Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Interview: Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Ellen Wong On Bringing New Experiences To Revisited Characters

Warning: SPOILERS for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is best enjoyed without spoilers, but those who have seen the anime series know that it is a unique revisitation and expansion of Edgar Wright’s 2010 film and Bryan Lee O’Malley’s beloved graphic novels. Over a decade later, the anime series still has much of what made the film a cult hit; Wright serves as a producer on Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, and all principal cast members from the film return to give new takes on their characters. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off was written by BenDavid Grabinski, known in part for Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and Bryan Lee O’Malley.

One of the most interesting things about the anime series is how Scott Pilgrim Takes Off redefines its villains, but just as important is the way it explores the lives of the other people in Scott Pilgrim’s life. Ramona Flowers and Knives Chau enjoy their own journeys of self-discovery in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, with each on a path to self-actualization that is brand new compared to the events of the graphic novels and film. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ellen Wong return as Ramona Flowers and Knives Chau and bring life experience to their characters in what is the largest foray either actor has made into voiceover.

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Screen Rant interviewed Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ellen Wong about returning to Ramona Flowers and Knives Chau, the notorious Scott Pilgrim email chain, and more.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Ellen Wong On Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Screen Rant: It was so exciting as a fan to see the fact that everybody came back for this show. Did you get the chance to work together and be in the room together in the same way you [did for] the movie at all?

Ellen Wong: No. We were all in different locations at the time of recording, and so that was a thing; we didn’t get to be together. We got to be together in spirit, through our experience of doing it, in our mass email that we have together, and in the celebration of the anime coming out, but it was an interesting experience.

For me, at least, it was my first time really doing voiceover, so that was, in and of itself, an interesting experience. You’re on your own, you don’t get to hear the lines being read back to you, and you’re just doing your character’s lines. But then you get to really live in your character, in a way, where you’re just that person speaking the entire time. You almost can discover new things about her that you just didn’t know were there. That’s how I felt. I don’t know if you felt that way, Mary.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: Absolutely, yeah. Of course, we would have loved to have all been in the same room and to get to interact together and all that again, but it still felt like we were; we were all coming together with this united goal of making something together. You could kind of feel the energy of that, and that was incredibly exciting.

I had maybe one or two days where I got to do scenes where the other actors had already recorded their parts, so I got to hear them, at least, which was so fun. Even just to hear a little snippet of you, Ellen, or Kieran, or Michael brought a rush to me, just reminding me how special it is that we’re all doing this together. It’s like we weren’t together, but we were, in its own way.

Ellen Wong: I think it feels like we were together when you watch it.

Mary Elizabeth, Ramona is, surprisingly, kind of the star of the show here, which is so cool to watch. I know you’ve lived with this character for so long, but was there anything that you felt you maybe discovered or got to expand on in this telling of the story?

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: Definitely. It was really meaningful for me to get to have Ramona be more of the focus and to get to explore her, emotionally, a bit more. I think we all really identified with our characters at the time when we made the movie, and there’s something really personal about Ramona for me, so to get to look back at her as a character and also look back at myself at that time, and think about all the things that I would like to get to say to that character, or say about that character, or to myself… it was all very meta.

The show feels [meta], obviously, but it felt that way making it as well. We were all sort of looking back at our former selves with this new lens and bringing all of that history to these characters, and who they were then, and where they’re going. That was a very cathartic and emotional thing to get to do that I didn’t really expect. I didn’t really realize it was going to feel that way until I was actually recording it.

Ellen, we get Scott saying, “Apparently a 23-year-old dating a high schooler is frowned on in society,” this time around, which feels like progress, kind of. How did you feel about the way Scott’s relationship with Knives was framed and done with this show?

Ellen Wong: I love that Knives gets to go off on her own and find herself outside of needing to be with Scott. I think that the feature kind of alludes to that a little bit with the way that it ends, but you just don’t get to see what happens after. In the anime, you get to see that with Knives. She gets to grieve in her very dramatic Knives-esque way, but she then gets to go and heal those wounds inside of herself and she can find the things that bring her joy—the real true loves in her life—and it doesn’t have to be about Scott; it doesn’t have to be about a guy. It’s about, “What does she want to do?” and, “What does she care about?” and I think that’s a huge growth curve for Knives. I love that we get to see her be her own person.

Mary, how do you feel about the reveal of what happened to the relationship between Scott and Ramona?

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: I thought it was really beautiful. It just felt very true and authentic to life in a way that I think a lot of people could resonate with; I certainly resonated with it. [In] looking at these characters with more wisdom and with more empathy, we can—all being a little bit older now—look back at these characters, and ourselves in our ‘20s, and go, “Oh, you just didn’t know what was coming. You just didn’t know yet,” and feel empathy for them in that journey.

I think older Ramona is able to look back at younger Ramona with those eyes, and I love where it goes from there; that Ramona gets to realize that it’s about accepting and loving herself. For her to get to go on that journey was very special for me. Scott got to have his own journey with that in the film, and now Ramona gets to have her own version of that kind of self-love and self-acceptance, which I think she desperately needed as well. It feels like the right thing. It felt really special to get to go on that journey with her.

Ellen, did you have a favorite Knives moment from the series?

Ellen Wong: I’m not a musician, and that was a really interesting part of being able to play Knives this time. In the voiceover sessions, Bryan and BenDavid were like, “Do you want us to play you the beat and you [can] go with it?” I was like, “Um…” We had to try different things, because they were like, “Do it in two-count,” [and] I was like, “What are you talking about? I’m just going to say the lyrics, and then you put them in where they have to go.”

It started off that way because I wasn’t confident about it, but then, as we started to play the songs and I got into it, I started to sing and do all these things that were outside of my comfort zone, but also [were] about Knives finding herself and finding her voice. It was interesting to go on that journey with her as well, and then it was just really fun. It just flowed.

That was the part that I was the most nervous about; I was like, “I know Knives can do it, but how can I do it?” and “Can I do it?” I just kind of let it go, and I was like, “Knives doesn’t care. She’s just letting it flow, and she’s just letting herself ‘be’ now,” and so I did [too]. It was really special, and the music is incredible in the anime, and it was really cool to be part of that.

It was just cool for Knives to be part of the band because I think that’s what her true love was from the beginning. She was in love with Scott playing music; she didn’t need Scott. It wasn’t about Scott, it was about what he was making, and how he was expressing himself, and I think she’s on that journey too.

That scene where she starts jamming with Kim is my favorite; it’s so good. I want to know about the email chain, because then it’s been written about, it’s been documented—

Ellen Wong: It’s been documented?

Well, not the actual emails, but it’s been written about. Who’s replying the fastest? Who needs to spend less time on the email chain? Who’s replying the least? What’s the dynamic?

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: It is quite funny because, obviously, the story that’s gone around—which is the most hilarious thing—is that Michael resurrected it after 10 years. I think him and probably Jason Schwartzman are the two that are most likely to reply, like, months late. So, that still happens on occasion. It’s not an email chain that is constantly going.

Ellen Wong: It’s like this. [It’ll be like,] “Yes,” and I’m like, “To what?” and it’s an email from two months ago. “Oh.”

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: It’s just fun that it still exists. I think that we all sort of want to keep it going in that way, where it’s like, “Okay, every few months, somebody needs to write something so that we can just have this be the longest email chain ever.” There’s just something so funny and perfect about that.

Ellen Wong: But there’s no denying that Edgar is the leader of that email chain.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: For sure. He’s the spear-header. Yeah.

The creators of the show have been very clear that this wasn’t made with the intent of jumping right into a second season, but are there places that you would each like to see your characters go in any future telling?

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: It’s such a difficult one because I think, as people and actors, we all just love it so much. We would be so excited to continue to be a part of it in some way, but it is sort of like, “What could that story be?” That’s still a question mark, I think. I think what BenDavid and Bryan did with this was just so brilliant; it’s like a full history of all of our lives, somehow, in this show, and so I think to do that again is a tall order. But I’m sure that all of us would be down to do it again if they came up with it a second time.

Ellen Wong: For sure. And so much of this is their brains—BenDavid and Bryan, especially Bryan—that I almost want to just be like, “You tell me what to do, and I’ll do it. You tell me where Knives is going and I’ll go” So, I agree, and I echo everything Mary is saying. It’s just been such a blast to be together again, and to be able to bring ourselves, now, to these characters from 10 years ago. It’s just cool to see them live on in anime form.

About Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Scott Pilgrim meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers, but learns he must defeat her seven evil exes in order to date her. Then things get even more complicated. Based on the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley.