Actor Li Jun Li plays a femme fatale nightclub singer named Cat Hardy in the upcoming Prime Video series Spider-Noir, co-starring Nicolas Cage. Femme fatales have a history of standing out in ensemble dramas, irrespective of their screen time. Take, for instance, Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises—a show-stealing supporting role. For Li, the foundational reference point for her character in Spider-Noir was a version of Rita Hayworth, made iconic by Kim Basinger in LA Confidential.
Reflecting on the character’s roots, the actor recalls her initial discussions with her Spider-Noir showrunner and creator, Oren Uziel. She says, “Oren told me that Cat Hardy is our equivalent of Rita Hayworth from LA Confidential. So I watched the classic material and studied it, but I also wanted to make it my own. Older films have a distinct performance style compared to modern cinema and television, so I wanted to ensure that my interpretation resonates with a contemporary audience while paying true homage to classic film noir.”
Li Jun Li is known for her extensive preparation for her characters in films. For example, to play Grace Chow authentically in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, she researched into Chinese-Americans in the Mississippi Delta and developed a Southern accent for the character. However, the actor found Cat Hardy’s accent closer to her natural speaking style as compared to Grace Chow. “Cat’s speech patterns are relatively close to mine, but I deliberately dropped her pitch because she is a femme fatale with a lot of authority in her tone. I wanted to make sure she spoke with that deliberate weight. But like all of the characters that I play, there is extensive research in their background, what the archetype could be and how I am going to interpret it myself,” Li Jun Li explains.
Li Jun Li has played a nightclub singer before, in Babylon, although the actor says that the similarities between both characters end there. However, both roles required her to use plenty of costumes, a common necessity for actors in period dramas. Li agrees with the notion that period wardrobes influence how an actor performs their roles. While some projects mainly use meticulously designed clothes to make characters look glamorous, others help define their psychology as well. As for Cat Hardy, Li says, “She wears a lot of restrictive clothing. Women in the 1930s used plenty of shapewear that forced a certain poise. Add to this the period stockings, footwear, and expansive hats, and it completely alters how you carry yourself. It immensely helped me shape Cat Hardy in a unique way.”
The actor goes on to praise her Spider-Noir costume designer, Trayce Gigi Field, for helping her look the part. She says, “I usually go with casual wear when I do not have to attend any events, but everyone in the 1930s dressed up and put a lot of care into their clothes. And Cat Hardy herself wore such beautiful clothing with vibrant colours. Trayce really did an incredible job not just for me but for Karen Rodriguez and other female actors. And the men look spectacular in these beautifully textured three-piece suits.”
In fact, Li Jun Li feels that the costumes will look amazing in both black-and-white and colour versions of the series. “It is one of the reasons why I hope that people will see it in both options,” the actor says about the series.
Spider-Noir marks the first collaboration between Li Jun Li and Nicolas Cage. Speaking about her experience working with Cage, she says, “It was incredible to work with Nick. He is hyper-focused and funny, and he works so quickly. I loved collaborating with him.”
Cage is known for bringing certain unforgettable peculiarities and eccentricities to his characters, such as Ghost Rider, the policeman in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, and the vengeful lumberjack in Mandy, to name some. While his energy and some of his mannerisms may seem improvised, Li says that there is a distinct method to his madness. Noting that each actor has a process of their own and speaking about the dynamics with her Spider-Noir co-stars, she says, “I think Lamorne Morris tends to improvise a little bit more. Nick and I have a few rehearsals and then we find the cadence, and then it really depends on the scene and the story.”
Departing from its frequent weekly rollout strategy, Prime Video will drop all episodes of Spider-Noir simultaneously on May 27, Wednesday. As the release date nears, Li hopes that people will connect with Cat Hardy, notwithstanding her grey shade. “I think with a femme fatale, the archetype is that when you are involved with one, you are most likely to be ruined or destroyed in some sort of way. And I hope that people will see Cat Hardy as someone who is just as human as most of the other characters. She is just as complex, lonely, and flawed as anyone else in this world. She deserves empathy, rather than being categorised as just another femme fatale,” Li concludes.