Inside JOY OSMANSKI’s Transformation into DC’s TIGRESS for STARGIRL

Tigress is a well-known DC comics villain and has has jumped to the small screen before in the Young Justice cartoon, but later this year she’ll make her live-action debut as part of DC Universe’s Stargirl. Grey’s Anatomy alum Joy Osmanski is taking up the role, and reimagining Paula Brooks as a high school gym teacher moonlighting as a tough, street fighting supervillain.

With Stargirl set to debut in less than a month on May 18, Newsarama spoke with Joy Osmanski about taking on the mantle of Tigress, her character’s relationship with Sportsmaster and the Injustice Society, and how she is embodying a gym teacher/super villain.

Newsarama: Joy, get us inside the head of Stargirl‘s Tigress — who is she, to you?

Joy Osmanski: Paula Brooks is a highly competitive high school coach and teacher. She’s the kind of person who demonstrates how to annihilate in dodgeball, on a hapless student.

I’m fairly certain that if she had to sub for the 9th grade History teacher she would lead everyone through a graphic reenactment of the Valentine’s Day Massacre. Smiling.

The difference between Paula and Tigress is that Tigress gets to live out Paula’s fantasies, no holds barred. As the supervillain, I have permission to drop the social veneer Paula (just barely) holds onto.

Nrama: How much training went into preparing for the heavily physical role of Tigress?

Osmanski: As much as I could handle! I was coming from a place of having given birth to my daughter the previous year, so I wanted to focus on building strength and stamina. I worked with trainer Alina Astilean to craft a series of workouts and nutrition plans I could do both at home and when traveling.

Designer Laura Jean Shannon created an extremely inspiring costume for Tigress, and since Paula is in athletic attire all the time, I wanted to feel confident and strong.

Besides, I hoped to do as much of the stunt work as I could, and knew that between the long hours on set and what would likely be very demanding physical choreography, being in the best shape possible would help in all areas.

Nrama: What attracted you to the role of Paula/Tigress?

Osmanski: So, it was a complete surprise to me that this was a dual role. I was in the middle of intense rehearsals for a play and barely had time to think about anything else. I almost didn’t audition. But when I read the audition sides written by Colleen McGuinness – they were so dark and hilarious, which is so fun to play. That’s really where it starts for me – the writing. After I was cast and discovered the Tigress side, I flipped out! What an incredible opportunity to build such a unique character.

Nrama: What do you enjoy most about playing her?

Osmanski: Breaking the facade. I love finding the moments where all the politeness just drops. Those private, hopefully unseen parts of Paula’s true self that might unmask in public. The line between those aspects of her personality are razor thin.

Nrama: In another DC Universe show, Young Justice, Paula and Sportsmaster were married, their daughter taking on the role of Tigress. Do we get to see any romance between your character and Sportsmaster?

Osmanski: Working with Neil Hopkins, who plays Sportsmaster, is so much fun. We’re both parents so getting to play kick-ass versions of that is pretty cathartic.

Geoff was really clear about wanting our characters to be in a real, genuinely loving relationship. They care deeply about each other and their family. Their daughter, Artemis, is everything. As for romance…if giving each other assists in combat is foreplay, well….

Nrama: Will we see Tigress learn her hand-to-hand combat skills or is this something she’s known to do all her life?

Osmanski: I always love seeing a ‘making of’ montage so let’s make that happen!

For now, I think we’re seeing Tigress at the top of her game. The level of hand-to-hand combat that only comes with years of experience and a constantly evolving skill set.

Nrama: Will Paula’s super villain life and school life collide at all?

Osmanski: Part of the fun of playing a dual character is the constant tension between two sides of the same blade. Paula works so hard to maintain a socially acceptable facade, and as we all know, that kind of effort is exhausting. Which makes the times when she’s Tigress so liberating. Whether or not the two worlds collide… I’ll just say there are some fun, gasp-worthy moments.

Nrama: What’s it like playing a known super villain from the comic books?

Osmanski: Humbling. Inspiring. To be honest, I felt like in the beginning, the less I knew, the better. I did some initial research and was delighted by the various iterations of Tigress. Particularly the early version in the striped sweater.

Beyond that, I didn’t do too much more investigating. I tried to understand her relationship with Sportsmaster and the rest of the [Injustice Society of America], but also trusted the writers to craft her current life appropriately. One point Geoff mentioned that really resonated with me was how he didn’t want Tigress to be a two-dimensional bad guy. That she could be motivated by all the things most parents and partners are motivated by. That made her very easy to click into.

Nrama:  Can you tell us a bit about the Injustice Society?

Osmanski: The Injustice Society is the force opposing the Justice Society of America; in this case, the new generation with Brec as Stargirl leading the charge. Our Injustice Society is like a wolf in sheep’s clothing…and that’s all I’m going to say.

Nrama: Did you read any of the comic books to prepare for the role?

Osmanski: This was actually one of my first questions for Geoff, and he really encouraged me to find the role for myself. There’s a legacy I want to honor, but I realized the best way for me to do that is to bring my full self and my own interpretation of who Paula/Tigress is. Of course, there are fundamental aspects of the character that are built in, and what Geoff and the writers have done is made her very lethal and very funny, a combination I just love.

Nrama: Melissa Carter came in part of the way through Stargirl; do you feel like the tone of the show has changed since then?

Osmanski: Production felt really consistent to me, and as actor that makes for a supportive, creative workplace. Melissa is fantastic and I’ve always been so happy for her leadership and guidance. Geoff and Melissa have assembled such a fantastic team of creative people and that makes my job a pleasure.