Virginia Gardner on Playing the Rainbow-Colored, Levitating, Gay Girl-Next-Door in Marvel's Runaways

When Virginia Gardner attended Miami Comic Con a few weeks ago, a fan approached her in tears. What would have been unusual just a few months ago is now just a day in the life for the 22-year-old actress. That's all because of her starring role in Marvel's Runaways, Hulu's teen superhero drama about affluent teens who discover their parents are all members of a villainous society called PRIDE. To make matters murkier, the teens are slowly developing their own mysterious powers or abilities—while figuring out which of the others they want to make out with.

Fom left to right: Molly Hernandez (Allegra Acosta), Gert Yorkes (Ariela Barer), Nico Minoru (Lyrica Okano), Alex Wilder (Rhenzy Feliz), Chase Stein (Gregg Sulkin), and Karolina Dean (Virginia Gardner).

Gardner plays Karolina, the typical girl next door...who levitates and glows like a rainbow. Then there's Chase (Gregg Sulkin), a jock who invents a pair of weaponized gloves and can send messages from the future. Gert (Ariela Barer) is a feminist with anxiety and a special relationship with a nose-ring wearing dinosaur (it was in her parents' lab). Molly (Allegra Acosta) has super-strength, and while Alex (Rhenzy Feliz) doesn't seem to have any powers yet, he's a tech expert. Nico (Lyrica Okano) can control her mother's mysterious staff—who can do pretty much anything.

Karolina's rainbow magic is undeniably cool, but it's also a clue; she's the first gay superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe whose sexuality has been confirmed on screen. It's hard to believe—there have been nine MCU television series and 18 films since 2008, including last weekend's Black Panther—but here we are. In the penultimate episode of the season, all the hints that Karolina might be harboring feelings for Nico are finally sealed with a kiss.

Which brings us back to that fan at Comic Con. "[The fan] was telling me how much Karolina meant to her and her friends who relate to that character and love her relationship with Nico," Gardner tells me at the ELLE.com office. Below, the actress opens up about the responsibility of representing the LGBTQ community, which of the Runaways she thinks could be the mole, and reads some fan theories with the help of Old Lace 2.0.

Now that the full season is out, what have been fans' reactions?

I think the reaction has been really good. Obviously, a lot of people are excited about Karolina’s representation and what that character stands for, and so many fans tweeted me saying they wish they had a character like her when they were 13 and confused about their sexuality.

Did you know going in that Karolina was going to be the first gay MCU character?

I did know that, and that was really exciting for me because I’ve always looked for roles that are standing for something, roles that we need for today, and roles that young girls and young boys can look up to and learn something from. Karolina has that.

Do you feel a certain sense of responsibility?

Definitely, and that’s why I love it. I just hope there’s more of it. I hope that [Marvel and Hollywood] keep going in that direction, because it’s so important to have characters that people can look up to and learn from, especially superheroes. I think that’s super special.

Some fans' favorite aspect of Runaways is the various "ships." Did you know what all of that entailed?

No, I did not.

What was that experience like to you to realize people were shipping Karolina with different characters?

It was really funny because at first, people who hadn’t read the comics didn’t know that she was gay. Over time I would see these Twitter fights: Someone said they ship me and Chase, and [someone else would] be like, “Oh, you’re such an idiot, she’s gay, she likes Nico." I was like, "What does that mean, do they want to send us in a ship? What are they talking about?" Finally, Allegra, who’s 15, was like, “No.” She knew exactly what a “ship” was and she knows all the lingo—whenever there’s a question about internet lingo, we know to talk to Allegra about it, she’s the coolest out of all of us.

Do you have any ships on the show?

Yeah, I ship Gert and Chase, and Karolina and Nico for sure. Alex, hopefully, will get a girl next season, someone else that’s not Nico. Poor Alex. He's lonely.

A big part of season 1 was the strained relationships between the teens and their parents. Will those evolve even more?

Yeah, I think so! We haven’t started shooting yet, so I have no idea what's going to happen next season, but I think we’ll see more of an evolution, especially now that we’ve run away. I’m sure at some point we’ll have another confrontation with them, which will feel very different now that they know about our powers. I’m also interested to see what’s going to happen to Karolina and Jonah [played by Julian McMahon] because obviously that was set up in a really big way in the last episodes. I’m interested to see if they’re going to be in cahoots, and if not, where that will go.

Speaking of being in cahoots with Jonah, do you and the rest of the cast talk about who you think the mole is?

We do—we do talk a lot about that.

Who do you think the mole is?

Okay, I actually think it’s Nico or Alex. Truthfully, we’ve talked to the showrunners and I don’t think they’ve even decided who the mole is gonna be yet. But we think it’s gonna be one of them, because there’s one scene where Alex knows the password to Nico’s mom’s safe, which is actually really weird. Maybe it was a coincidence, but Nico was like, “Well, that’s weird because I’m the only person that should know that password.” So I wonder if it’s her or Alex—I think it’s a little bit fishy what’s going on with those two.

You don’t think it’s Karolina? A lot of fans think it's you.

I just don’t want to believe it’s Karolina. Something in the last episode alluded it to it being Karolina and at the table read for the episode, everyone was like, "[Gasp] Ginny, it’s you! You’re the mole!" I was like, Please tell me I’m not!

View full post on Instagram

What was it like getting to know the rest of the Runaways? Have you guys become close?

We’re all really close. Rhenzy and Gregg are the closest, they have a huge bromance, they hang out all the time and they’re obsessed with each other in real life. But the rest of us are really close too. I was in New York last week and got dinner with Lyrica, who plays Nico, and we’re all just really great friends and we all support each other outside of work, and go to birthday parties, and go out after work sometimes and do dinners...so, it’s fun.

Is there anything from that the comics that you want to see in season 2?

Xavin. I want to see him come for season 2! He’s the shapeshifter that shows up to be [Karolina's] husband and then I’m like, "...ah, I’m into chicks." Then he turns into a girl, so I’m interested to see if they could bring a character like that into the show next season.

Hollywood is having a reckoning, with #MeToo and Time’s Up. Has the industry felt different since those movements began?

I’ve had experiences with what so many other women have faced and I was dealing with that as recently as a year ago. It feels like overnight everything has taken such a huge shift, which is so amazing. I feel safer when I walk on set and I feel safer when I’m talking to producers. I feel safer when I’m talking to directors. I know the problem isn’t solved, but I think it’s a really exciting time to be a woman in any industry in the US. I think we’re about to see so much of a shift, and we’re getting our power and our respect.

How are you fighting for yourself as a young actress, in terms of gender parity?

It’s tough. It’s tough because at this point in my career, you don’t have the power necessary to fight for things the way someone that’s established could. I also think it’s in the hands of the studios now and in the hands of agents as well to make sure agents are fighting on our behalf. They need to ask how much the male co-star is getting paid and make sure we’re getting equal pay. I also think that when we start getting women in more power positions at the studios and elsewhere in Hollywood, we’re going to see huge changes in the pay gaps as well.

To end on a lighter note—if you could have any superpower, what would it be?

To be able to communicate with my dog Levi. I have a cocker spaniel mix—he’s the silliest looking thing in the world, but like how Old Lace and Gert can communicate, I would like to do that with my dog.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Photography by Jimmie Armentrout. Hair by Eric Jamieson. Makeup by Marino Hirano.

Styled by Justine Carreon: Dress, Salvatore Ferragamo; Jewelry, Agmes; Shoes, Alexandre Birman.

Video fashion credits: Blazer, Alice + Olivia; Shirt, Kule.