WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the second season of Hanna.

Taking over a role originated by Cate Blanchett may seem like a thankless task, but Mireille Enos has made the character of CIA Agent Marissa Wiegler on Amazon Prime's Hanna completely her own. While Blanchett was the first to play Marissa in the 2011 movie of the same name, in the series, Enos has had the opportunity to flesh out the character, making her more complex and nuanced. That continues in Hanna's second season, as Marissa pursues the path she started down at the end of Season 1. She is now an ally to Hanna and is going up against Utrax, the program she helped start.

In an exclusive conversation with CBR, Enos spoke about developing her version of Marissa Wiegler, the character's motivations for helping Hanna and working with new cast member Dermot Mulroney.

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CBR: For a lot of the first season, your character Marissa Wiegler was on a similar trajectory to the character in the movie version of Hanna, but you always played her very differently than Cate Blanchett. How deliberate was that choice and how did you go about developing your version of Marissa?

Mireille Enos: Well, [creator and showrunner] David [Farr] spoke to that from the very beginning when we first sat down to discuss me taking the part. He talked about how he was very fond of the movie, but that the director had taken it in a very specific archetypal, almost fairytale style of storytelling, and the characters were asked to be more kind of harsh and one dimensional, and that Cate had excellently kind of inhabited this wicked-witch idea. And that, given the opportunity to tell the story again, there's no reason in long-form to simply redo, and he wanted to take this story, and really root it in naturalism, ground it and make it more of a forum for political commentary and social commentary about teenage girls and how the world influences who they develop into. And that was very interesting to me.

So, knowing that that was his desire and then, obviously being given the beautiful writing on the page, it wasn't hard to simply root her in the world and look at the different things that motivated her. Obviously, she's incredibly good at what she does, she is powerful in her work arena. We also see her in Season 1 having an attempt at normalcy, a lovely home and a partner and being able to play that role quite naturally and believably. And I was fascinated by a person who is able to move in between all of these different spheres and be such a chameleon.

Were you always aware of the trajectory your character would take in the show, especially as it's continued into Season 2?

I was. Luckily [Farr] talked to me through a two-season personal arc. That Season 1 was about fathers, and Season 2 was about mothers, and that once [Hanna's adoptive father] Eric was removed, Marissa would step into that mother role, albeit a strange, unconventional mother.

But even like Clara's storyline is all about mothers in Season 2. And even though Hanna is not specifically looking for a mother, she is looking for a home and a place of belonging. And I don't even know that Marissa would say, "I want to be your mother," but she might say, "I want to be your home and your place of belonging." So that’s a meeting place for Marissa and Hanna.

In Season 2, Marissa seems completely dedicated to saving Hanna from Utrax, but it's not always clear what her motivation is because she’s a spy who plays things very close to the vest. At different times it seems she could be driven by love, by obsession, by guilt, by responsibility. How have you approached playing the different motivations that Marissa has for helping Hanna?

Well, I think there's drops of all of those reasons that you said. I think love is one step too far. I think love is very complicated for Marissa and she wouldn't use that word easily, but I think there's definite admiration and a budding affection and a sense of responsibility, and a desire to fight the Utrax world and to make restitution for her part of creating it. I think she had a real kind of bond to Eric, maybe even more than she knew, and she directly led to Hanna's mother's death. She also pretty directly led to Eric's death as well.

And so, picking up the baton, as it were, and stepping into that role of protector is the only thing that instinctively makes sense to her. There's this moment between she and Hanna in a car where Hanna says, "Why are you helping me?" And she says, "I don't know." And I actually think that's the truth. I think she doesn't really know why, but she's just determined to do it.

Did you and Esmé Creed-Miles work on developing that deepening relationship between your characters?

Not in any kind of a conscious way. Esmé and I got to spend a lot more time together so our natural relationship was able to grow in Season 2. And I think we both really enjoy the characters that we play and really enjoy getting to spend more time in scenes together, and so there just was kind of a natural evolution.

Marissa also takes a lot of physical punishment, both this season and last season. She’s in car accidents and fights and all kinds of things. Do you enjoy doing stunt work?

Yeah, I do. I love it. It’s a lot of fun.

It looks so punishing.

Oh, it’s great!

How do you approach each action scene so you can keep it fresh for yourself?

Well, each one is different, and so you choreograph it and you rehearse it. And action is, especially in a show like Hanna, it is storytelling. It's not just like random action, it's like moving the plot forward. And so you're just telling a story with your body instead of your words.

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One of the newest developments this season was that Dermot Mulroney came in and was the new leader of Utrax. What was it like working with him?

He’s wonderful. Speaking of chameleons, he's a chameleon himself. You know, he's an actor who can move so fluidly between comedy and drama and anything in between. And we had a very, very comfy working relationship right from the start.

And he brought this very different quality to the show. It has such a European feel, and he brought this other energy, which is this really like grounded American male energy. Which I think was such a smart choice for the man that was stepping into kind of the spot that Joel [Kinnaman, who played Eric Heller] had filled, to pick someone who really had a very different energy.

Did you miss having Joel Kinnaman as part of the cast?

I mean, I always miss Joel. He's a wonderful actor, wonderful person and a good friend of mine, so, of course, I missed him personally and I missed him from the story. I was so happy watching the show to see his face in flashback a couple of times. That was lovely. But I think the story couldn't go on with him. I think it was very important to remove him from Hanna's life so that she could evolve in a different way.

You've played a lot of very different roles. What is your favorite kind of role to tackle?

I like doing all kinds of different roles. That's what makes acting the most fun is when you get to play a really wide range of people. And anytime one show or project ends, as I'm looking at my next one, I think, "How can I turn it on its head, how can I play a different energy?" And there's none that are more interesting than the other as long as the writing is good within the specific style that you're playing.

Created by David Farr, Hanna stars Esmé Creed-Miles, Mireille Enos, Dermot Mulroney, Yasmin Monet Prince, Anthony Welsh, Cherrelle Skeete, Áine Rose Daly and Gianna Kiehl. Seasons 1 and 2 are available now on Amazon Prime Video.

NEXT: Hanna Becomes a Sharper, More Insightful Series in Season 2