Psychological horror movie Escape Room can now be viewed from the comfort of your home, and we celebrated by sitting down with actor Deborah Ann Woll to get some behind the scenes details on her most challenging escape scenes–and, of course, talk a little about Daredevil Season 3 and the resolution of her character, Karen Page.
Woll was excited to talk the physicality of the role, and hopes that some of the behind the scenes features on the Blu-ray will give a look at just how intense the stunt work–which she performed herself–actually was. “[…] at one point, in the billiards room, in my harness with the wires and climbing all over. There’s green screen at the bottom to show the depth of the channel below us, the shack below us, but I’m still literally 30 feet in the air, which is high. And I remember having a moment standing amongst all of that, with this incredible crew, and all hooked up and looking up and there’s a big crane going through with the camera, thinking, ‘Oh, my God, I’m in a movie.’ This is one of those moments.”
She laughed when we related her Escape Room character–a traumatized veteran named Amanda Harper–to some of her Netflix MCU counterparts. “Generally in my career, I get cast as the sort of strong willed person with their heart on their sleeve. And it was really nice to play a physical person [this time]. I don’t generally get to play that, so I really leaned into that. And I made sure I was fit enough to pull it all off, and worked extra hard.”
Speaking of Karen Page, Woll opened up about the finale of Daredevil Season 3, which was later recognized as the series finale after Netflix culled their Marvel shows. When asked if Woll really got to say goodbye to Karen, she explained: “That’s such a tricky question, because when we wrapped, we didn’t know it was the end, so I didn’t really think about it as a conclusion, but maybe that’s good. Maybe that means in a really beautiful sense that they are living on. You know?
“I love, love, love that we go to do the backstory episode. I had so much fun playing it. It’s one of the proudest moments of my career, and I think it gave her depth and agency and complexity. I would’ve really regretted it if the show had been canceled before we had a chance to tell that story. So I feel really good about that last season for her story, and I just hope there’s more growth in that direction, more understanding and acceptance, and saying, ‘Hey, look, you don’t have to be defined by a single action.'”
So, it seems like Karen’s future is really left to the hearts and minds of the fans themselves if the characters really are “living on” after the finales of shows like Daredevil and The Punisher–which might be a little bittersweet, but ultimately is a lot less tragic than the final moments of any number of Marvel superheroes, so, hey. Take the victory where you can get it, Daredevil fans.
Escape Room is available on Blu-ray and digital download now.
