WandaVision is an enigma wrapped in a mystery tucked in an Easter egg. After three episodes, much is still up in the air in the suburb of Westview— though we have some theories—with magic, mayhem, and the modern age on the horizon. We recently sat down with WandaVision‘s own Dottie, Emma Caulfield Ford. Ford shared how her personal experiences shaped Dottie, the Queen Bee of Wanda and Vision’s new suburban home, Westview. She couldn’t reveal any of the show’s secrets, but we suspect she may be bringing some magic to the town’s Queen Bee.
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To shape the cruel and perfect vision of Dottie, Ford drew on her own experiences. “I’ve had my own run-ins with that type of person. I’ve been on the receiving end of the butt of the joke—the laugh at my expense kind of thing. Especially in high school and middle school. It’s just the worst. It’s one of those things where, for all the damage that men have done, I can’t think of greater wounds than the ones caused by the girls in my life. It’s a particular kind of hurt they can do. So I was like, I know you. I know this outer shell at least.”
But there’s another side to Dottie too. “I also have to make her funny,” Ford laughed. “Which is easy because it’s written funny. The whole thing is so ridiculous, and Kathryn is so funny. There’s just so much humor early on. It’s all very Mean Girls; you’re supposed to laugh. If you were feeling sad while watching that then I definitely didn’t do my job.”
Ford continued. “Then also bringing all these other elements. The physicality of the ’60s, the voice, that mid-Atlantic voice. She just kind of had to be a combination of all of these elements and be interesting—not just a mean person making people feel bad.”
Outside of her Queen Bee persona, we here at Nerdist have a theory that Dottie might be a magic character herself. Arcanna is a Squadron Supreme character who in the comics happens to have a husband named Phil Jones… just like Dottie. As to whether or not she’d be open to bringing that side of Dottie to the screen, Ford was coy.
“I like to play anything that’s good,” she laughed. “I’ve had the luxury of playing other characters before who have powers. I’ve dabbled a little bit to say the least in the sci-fi fantasy genre, whether it was Once Upon a Time or Buffy or Timer. There’s just something about having abilities that you don’t have that’s very alluring, let’s just say that. Who doesn’t want to say something on command and have it come true?”