As ‘Agent Carter’ Debuts, Hayley Atwell Says ‘Hollywood Should Want To Make Female-Centred Projects’

The creative team behind the new Marvel TV series Agent Carter is now basking in the glow of exceptionally good reviews, following the premiere of the highly anticipated show on ABC on Tuesday January 6. Instrumental in that success is lead actress Hayley Atwell, who has lovingly crafted the character since her first appearance in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. Atwell has quietly performed in the role in a Marvel One-Shot, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D and, soon, in Avengers: Age of Ultron; but the debut of Agent Carter has cemented her position as the first female Marvel hero to lead her own project.

The series, set in 1946, finds our heroine bearing the considerable weight of institutionalised sexism, as the end of World War II has brought the men-folk home, and relegated her to office-bound administrative tasks. Missing being in the field, Agent Carter eagerly accepts a request for assistance from old friend Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) – a.k.a Iron Man’s Dad. He has lost track of some of his deadliest weapons, and consequently, has a price on his head. Also, and perhaps most significantly, she’s just lost the love of her life – Captain America – when his plane plunged into the icy waters at the end of The First Avenger.

Agent Carter boasts the unusual advantage of its lead actress having developed the character over four years before the first frame of the show’s premiere was even broadcast. Hayley Atwell explained to Variety what such a now familiar role means to her on a personal level.

“I think I probably mostly relate to her in that she’s a modern woman… culturally at the moment and certainly in my generation, there’s been this expectation that, because we’ve moved so far ahead from the 1940s about where women can be in the workplace, she’s having to find a way of having it all, and what I can relate to is that struggle between the personal life and the professional life.”

Atwell also pointed out, in her pre-show Variety interview, that Agent Carter is a step forward in terms of women working in the television industry – simply because it allows women the space to do their best.

“It’s amazing that I have had this opportunity and am working with incredibly bright and fun men and women at Marvel, and of course, we have two female showrunners; it’s fantastic with Tara [Butters] and Michele [Fazekas] leading the way, and then also some fantastic female crew, so it does feel like a small triumph for women on television. ‘It’s not earnest. I don’t think it’s trying to make a feminist statement. I think it’s just saying to TV audiences, women are bankable, female-led projects are fantastic to watch, they are exciting and there is such a rich amount of tension and drama that can be had from having a female central character.'”

Expanding on that point while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter – Hayley Atwell highlighted the fact that Agent Carter is, in fact, the latest in a steady progression of TV shows with a well-written female character at its heart, and that demonstrates audience demand.

“Audiences want them, and Hollywood should want to make female-centred projects. I feel like the last 10 years of TV has created really strong and fascinating women. Women who aren’t the damsel in distress, or the ingénue, or the bitch or the mother-in-law. They are a lot more interesting and complex. I hope that Peggy is seen in that category of leading a show, but also showing her flaws and showing much more relatable qualities.”

While the premiere episode was found to have successfully fired on all cylinders from the start, there were plenty of hints about bigger things to come as the eight episode season unfolds. Speaking to E! News, Atwell mapped out – in broad terms – the route Agent Carter will be taking as the story expands to explore the ‘secret’ implied by Howard Stark.

“The secret is a very personal one. It starts with a mission to find his ‘bad babies’, but what is awesome is that it’s not a show where it’s an episode of finding bad baby after bad baby. It goes to a much, much deeper place. She is actually apart of a much, much bigger scheme that is very personal to her.”

Agent Carter, starring Hayley Atwell, airs Tuesday nights on ABC.