'Monarch: Legacy of Monsters': Godzilla show leans on complexity, mystery of characters
In the Apple TV+ series, Mari Yamamoto becomes a "bad-ass" Japanese woman in the 1950s, and Kiersey Clemons plays a woman full of secrets
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While the Apple TV+ series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is strongly set in Godzilla lore, it's the human stories in the series that give the show a particularly interesting twist.
Where to watch Monarch: Legacy of Monsters: Weekly episodes on Apple TV+ on Fridays
Creators: Chris Black and Matt Fraction
Cast: Anna Sawai, Ren Watabe, Kiersey Clemons, Wyatt Russell, Kurt Russell, Anders Holm, Mari Yamamoto, Joe Tippett
Number of episodes: 10
Finale date: Jan. 12, 2024
'I haven't seen a Japanese female character like that in Hollywood'
One example of how the show really leans on its characters is through Pachinko star, Mari Yamamoto, who plays Dr. Keiko Miura in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
"I was surprised that this was a Godzilla show, because it's such a human story," Yamamoto told Yahoo Canada. "I was so drawn to this woman."
"She's such a force of nature, in her passion and her optimism, and her curiosity. I just fell in love with her immediately when I read the script. Also, the fact that she's a Japanese woman in the 1950s, driving a jeep and going around the world on a mission, and I haven't seen a Japanese female character like that in Hollywood. ... I had to play this and it was so exciting, and such a dream character."
Watch Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV+ with 7 days free, then $12.99/month
The strength in Keiko is particularly evident during her initial interactions with a young Lee Shaw (Wyatt Russell), who's set to be her military escort in the Philippines, but severely underestimates her ability, not even initially believing she's the scientist he's supposed to meet up with.
"Wyatt just has this, ... sort of a mischievous grin that he has in this character, especially the first team we meet," Yamamoto said. "It just drops you right right into the dynamic of, yes you're charming, but you know what, I'm going to give it to you straight, kind of thing."
"Even in the audition process, we had a chemistry read and we had such a great time improvising off of each other. So I'm glad that shows. ... She's so used to the treatment that she gets from Lee, at this point, so I think she's ready for it. It doesn't faze her. I think that's the cool thing about her. She's not like, 'What do you mean?' She's like, 'Of course that's where you're coming from and you know what, I'm going to show you.' ... I think she enjoys being provocative a little bit, in that way."
But that's not all Keiko has to offer in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, there's emotion and romance for her as well.
"I love playing messy, complicated characters and if she was this bad-ss woman, sort of going around the world on a mission, that's already really cool, but then you get all of the different sides of her as a woman, how the life she lived before we meet her," Yamamoto said.
The mystery of Kiersey Clemons' May
Complicated, intriguing women in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters also extends to Kiersey Clemons' May, where even at the beginning of the series, the audience is trying to navigate her intentions, as a particularly secretive character in the story.
But much more became clear in Episode 7 of the series, where she confesses her true identity, and past life, to Kentaro (Ren Watabe) and Cate Randa (Anna Sawai), and the connection to Apex Cybernetics from Godzilla vs. Kong.
"When I had gotten the story and the character of May, you were still figuring out what the essence of May's mystery was," Clemons said. "The whole thing for May was, well is she a bad guy? Like I need to know that, if she's some type of, I don't know, maybe like an evil genius. How manipulative could she be?"
"That is kind of the stuff that we got to work on and figure out, once I ... stepped into playing May, and I think that was, for everyone that's on the show, everyone was super involved and got to give their input. Not just give their input, but for it to really be taken into consideration when talking to Chris Black and Matt Fraction, who lead us on this journey."
Watch Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV+ with 7 days free, then $12.99/month
The core question Clemons had for Black and Fraction was, "Why do you want me?"
"I didn't know if that sounded like a weird question, or not, ... but they said, we just want you to come in and to give May like a kindness, but keep that mystery open for everybody else, even once you know what's up with her," Clemons said.
"That sounded really fun and like a challenge, and so obviously that is the reason that I wanted to play May, because you don't always get an answer to those questions."
Something Clemons was also really excelled at with May, besides hiding the mystery, was really tapping into the emotion of the character.
"I knew what she was missing in her life, ... that's where all that emotion sits, right?" Clemons said. "I kind of knew at least all of those cavities in her heart that existed that allowed me to, one, decide, is she that vulnerable to get upset maybe in this public space, in a place like Japan, even though it's Tokyo, which is crazy."
"The person watching can decide this, but her feelings are always just right there. That layer that we all see of her, what you can see on the surface, is actually not that tough to penetrate. You just have to know how. That's the hard part about May and I think that's why May and Kentaro had this sort of connection, and they still do have this kind of bond. She loves people, she's a lover and vulnerable, and that's kind of why she's even ended up in the position that she's in."
