Hudgens predicts super laughs for ‘Powerless’
In the world of DC Comics, superheroes duke it out with supervillains in a battle to protect humanity from the forces of evil. But what happens with all the collateral damage that results?
The good people at Wayne Security are there to help.
In “Powerless,” a satirical halfhour comedy series premiering Thursday at 8:30 p.m. on NBC, it falls to this subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises to create products that make innocent bystanders feel a little safer. It is here that recent business school grad Emily Locke (Vanessa Hudgens, “High School Musical,” “Spring Breakers”) begins her first day as director of research and development, full of big ideas and confidence, which of course runs counter to the agendas of her wellentrenched new coworkers.
Chief among them is her boss, Van Wayne (Alan Tudyk, “42,” “Death at a Funeral”), a spoiled rich kid who’s never had to work hard a day in his life and thus has difficulty relating to the rankandfile employees beneath him. There are also cynical coworkers and underlings (Danny Pudi, Ron Funches, Christina Kirk) she must motivate if she is to lead them to their full potential and prove you don’t have to have superpowers to be a hero.
“She is extremely positive and just wants everyone to do their best,” Hudgens said. “And she becomes the boss at Wayne Security and is met with a couple of characters that don’t really love working, and she’s just trying to inspire them to change the world. And they’re dragging their feet the entire time.”
Emily’s primary responsibility is overseeing the creation of products that protect the general public from superhero/supervillain activity in Charm City, among them a device called “the rumbrella.”
“It protects people from rubble,” Hudgens said with a laugh, “because one of the main (hazards) in Charm City is falling rubble. So it’s something that everyone definitely needs. (The writers) come up with a bunch of really funny, interesting products that they feel will make a difference. ... Some of the stuff they come up with, I’m cracking up every single time I read a new script. I mean, the writers are just killing it. It’s so funny because it’s just so left-of-center. They’re really doing stuff that I would never think of.”
Hudgens also calls Tudyk a “comedic genius,” and counts herself lucky to be working in an environment where she’s laughing all day, though she strives to keep a straight face during takes.
“It’s one of my strong suits, I think,” she said. “I’m pretty good at keeping a straight face because there’s stuff that Alan comes up with sometimes and just says that I have to keep a straight face for. It’s just so ridiculous that at times I applaud myself for not cracking up because he’s just too funny. I’ll be standing next to the cameramen and I’ll see the cameramen are cracking up during the take. It’s hysterical.”