[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”12526″ img_size=”800×400″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Most people will agree that no matter what, it’s hard to make Ben Barnes unattractive. Even in the behind the scenes photos of Billy Russo from The Punisher season two’s set, the scars from Russo and Frank Castle’s final fight in season one does not look that severe. This is primarily due to the makeup department that wanted to take a very realistic approach. Despite that, the trauma that Russo has gone through and even one little scar on “Billy the Beaut’s” face has to be enough to send the character spiraling.
“The repercussions of that final fight are definitely marked on his face. They carefully tried to figure out a way to have all the specific injuries from that fight represented on Billy’s face. What kind of actual scars are left behind from that? I mean, aside from the glass, he took a bullet ricochet to the cheek. So as with all of these stories, they’ve gone for a more grounded version of what that imagery would be.” Ben Barnes spoke to Den of Geeks.
In a previous post, we touched upon how Billy Russo won’t ever be addressed as Jigsaw in the show, but that this villainous name will be more of a metaphor to the pieces that Russo will try to bring back together, as the fight with Castle caused some memory loss.
He adds that for much of the first season, Russo presents himself as a suave and self-assured man who only knows success. “But now it’s been stripped away,” he says. “Now it’s about what he sees when he looks in the mirror instead of what other people see. They didn’t necessarily want it to be a horror show. It’s about something more internal than that. We don’t actually refer to the character as ‘Jigsaw.’ Instead, he very much has a jigsaw puzzle in his brain.”
Barnes then went on to delve further into his character’s psyche:
“It’s like waking up and only knowing some things about yourself. It gives him this chance to reinvent who he is, but he also doesn’t necessarily have control over what he’s thinking or feeling a lot of the time. I think that was really interesting for me, particularly because this is a character whose core drive was all this narcissism and success. He put across his most charismatic and attractive qualities first in the hopes that people would respond to them in the way that they always have. In the hope that people would do things for him and with him. Now that’s all gone. He doesn’t believe he’s that person anymore. It’s been stripped away.”
As we walk into season two with Russo damaged and in a hospital, he will be accompanied by Floriana Lima’s Dr. Krista Dumont. I’m getting some Joker/Harley Quinn vibes here, with Krista having worked with Russo for several months by the time we pick up with the season. Lima speaks about her character:
“Krista is Billy’s psychotherapist,” she says. “She works with veterans and she’s done this specific kind of therapy before. When this season begins, she’s been working with Billy for several months, coaching him through all of the things that he’s been struggling with since that fight. They’re putting the puzzle back together, or at least they’re trying to, and she has specific techniques for doing it. She has some insight on how to pull out everything that he’s struggling to find.”
In season one, Billy Russo is finally on TV, described as armed and dangerous. Lima discusses Krista’s opinion on Russo:
“In the beginning, she’s still learning about Billy. I don’t think she’s really coming up with an opinion, like that he’s a really dark person. She just assumes it’s some form of PTSD and tries to come up with some ideas for how to help Billy out. She’s not judging him in any way. He’s another patient with his own trauma and she’s helping him to sort out the puzzle pieces.”
Ben Barnes then described his character as very similar to Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk in season one of Daredevil. It’ll be interesting to see Russo’s development through season two, but as we’ve seen in pictures of season two filming, Russo and Castle have another showdown. My prediction? I don’t think things are going to end too well for Krists.
“In the beginning, he’s in a gown and he doesn’t want to look at himself. He doesn’t know if there’s anyone in the world who will listen to, or understand him. I think that’s a vulnerable, fearful position to be in,” says Barnes. “I noticed this in the first season of Daredevil with Vincent D’Onofrio’s character. The first time you see him, he’s not raging or breaking something. He’s falling deeply and sweetly in love with someone. Basically, what I’m saying is Marvel does different things with different seasons. We don’t want to repeat what we’ve already done. In The Punisher, we decided to be ambiguous about whether or not Billy is a villain, and then reveal just how bad he really is deep down. Now we get to see that ultimate side of him. Then again, maybe he’s not that bad at all. You’ll just have to wait and see.”
The Punisher will premiere in January, 2019, but we do not have an official date yet![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]