VisionQuest features Schitt’s Creek actress as an AI persona

Paul Bettany, left, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Lewis, and Emily Hampshire on the set of Marvel Television’s VisionQuest. Photo by Dennys Ilic/Marvel

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When WandaVision debuted in 2021, it was a sight for sore eyes. Based on the characters Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and her beloved android Vision (Paul Bettany), the acclaimed Marvel series used the history of TV sitcoms to dig into themes of grief and trauma.

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The spinoff Agatha All Along followed in 2024, centring on quick-witted witch Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn). And now, the trilogy is ending with VisionQuest.

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The limited series debuts Oct. 14 on Disney+, opening with Vision newly rebooted and hiding from those who wanted to use him as a weapon. While under the radar, he seeks meaning by consulting with the AI personas embedded in his programming, including F.R.I.D.A.Y. (Orla Brady), E.D.I.T.H. (Emily Hampshire), J.A.R.V.I.S. (James D’Arcy), and Ultron (James Spader).

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But everything changes when a bounty is placed on his head. He’s soon on the run with a boy named Thomas Shepherd (Ruaridh Mollica), who may be his reincarnated son.

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We spoke with Montreal native Hampshire about bringing E.D.I.T.H. to the screen. The actress, who played Stevie Budd in Schitt’s Creek, is also starring in the Crave comedy Slo Pitch. Her upcoming projects include the film Maid of Dishonor and Season 2 of the Crave megahit Heated Rivalry.

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Q: Had you been a fan of the MCU or watched WandaVision beforehand?

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A: I have now because I said something to one person. I admitted that I didn’t know what the MCU was, which now I very much regret. However, I now have corrected that and have watched everything and am a genuine, massive fan now, especially of WandaVision.

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I think I’d never gone into it before because I had this idea of what a superhero movie or show was. The Marvel Universe is not that. It’s actually a really cool way of using superheroes to deliver these human stories, and they’re funny and inventive. Like, WandaVision is like nothing else. It’s amazing.

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Q: We first saw E.D.I.T.H. in Spider-Man: Far From Home. How does your version of her build on that?

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A: I’m glad you said that because it was important to me that it was building on it and not just some new version of E.D.I.T.H. I thought that if Tony Stark bottled his energy into a pair of sunglasses that he named E.D.I.T.H., for the acronym Even Dead I’m a Hero, and she had all the access to all the weapons and defence systems that he gives to a teenager, what would she be like when she is let out of those glasses?

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And that is E.D.I.T.H. that you meet in VisionQuest. She just so wants to experience life on this massive level and is thrill seeking. She’s really like an amusement-park ride that is off the rails.

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Q: How did you prepare to play an AI persona? Was it different from anything else?