Daredevil Star Elodie Yung Kicks Butt On and Off the Red Carpet

How do you embody the spirit of one of the comic book world’s most beloved antiheroes? For actress Elodie Yung, it all boils down to understanding the essence of the woman you’re portraying. “I feel that I met my character,” says Yung. “I don’t feel like I command her; it’s more like I slipped into her skin or her clothes.” By taking on the role of charismatic assassin Elektra Natchios on Netflix’s hit series Daredevil, Yung gets the chance to play a larger-than-life personality: part assassin, part seductress, and all adrenaline junkie, Elektra serves as the impetus behind several of the most enthralling moments of Daredevil’s second season. Created by Frank Miller, the beloved scribe behind The Dark Knight Returns and Sin City, Elektra is neither a cold-blooded killer nor a damsel in distress—a fact that the actress playing her revels in. “I didn’t want her to be just a badass and violent; I wanted her to have feelings and be human but to keep those strengths as well. For me, it was interesting to explore these sides to hopefully give her a multidimensional story,” says Yung. “I think the show is not really about superheroes and comics. It’s about how [these characters] interact with each other as people and what they feel; it’s about flesh and blood. Having a character so difficult to understand and complex to portray was just a lot of fun for me; every day was a surprise.”

Yung’s background is every bit as impressive as her character’s. Born in Paris with a degree from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Yung also holds both a degree in law from University of La Sorbonne and years of karate training. (Has her legal experience helped to inform her interactions with Daredevil’s lawyer duo, Nelson and Murdock? “I wish they’d give Elektra a job in their office!” says Yung.) On the suggestion of a friend, Yung began acting, gravitating toward roles that allowed her to combine her physicality and flair for drama: fighting alongside Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum, and Dwayne Johnson in G.I. Joe: Retaliation; going toe-to-toe with Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Yung thrives on the kinds of parts that offer her a chance to put her martial arts training to good use, but Daredevil’s stunts provided a unique challenge. “It’s my first time on an American series, and I don’t know how it works usually, but on this one, we didn’t have as much time to prepare for the action,” says Yung. “I’ve done some movies before when you have months, or three weeks at least, to train and to learn choreography. On this one, everything was done on the day, on the spot. And you’ve seen the action scenes are not small, and they’re quite complex; they tell a story and different characters are involved. So, there’s a lot to do.”

When she isn’t throwing punches, Yung is busy making the red carpet rounds, though her personal style differs from that of Elektra. Yung is more about sneakers and a swipe of red lipstick than plunging gowns. “For me, being comfortable is the best way to express my personality. Some days I like to be chill and wear my Stan Smiths with a cool little jacket, a blouse, and some lipstick for night, and that’s it.” So, she embraces that whole undone French girl thing? Bien sûr: “I think we’re a bit lazy; I think that’s the thing. Well, I am! You want to enjoy your night and you don’t want to suffer in your heels too long. Lipstick compensates for the lack of heels. It’s a good option and it works.” For dressier occasions, like the recent Daredevil press tour, Yung has found herself drawn to Karl Lagerfeld’s expressive designs for Fendi, and has now experienced firsthand the empowering nature of good fashion: “Wearing it, you feel like, ‘Okay, I can handle all day of interviews, I feel cool, and alive, and fresh.’ ” It’s not quite a comic book cape, in other words, but it’ll do.