'Warrior' Season 2: Miranda Raison reveals what Nellie feels when she sees girlfriend Ah Toy brandish swords
'Warrior', the show inspired by Bruce Lee's writings in its second season portrays an intriguing love story and that is of Ah Toy and the white widow Nellie Davenport. In the previous episode, it became clear that Ah Toy is not only involved with her physically but emotionally as well as she begins to trust Nellie with her business dealings and women that Ah Toy rescues from a brutal prostitution ring in which Chinese women were forced to become a part of the sex trade. Nellie was the one who gave Ah Toy some hope when it came to showing Ah Toy that her way was not the only one through which she could provide decent living opportunities for Chinese women in America.
Sure, it was the only opportunity that she had had when she had stepped foot in America without her husband who had passed away on the boat on the way from China to the US. However, Nellie's work with women who were rescued shows Ah Toy that there is more to life and all of it could be hers and the other women's for taking. However, it took money and resources, and Ah Toy takes responsibility for this as well. Sure, fans are still hesitant to trust Nellie as the air around her is suspicious. She seems too good to be true. However, what if Nellie's relationship with Ah Toy were to be sincere? This is something that fans have been speculating for a while now. Speaking of her character and her dynamics with Ah Toy, actor Miranda Raison, in this exclusive interview with MEAWW revealed interesting anecdotes.
Raison spoke about where her character, Nellie Davenport, really fit into the story and said that it is in two ways that she plays a pivotal role this season. She explained, "As things intensify, as all the sort of the unrest and the various aspects of the story come more to the forefront, it becomes more and more important to get the girls out and get the girls to safety. So that's the first part. But in terms of being in the thick of the action, really, that is as a result of her relationship." She then added, "Ah Toy is in the thick of the action, and Nellie is not exactly caught in the crossfire, but, I think hopes to. And maybe that's a way in which Nellie does not play in sailing the whole thing. She's used to helping people and she's used to saying, 'look, I can do this,' but when actually faced with some of the physical battle that Olivia's character (Ah Toy) has to go through is like, 'Oh, okay!'"
She explains how it was for Nellie to see her girlfriend brandish a broadsword or how that is exciting and also spoke about Andrew Koji and Chen Tang's talents as an actor and said, "I think that that's a satisfying thing to see, and whether it's a straight relationship or gay relationship, it's always a satisfying thing when somebody essentially gets to witness their lovers -- Andrew Koji, Nina; some of these guys -- they are like superheroes. Chen (Tang), who you haven't seen yet, but he arrives in season 2. The stuff they do, it's completely jaw-dropping so those moments are always good. I think, to watch in anything where somebody really sees you, you see them, see their partner in action for the first time, and you go, 'Oh, you know'."
Raison also spoke about her dynamics with Olivia Cheng who plays Ah Toy and the cast and she spoke about how she was surprised by the way the entire cast came together like a family. She explained, "I think there was something which funnily enough, I said it in a joint interview with Olivia the other day about how I had never worked with a cast before who all called each other family. There's an email thread with everybody on it, all the cast on it, Jonathan Tropper and a couple of other people, and it's called warrior fam like Warrior family. And everybody checks in on each other. A couple of people have lost people with COVID and of course, a lot's been going on over the last few months and everybody is kind of checking in on each other. I said it's kind of amazing. I've never really had that. We've had a close cast before, but never this kind of family like thing."
Raison then added, "And Olivia said, 'Oh, that's very Asian'. Very, as in Southeast Asian. She said that most of the time, if you work in a Southeast Asian or she calls Asian cast, that's what you will hear. You'll hear the word family. It's not just about being close. I think it's about so much more than that and in a way, I thought that that might exclude the Caucasian actors. And if it had done, I would have understood, but it doesn't, it didn't and that's an incredible privilege."