WandaVision's Emma Caulfield is keeping her fingers crossed that her character Dottie Jones doesn't get killed off anytime soon, if not by the story than by fandom scorn.
In an interview with Gizmodo, Caulfield talked about the differences between how TV fans consume modern shows like WandaVision and the more gradual approach toward her early work like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. "When I started, there were no social media presences at all, and you could really just do your work without repercussion, really," she explained. "The only people you really had to worry about were at the network and whether they were going to keep you. You didn't really have the fan interaction or support as much, and feedback was so much more delayed. You might actually pick up a magazine and read something weeks later as opposed to this immediate feedback loop of love, cancelling, and shipping."
On what this mentality means for how people will treat Dottie, Caulfield described it as, "Constantly being with a lot of Dotties, you know, because there's always that concern of having to get things right because if you don't, the Dotties might come down on me forever like 'get rid of her.' Having this built-in Marvel fanbase is incredible, but again, I really hope I do a good job, because I really don't need fans trying to get me killed."
Introduced during WandaVision's second episode "Don't Touch That Dial," Dottie is presented as an alpha socialite with whom all of Westview's housewives try to curry favor. As lead organizer of the town's talent show, she's initially distrustful of Wanda Maximoff's (Elizabeth Olsen) arrival. However, after Wanda secretly uses her powers to mask Vision's (Paul Bettany) abilities while in a gum-induced stupor during the talent show, they successfully fool everyone into thinking that it was all part of the act, causing Dottie to award them the grand prize.
Caulfield previously played Anya "Anyanka" Jenkins on Buffy the Vampire Slayer from Season 3's "The Wish" to the Season 7 series finale. A former vengeance demon whose powers and immortality were stripped away at the end of her debut episode, Anya went on to become a core member of the Scooby Gang, learning what it means to be human again and even having a romance with Xander (Nicholas Brendon). The character was eventually killed in the series finale while fighting the First Evil's forces, her death was notably abrupt, with little time given for other characters to mourn.
Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes. New episodes air Fridays on Disney+.
Source: Gizmodo