of that was you, and what was the experience like?
Oh, yeah! I mean, that was a surprise for me. You know, the fight scene with Ming-Na -- I was so, so excited when I read that scene and very grateful to Craig [Titley] for putting in there. I've gotten to do some fight scenes a little, you know, a while back in my career, but to get a chance to go toe-to-toe with the badass Agent May was very fun, and of course, she kicks my ass -- I mean, she has to -- but it was a blast. [laughs] It was a blast!
And then doing a little bit of the driving and picking them up in the 70s in the car and getting to play the moment when I get left behind at the end of episode two. That was a really fun moment to play, because I couldn't have a reaction that would have been a natural human reaction but I had to have it going on inside and still be a Chronicom. You know, that was the great thing about this role is getting to explore what that's like to be a non-human, but being a human.
What was your favorite memory from set?
I mean, there were a lot of them. The one I always go to is episode 6.03, because I got to do so much fun stuff in that with building the friendship with Fitz and playing existential angst and also being on a hostile planet in the middle of the universe and all that. That was a blast. Plus, I think I shot that during my -- I had my birthday on the day that I was shooting a lot of that stuff and had my family come to the set, and now it's just a really great memory overall, except for me getting to be on the show.
In Seasons 5 and 6, you worked quite closely with Fitz actor Iain DeCaestecker, but he's been absent for most of Season 7. How did that change your experience of filming on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?
It was a bummer, because I missed Iain. It was obviously because we had done so much work together, and so much of what Enoch was about was played off of and established with Fitz. So yeah, he was missed, big time.
But at the same time, it gave me an opportunity to play with the other actors on the show and that was a great and very rewarding experience. They're all super talented, and I think the writers were able to find a way to develop my relationship with Agent May and then, of course, with Jemma Simmons, and that was more opportunity. So his absence forced everyone to go in a slightly different direction, but I think we made it work.
What was your favorite part of playing Enoch?
I mean, specifically, I would say, 6.03 was probably my favorite part, playing all that stuff. But I mean, all of it, you know? Every day, I got to walk on the set and say the words that Enoch got to say. It was a blast. I mean, finding a way to make Enoch be a powerful voice, even when I only had one or two lines to say. That was really, really fun. I had a great experience, the whole thing.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s final season airs Wednesdays at 10 pm ET/PT on ABC. The series stars Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Iain De Caestecker, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Elizabeth Henstridge and Clark Gregg.