'X-Men '97's Jennifer Hale Explains How "Inauthenticity" Was Stripped Away in the Recording Booth

The Big Picture

• Jennifer Hale discusses voicing Jean Grey in X-Men '97 and the dynamics she got to play with in the series.
• She emphasizes the significance of strong female characters and the progress in writing female characters in the industry.
• Hale also speaks about her website SkillsHub.

Jennifer Hale has had one of the most incredible careers in the industry. Not only has she brought to life Jean Grey for a new era of fans with X-Men '97, but she's given a voice to characters like Bastila Shan in Knights of the Old Republic and fem!Shephard in Mass Effect—and that's just barely scratching the surface when it comes to her illustrious career in games and animation. Following our X-Men '97 interviews with Matthew Waterson and Lenore Zann to support the series' Emmy campaign, Jennifer Hale caught up with Collider to discuss her career and some of the most poignant moments in Jean Greyand Madelyn Pryor's arcs in Season 1 of the hit Disney+ series.

During our wide-ranging conversation, Hale and I discussed Jean's friendship with Storm, the beautiful moment between Jean, Scott, and Cable in the finale, the power of strong storytelling for female characters, the tangible impact of playing Shephard in Mass Effect, how the X-Men have always reflected society, the power of voice acting and animation, and her ingenious SkillsHub website. You can watch the interview in the player above or read on for the full interview.

COLLIDER: You have done so many incredible projects over the course of your career. I'm personally a huge fan of Dragon Age: Inquisition and, of course, Bastila Shan, and now you're in X-Men ‘97. You're our Jean Grey. What has it been like for you to get to be part of all of these projects where their fan bases are so huge and so passionate about the characters that you bring to life?

JENNIFER HALE: It's like an ongoing awesome dream. I'm good with not waking up from this one. This is great. [Laughs] I really feel incredibly lucky, and even more so because — I mean, you probably know this because you like this content — the voice acting world is full of just incredible talent and wonderful people, too. They're wonderful people, and they are the most brilliant actors. Honestly, I get frustrated when I watch the on-camera world come in and take on an IP that was first created through animation or games and just ditch all the talent that was in that pool. It is the most incredible group.

First of all, they’re phenomenally talented, and second of all so hilariously fun to work with, and third, just really good humans who are smart and professional. They get it done. So, to be in this spot among that group of people, I feel extra lucky.

X-Men '97

A band of mutants use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them; they're challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.

How Jennifer Hale Has Brought Jean Grey to Life More Than Once

I always feel like a broken record because I talk about how animation and video games have brought some of the longest-lasting storylines to my life, the ones that I think about the most. I love live-action, but there's so much story and heart in the stories that can be told through voices. It's a remarkable thing.

HALE: That reminds me of something. Do you know Dave Hayter? He's one of my dearest oldest friends. We came up together, if you will, in the industry, and I remember I took him a book — it was an incredible animation illustrator — and I took Dave a book of his art for his birthday one year. He picked it up, and he looked at it, and he said, “This is our modern mythology. This is the mythology of our times. This is how we tell our stories.” And I was like, “Oh, my god. See, that's why you're a writer, too, because you're brilliant.”

I love that. It's a great way of putting it. I'm curious for you, what was your relationship like with X-Men before you became our Jean Grey?

HALE: I have been really lucky to occupy this universe from a few angles. I have been Jean Grey in a few things. I even stepped into Rogue a couple of times. I love this universe so much. It really struck me, too, at the premiere of X-Men ‘97, sitting there and watching. They played the first three episodes in sequence, and so I really got to take it in because I rarely have that much time to sit and watch anything. Just the depth of these stories and how they touch our modern lives so perfectly, it's such a timeless universe. It's such a timeless universe.

I had the incredible fortune to spend a bit of time with Stan Lee because I started working on the Spider-Man ‘90s show, [Spider-Man: The Animated Series], way back then before this all really hit again, and Stan had time to come and hang out — not all the time, but he would pop in regularly. We went to his house for one of the first screenings, and so to be in his world and part of his storytelling, I just feel insanely fortunate.

That brings me to my next question so perfectly, which is, you have played Jean before; where do you find the differences between the portrayals of Jean that you've brought to the screen?

HALE: The differences come from the team every single time. The way I operate is my perception of the story, my perception of what quote-unquote should be done and the way it should be done is irrelevant. Honestly, I'm to bring my toolbox, I'm to bring my emotional library, I'm to bring my intelligence and my work ethic, and let's get to it. What's primary is this team's vision. Each of those teams has a unique vision. This team, for example, many of them grew up watching the show, so it's a really special resonance for them. It was so cool.

We had a quiet Zoom gathering with a bunch of us after the finale of Season 1, and just to listen to them talk about growing up with the show and then now working on the show and bringing it back to life was just like, “Wow.” It was mind-blowing. We got some original writers on this team. It was like, “What? What the what? Are you kidding me?” Because, see, to me, it sounds cheesy in this context, but it's true from my brain: writers make the world go around. Without you guys, we literally have nothing to do. You are in the original channels of the stories that help humanity make sense of itself. You're the ones who should be the celebrities, honestly. [Laughs]

Thank you so much.

HALE: It's true! It's logical. We are the paint in the jar, we are the ink in the pen, and there's so much to that pen that makes it happen. We're just the part you can see or hear.

You're in this really unique position in X-Men ‘97, as well, because you get to play two different versions of essentially the same character. What was it like getting to play with the extremes and that duality between who Jean is and who Maddie is? Because they are essentially the same person, but they've had very different lived experiences.

HALE: When I add Goblin Queen in there, the word that comes to mind is delicious. It's delicious. [Laughs] I loved it. And part of what made it so wonderful, again, was the clarity of the team on who these distinct iterations of this person are. What made it really a fun experience and allowed me to truly play was our voice director, Meredith Layne. She's there to hold the fences. So, if I go too far and cross the line from Jean to Madelyne, or even too far as Goblin Queen, I can go as far as I want and play as hard as I want in each of those personalities, because I trust that she is there, and she will speak up clearly and quickly if I step outside the line. So, I can really find those lines. I can push as far as I want to and find those lines because I trust that she's got it — she's got me. She's got the team in one ear and then me there on the other side of the glass and is driving that car so expertly.

How "Inauthenticity" Was Stripped From 'X-Men '97'

I love that. I've talked to both Matthew [Waterson] and Lenore [Zann], and they talked a little bit about how things changed sometimes within the recording process, how what was on the page evolved and changed over the process of a year and a half or so. Were there any moments for Jean or Maddie where the thing that was originally written began to evolve as you started to perform it, and they started to see the tweaks and the changes? I'm really fascinated by that process and how there's a whole world that evolves during the recording process.

HALE: The process was fascinating because originally, when we set sail, I had Catherine [Disher’s] wonderful performance to refer to as the original and the original tone. We stayed super true to that vibe, and we did many episodes in that vibe. It's a stretch because I don't think people always key into the fact that acting evolves tremendously, I would say every two to five years, honestly, because people's nose for emotional and psychological truth and authenticity gets finer-tuned every moment. We're consuming so much content of human behavior or involving human behavior that we can smell inauthenticity coming and going. In the ‘90s — acting's been losing that presentational quality, decade to decade, and we were still like, “I'm in a show now!” [Laughs]

So, [speaks theatrically] we did it first in this place, and they came back going, “Yeah, you know…” And as an actor, yes, I have my opinions about those things, but I'm always putting the team's opinion first. So, my opinion had no business there. I was, I will say, absolutely thrilled when they came back and wanted to keep the feel but modernize the acting. I was like, “Whoo! Yes. Awesome. Let's do this.” [Laughs]

I feel like a lot of fans picked up on that, as well, and really appreciated that it felt modernized. There were these little tweaks to what we loved as kids in the ‘90s to what we're getting to enjoy now with ‘97.

HALE: As you say that, it's occurring to me that so many people on the team grew up with the show and were fans in that respect, so when they created something, I think they created something they would have loved. They're not talking down to anybody, they're not quote-unquote marketing to anyone. They're creating something beautiful that they love in a way that they love. Every time I look at art or entertainment, that's the stuff that works, not what rocked last year's box office or rocked the ratings. It's like, “What do you want? What would you enjoy? Go do that because you know what? You're not the only one.”

That's one of the things I really liked about X-Men ‘97 is because it so perfectly captured the things that I've always loved about X-Men, which is it's always felt like a soap opera. It was a soap opera in the ‘90s, it's a soap opera in the comics. I think it's always going to take on that style. There were things that I really loved about ‘97 — you had the love triangles, which are always so messy, and you have this thing that's happening over here with the Rogue/Magneto/Remy thing, and then you have the Scott, the Jean, the Logan, the Maddie. As an actor, getting to play with those messy dynamics with characters and the love triangles, how much fun was that to get to explore?

HALE: It is the funnest thing ever. In our industry, work is super busy for a while, then it's less busy, then it's super busy, and it's less busy. Sometimes in the less busy periods, if I find myself getting tense over something that does not require me to get tense, I'll often check myself and go, “You know what? I need some scene work. I need to get this drama out where it's productive.” [Laughs] It's the funnest. I mean, Goblin Queen and Madelyne, and the intensity of all that is so much fun.

Then, on the other end, look at the world we live in right now. It is a massive, sometimes terrifying soap opera that we don't have much influence over in some spaces — we think. I will say, I don't believe that. I believe we have enormous influence, we just have to remember who we are. I'm not disempowering people. We have enormous influence, but we forget. Also, we all go through those times of intense difficulty. The scenes — spoiler alert — with Nathan, I can't even talk about it without crying because I'm a mom. Just the thought of having to give up your child is devastating, but there's such an honor in representing that, even something that's sort of soapy and can be kind of over-the-top, someone has gone through that somewhere, and someone needs that catharsis. Somebody needs to be seen.

There is a piece — oh, I can't talk about this without crying — in the last episode that was taken directly from an experience I had when my father was dying, and they put it in the show. When I heard it in the finale, I literally just dropped and just sobbed. It was so beautifully put. It was so beautifully done. The line is, “These are yours now,” and that was straight from when my father passed away. And I was like, “You heard that story, and you put it in this show!” [Laughs]

That’s got me crying, too.

HALE: But there's somebody out there who's going through something so crazy, so over-the-top, or so hidden and so unseen, and they need to be seen. They need to see themselves. There's so much wonderful attention given to representation right now. I saw a post the other day, there was probably about an eight-year-old kid in a wheelchair looking up in a store and seeing a sign in a clothing display of a kid in a wheelchair. Representation matters. He exists. And people of color seeing themselves, and women and our nonbinary community seeing themselves represented in culture. And emotional representation in a way that's respectable and relatable, I think matters too.

What do 'X-Men '97' and 'Ted Lasso' Have in Common?

That's X-Men. It's always spoken to the people who have the voices, and they need that power to use those voices for the greater good. That's what makes X-Men this beautiful story. As much as I love the messy relationships and the love triangles and all of that, I really love Jean’s friendship with Storm. I think that is ultimately one of the most beautiful parts of their story. Can you talk a little bit about the importance of that relationship and getting to explore that more in X-Men ‘97?

HALE: It's so huge. I'm so thrilled. I've talked about this several times, that shows like Ted Lasso (with Rebecca and Keeley) women we're seeing everywhere in entertainment. I mean, my god, look at Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. They were blazing the way. Women having each other's backs is the actual truth of things, and to see it represented and represented in X-Men ‘97? For all the over-the-topness that the show can be sometimes, those moments with Storm and Jean are those quiet moments of, “God, am I crazy?” “No, honey, you're not crazy. I get it.” Just like we do with each other and for each other. I live for the day when Rogue comes in, and we all sit around together like, “Alright, what are we going to do with these people? How are we going to get this back together?” I love that because both Alison [Sealy-Smith] and Lenore are just such extraordinary people, and Holly [Chou]. We have a little behind-the-scenes group text thread where we're always like, “Hey!” “Hey!” And sharing stuff with each other.

You need that. That's a very important part of this entire creative process, having that family. I always say that sets and crews and casts become family, and I think that's an important part.

HALE: It's so nuts because so much of so-called news reporting focuses on division and fighting, and the truth is I can count so many more times a day when somebody's got my back or somebody else's back, or we're holding each other up because that's how we actually float down the river. That whole thing, I just want to punch something when people are like, “Survival of the fittest!” I’m like, “Really?” Because I have a girlfriend who was an anthropology major, and she's actually read that text a couple of times and she said that phrase is in there about a half a dozen times, and the phrase “community and cooperation” is in there over 200 times. That's how we actually make it. I love that Storm and Jean’s friendship is a quiet, powerful testament to that.

I always say to that statement, “When it rains, and we're all in the boat, the water raises all of us together.”

HALE: Oh, so good!

I know Season 2 has already been reported. That's out there. I know you can't say much, but I'm curious, what can you tease about where things are headed for Jean? Obviously, they're stuck in 3960. That's gonna pose a big challenge. There's a lot of stuff that was teased at the end of Season 1.

HALE: All I can say is stay tuned and buckle up.

Oh! [Laughs] I'm really curious to see how things play out because Jean and Scott were in a little bit of a difficult situation with their relationship towards the end of the season, so I'm very excited to see where that goes.

HALE: Well, this is marriage, right? [Laughs]

Exactly. I've read a lot of your interviews, and you talk so passionately, like you just did, about the importance of strong female characters and the way that the writing for women's characters has really evolved over the years. That's one of the things I like about X-Men ‘97 and X-Men in general. These are women who are allowed to be villains and heroes and lovers and sisters and mothers, and there's nothing holding them back. They can have all of that at the same time if they want to, which I think is such an important part of the storytelling for female characters, and it hasn't always been that way. What has it been like getting to see the evolution of how female characters are being written in entertainment?

HALE: Being part of that process has been incredibly gratifying because the one thing I hate is being put in a box, whether it's because of my gender, my career, how I appear, et cetera, et cetera. That is one of my most favorite things about my entire career. I feel like my career has really just been an excuse to kick down barriers, and that's what I love doing. That's just what I love doing. Every time I see more content that's like this, I'm like, “Yes! About damn time.”

Has there been a specific moment in your career where you saw something that just completely changed that moment for you? Something that's happened within the process of a project that you got more from the role than what was originally on the paper? There was that notice of, “This character deserves so much?”

HALE: One thing about that is that as performers, we don't often get the chance to influence character arcs in the writing because our job is to serve what was created. What has happened is the opportunity to arrive into a project and really understand, like, “Whoa, oh my god, this is breaking down doors.”

I will never forget — I have two experiences, and both of them actually are around a game called Mass Effect. Mass Effect is a trilogy, and in the first two parts of the trilogy they released marketing with just male Shep on the box. In the third one, they had a reversible cover, and you could put fem!Shep facing out. I'll never forget it. We were at GameStop, like at midnight. I don't really do midnight, and I don't go out and shop a ton. I'm always outside if I have free time. Casey Hudson, who is running the team, is a very humble, quiet person — very powerful, very effective, but he does not seek the spotlight. [Laughs] Somebody comes to my table to have me sign it, and they drop the box on the table with the cover turned so that fem!Shep is out, and I gasped. I grabbed that box, and I climbed up on top of my chair, and I held it over my head like John Cusack in [Say Anything]. I held it over my head, and I yelled at the top of my lungs, “Casey Hudson! Thank you! Thank you to this whole team!” And I was just crying. It was amazing.

Every trailer had always featured Bro Shep. I adore Mark Meer, who plays male Shephard, and I call him “Bro Shep” because he's my space bro. That's the price of breaking down barriers. You don't get the acknowledgment. You're not there for that. You're there to get stuff done. So when they released Mass Effect Legendary Edition, the trailer was fem!Shep, and I'm just watching the trailer, and all of a sudden, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Here I go again; I'm like waterworks. I just started bawling. Something moved me to grab my phone and record this moment, and I just sent it out to all the fans, like, “You guys, this is incredible! This is incredible.”

I was just a mess. Somebody commented and said, “This is what representation looks like.” And I was like, “That's it. Yes. This is what it feels like to be seen.” I was instantly humbled because I appear white — I'm not entirely white, but I present as white, and I present as middle class. That is not how I started life at all, but I have that unconscious privilege, and I instantly thought of all the people who don't and how they feel every day being unrepresented. I was just like, “Oh my god, this is a hill. We gotta keep going. This is crazy.”

Those are the moments that I love to hear about: the moment you realize there's an impact in what you're doing. To close things out, as an actor myself and somebody who is a proud member of the Screen Actor Guild, I love what you're doing with SkillsHub. I would love to know, how did that come to be? What was the thought for that brainchild?

HALE: I'm so glad you asked. SkillsHub.life happened because, look, I've been doing this for decades, but I still hit places where I'm sick of my own point of view, or I'm just at an impasse with an audition, and I just want 10 minutes with someone I trust. I don't need an hour of coaching. I don't have time to take a class. I'm too busy. And I said to my sister, “God, I've got this idea in my head for a calendar system. I know all these amazing directors and voice directors and actors who I know would give their time, they're just busy. So, you should pay them for their time by the minute!” She's like, “You know what? You need to meet my friend Bill.”

So it's me and Carren and Bill. We just sat down, and we started tinkering away at it, and Bill came back with this incredible site. He did over 50 at least hour-long beta tests, and in that process, I think it was Anjali Bhimani who said, “I got these two guys who want to learn how to do this.” And I was like, “Oh, yeah, we can meet with them too!”

Now we have classes, and I've written out, personally, almost a dozen step-by-step career assembly guides. They're there on the site for anybody. We have almost 90 coaches now, and they do this by the minute. We go up to, like, 70 different classes. People have asked for this stuff, so we put it together. It's wild, and I'm in there all the time, like, “Okay, let's talk about this. Let's do that.” It's really fun.

I love that so much. I think that's a great resource for anyone, whether you're getting started or already established.

HALE: It's so much fun. We have such a great community.

X-Men '97 is streaming now on Disney+.

Watch on Disney+

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