Eternals star Lia McHugh, who portrayed Sprite in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film, recently revealed that one on-set relationship, in particular, surprised her during filming.
"I think her relationships with all of the other characters caught me by surprise," McHugh told CBR about what surprised her most during production. "A lot of the stuff that happened during filming -- like some of the relationships and the connections that people had with each other was unexpected, and it wasn't exactly scripted. I think some of the moments that I had with the other actors." The actor added, however, that she was most surprised by her budding friendship with Kumail Nanjiani.
"Kumail's and my relationship became so much better once we started filming and it did catch me by surprise. I don't mean this in a bad way, but when I met him, I didn't expect to love him," McHugh continued. "He seemed serious and I was like, 'Oh, he's so serious. I don't know how I'm going to feel about this guy. But he's actually hilarious. We match each other's energy perfectly. We're really good friends now but I think that was a bit unexpected. He's literally a comedian every day of his life. It's great. Makes everyone laugh."
Fans who've already seen Eternals will recall that McHugh's character, Sprite, is best known as the storyteller of the Eternals community and for having the permanent appearance of a child. In a move that proved to be both shocking and a little confusing, the film ended with Sprite turning on her fellow Eternals and being stripped of her powers by Sersi (Gemma Chan).
While Sprite's unexpected turn has been criticized by some, it was revealed in early January that two scenes deleted from Eternals may have shed more light on Sprite's motivations. The first deleted scene depicted Sprite having a conversation with Dane Whiteman (Kit Harington) in the natural museum about the inaccuracy of the museum's displays, noting that humans "believe in structures and principles that don't actually exist." Meanwhile, the second deleted scene showed Dirt and Makarri speaking in private about the flawed nature of humans, with Sprite pointing out that Makarri still thinks humans are "...worthy of being saved, after all of the terrible things we've seen them do."
Although questions remain about both Sprite's and McHugh's future in the MCU, Eternals writer Kaz Firpo confirmed after the film's release that Sprite is no longer an Eternal. "What makes an Eternal an Eternal is that ability to draw on Celestial energy. And essentially what Sersi has done is remove that ability," Firpo said at the time. "She's taken that generator out of her. So now she is just, as far as we know, a mortal who will age and grow, and live as one of us truly, and doesn't have that magical ability."
Directed by Chloé Zhao, Eternals is now available to stream on Disney+.
Source: CBR