We had the opportunity at SVCC to see David Tennant and Krysten Ritter reunite, and it was an absolutely amazing panel. I did the best I could to give you guys the experience of being there without being there, so I tried to include every question, answer, and fun comment that our Jessica Jones and Doctor Who stars brought to the table! The panel was hosted and moderated by Dana, otherwise known as “The Notorious DHK,” who opened up with some hard hitting questions. Be warned there are quite a few spoilers for season two of Jessica Jones in this, so if you haven’t seen it yet…well. Sorry if I spoil something!

Krysten what’re you knitting right now?

Krysten: Oh! I’m so glad you asked! I have a few projects going. Usually I have about 4 or 5 going at a time. I’m crocheting a blanket at home, and I have a sweater in my purse that I’m actually working on.

David do you ask for your payments for voicing Scrooge McDuck in the form of like..baby pools full of coins? And if not, would you consider doing that?

David: But what coins would they be in?

You would get to choose the currency, right?

David: Gold Doubloons then. I’m not sure what those gold coins are that he’s swimming in, and frankly the practicality of swimming in gold coins… 

David: It WOULD be awful. Especially if you’re feathered.

Krysten if you had Kilgrave’s powers, what would you do with them? Like..I would have someone do my taxes without paying them.

Krysten: Oh yeah for sure, things like that, definitely. I often get asked if I could have a superpower what would it be, and I always choose Kilgrave’s powers. Not to do bad things! But y’know…

David: Yeah but how SOON would you be corrupted by it, that’s the question.

Krysten: Oh totally, like..there’s a line at the bank, everyone please move…and while you’re at it please give me 100,000 dollars.

Okay so. David, you grew up a ‘whovian,’ you knew – to a degree – what you were walking into when you took on that mantle, but did you [Krysten] understand what you were going to be walking into when you took the role of Jessica Jones?

Krysten: I didn’t know what I was walking into at all, because Jessica had never been played before, and I was the first person to play the character. She wasn’t really well known, but we fixed that!

What surprised you the most about this? (Comic Con)

Krysten: What surprised me the most is that anyone even watches it or anyone even comes to see me…it still blows my mind and never feels normal.

David, this question comes from a gentleman named Neil Gaiman – how many devils can dance on the head of a pin?

David: There is an actual answer to that, but it’s a spoiler so..

They said to also ask about disco dancing?

David: If you wanna see me shake my booty in some EXCEEDINGLY tight trousers, I think it’s around episode 4.

For both of you, logistically or emotionally, what was the most challenging scene in Jessica Jones?

Krysten: Where do you even begin? I would say for me the hardest scene to shoot, there was one scene in the first season where I’m on a fire escape, and this one [David] yells in my ear. But it was REALLY cold.

David: Oh yeah, it was really cold.

Krysten: I think it was like…8 degrees below zero. We were shooting overnight, we even got shut down because it was so cold.

David: Logistically, the episode where I was in a glass box with water on the floor. Logistically because there was wetness, and draining it and filling it back up again.

Krysten: Wait but this season, there was a scene too, where logistically ..well. spoilers.

David: Have you all seen it? [Crowd cheers]

David: We’re fine.

Krysten: There’s this scene with multiples of you AND, remember I hit you in the face?

Krysten: So David’s last scene, we had to do this like..switching situation, and I hit you in the face with a big canister! It just gushed blood! I felt so bad! I’m preparing for the next take and I look at him, and I see blood dripping out of his nose and I’m like ‘Oh my god!’

David: Yeah, it was my best Stranger Things moment. I remember, it was very early on, it was like..one of the first days, and you were asleep on the desk, and I had to lick your face! We’d met like twice!

Of all the characters you two have played, who do you think you admire the most?

Krysten: Ooh, I don’t know. I play such jerks. I admire Jessica Jones the most cause she’s strong.

David: [Crowd member yells ‘Casanova’] Casanova?! Is he really admirable, I don’t know…I played a character called Jimmy Murphy….he was this extraordinary humble man, who held all these people together and never got any praise for it, never got any credit for it.

Who do you think you’re the MOST like, for the characters you’ve played?

David: Not Casanova. [To Krysten] Who are you the most like?

Krysten: Well I haven’t really played any like…knitting nerds. I guess maybe the bitch in apartment 22? Because I’m adorable, and a blast.

What has been one of the most unique fan experiences that you’ve had so far?

Krysten: A lot of people ask me to punch them..and I do it!

David: The weirdest one ever for me, was when I was in the shower at the gym. Naked as the day I was born, and another Naked as the day he was presumably born, came up and asked for an autograph. He handed me this piece of paper, water pouring down, it’s turning to pulp in his fingers…like what do you want me to sign it with?! Then he brings this pen out, it’s not working in a shower by the way – I’m sure someone a this convention who understands physics could explain why. And I sort of carved some..like a wood cut in this pile of pulpy paper in this man’s hand. I don’t think signing autographs is something you should do naked. but that was quite unusual.

What inspires you?

Krysten: I mean, I think you could find inspiration anywhere if you’re open to it.

David: My kids.

What frustrates you?

David: My kids.

Krysten: [Jokingly] David’s kids.

What is a guilty pleasure of yours?

Krysten: I have a really bad one. I really..I really got into the Kardashians, man. I found myself binging it for 8 hours the other day. They’re just so fun! I love their big family!

David: You are a bad person.

Growing up who was your favorite fictional hero or heroine? It doesn’t have to be a superhero.

Krysten: Oh I loved me some Lydia Deets in Beetlejuice!

David: Mine weirdly, was The Doctor!
Dana quickly turned the panel over to the audience to ask questions, and they had some absolutely great ones to ask!

(To David) So you play an excellent villain, and you’re playing a villain in a new movie coming out called Bad Samaritan – what its like working with Legion M and electric entertainment, and how is it different working with an independent company?

David: Oh, well that’s a big difficult question to answer. I guess when you work on an independent movie there’s a sense of maybe all coming together that a big production doesn’t have. …There’s a real family sense…it was a very friendly, creative, happy atmosphere.

You’re known for being well prepared for any roles you’ve been in…so my question is what’s the most interesting thing you’ve ever discovered while researching for a role?

David: I played Arthur Stanley Eddington in a movie called Einstein and Eddington, and for a minute I understood the Theory of Relativity. I read all about it, for I could just about get it. Y’know when you’ve got an idea and you’re holding it sort of…just there, and you think “I actually understand that,” and for about a week I felt like I was all over it. Now I couldn’t tell you a thing about it.

I was wondering advice you had for young actors that hope to do as well as you have done?

David: I’m always terrified of giving advice. I never know what to say. It always feels like such a crap shoot. I have no idea, [to Krysten] what do you think?

Krysten: I have a better answer than david, then. I came up in the industry having no connections, nothing, and I just aid yes to everything and made my own stuff, and got like..a video camera and shot things. Hone your skills like a ninja, you don’t just wake up great, you have to work really really really hard. And say yes cause nothing shows up on your doorstep. And you have to be really good at hearing no, because you’ll hear no most of the time. And that can’t get you down.

David: The only advice I have for an actor – it’s very basic, it’s be on time, learn your lines, and be nice. Because a remarkable number of actors don’t do that.

How has your experience changed since doing your first convention?

David: People are so enthusiastic, there’s so much joy in these rooms that it’s never a chore. I get really cross when fans of genre-stuff gets a bad rap. Because as things go, its a really cool thing to be excited about! These are always lovely places to visit.

Krysten: Yeah I haven’t done that many comic cons, and I didn’t know what to expect, but it ends up being an outpouring of love and a celebration of these characters that mean a lot to so many people. Y’know, Jessica means a lot to a lot of women in really moving ways, and that really speaks to my heart. So it’s such a positive, great experience.

What is the most humiliating or embarrassing moment that happened on set together?

David: We didn’t really have humiliating really.

Krysten: I just thought of something really stupid. Because Jessica’s like really cool and strong, and I’m like…clumsy. And there was one scene in the defenders where I’m supposed to like..run, and nothing happened, I ran and just fell. That was embarrassing, everyone laughed at me.

David: I’m very cool at all times. I’m very poised, everyone thinks I’m great. so It’s not something I have to suffer.

Krysten: And humble.

[To David]: Your doctor was one of my favorite of all times…

D: ONE OF?!

my absolute favorite of all time! But my question is How emotional did you get during your last scene with Billie Piper?

David: Oh my last scene with Billie, yeah! Which was the end of my first year, and it had been quite a journey joining a show like that, which comes with so much baggage, and so much attention, and so much scrutiny, and your life isn’t your own suddenly in a way that I expected…but you can’t really quantify until you’re in the middle of it. And Billie was such an amazing partner, because she had been on the show before and she lived quite a public life, she’d been a pop star since she was like…11 years old! So Billie was a huge guide for me in how to sort of…deal with the fact that you lose a bit your life. I don’t mean that to sound negative, it’s just an adjustment you had to make and she became such a close friend, and she became such a wonderful person to act with, and the idea that she was leaving the show when I was staying was bittersweet in many ways. The last scene we shot was at the very end of the satan pit story, it’s the last scene we shoot, and we had to do a couple takes because we couldn’t really get through it without getting a bit emotional.

Is there a character that you really wish you had the opportunity to play but it just never worked out?

David: Are you suggesting we may now be too old for certain roles? My casting bracket remains VERY broad.

Krysten: Yeah! ages 18-75!

David: I’m currently developing a Peter Pan movie!

Krysten: I think that y’know, you’re on a journey, and the stuff that doesn’t work out ends up being for the best because something else happens instead.

David: Unless it goes to someone you hate.

Krysten: That hasn’t happened to me yet!

David: Oooh it has to me. I think I still work under this apprehension that I can do anything, but I have to confess to being middle aged! I know, I know! I’m about to 47 years old! I know! Absolutely ludicrous!

What book have you read recently that you found interesting?

Krysten: I just got Brian Cranston’s book! I haven’t read it yet, it’s in my purse. But I am going to read it. It’s called ‘A Life In Parts.’

David: I got that book too, I haven’t read it either! You know him!

Krysten: I do know him, he sent me an email yesterday!

David: Oooooohoooh! Tell him I think he’s great.

Krysten: I will! I had to check, I was like is this junk? Is this real?

Dana: Speaking of books, are you working on another one any time soon?

David: Oh yeah! Krysten Ritter, novelist. Hello!

Krysten: It takes a really long time, but I’m excited for myself that I have some ideas.

David: The last thing I remember, I read The Selfish Gene, and I almost understood it which was great.

If you had the opportunity to work with any actress or actor, who would it be?

David: Brian Cranston.

Krysten: Yeah, he’s like…[To David] You good. You know what I mean?

David: That is such a nice thing to say! I might tear up a little bit. Bradley Whitford. [In answer to the question.]

Krysten: Oh god, I can’t think of any on the spot, I’m just watching the clock tick down. But I know I have good ideas, I just can’t think of them right now.

David, you played a lot of very different characters, which one do you feel like you had to stretch creatively the most to get into character?

David: Oh that’s really hard!

Krysten: Hopefully Kilgrave!

David: Naah. It was right there. I think Cale Erendreich, Bad Samaritan in theaters May 4th, go see it!

Other than Jessica Jones, have you ever watched the other Netflix original marvel shows?

David: Sure!

Krysten: Yeah I’ve watched all of them! Those are my boys!

David: Jessica Jones is my favorite.

David, Do you prefer to play the good guy or the bad guy?

David: I don’t see them as good or bad. I just see them as human beings!

After playing Purple Man in Jessica Jones, do you feel like you wanna wear purple suits more often?

David: I wore quite a lot of purple before!

Krysten: You look good in purple!

David: Now I feel like I’m in costume. I’ve got quite a few purple shirts and ties, now I feel a bit embarrassed about wearing them. But it’s a good color, I think it might be my favorite color! And I get a round of applause for that, which I love!

Dana: So what’s up next for the both of you?

Krysten: Yeah, I can’t say anything.

But you’re finishing your knitting!

David: I’m currently filming a show called camping for HBO which we think will be out by the end of the year.

Dana: And the very last question is what’s a piece of sci-fi, or fictional, or magical like…technologies or services that you wish we had now?

David: Teleport. wouldn’t teleport be great?

Krysten: Oh yeah, I’m gonna pick that too.

David: Oh that would just be so convenient for everyone.

Unfortunately, those are all the questions David and Krysten had time for, but they were a delight to watch and I didn’t expect to laugh as much as I did. It was truly a one of a kind experience, and I hope everyone gets the chance to meet these two darling people! As always, thanks for reading and be sure to look for more articles on The Game Of Nerds!