Finn Jones Talks w/ 411 on Raven Metzner as the New Iron Fist Showrunner, Creating Better Fight Scenes, Getting to Wear the Iconic Mask

British actor Finn Jones (Game of Thrones, Hollyoaks) made his debut as Marvel’s Iron Fist, aka Danny Rand, for the hit Marvel Netflix TV series last year. He continued the role later into the summer with The Defenders miniseries. Things pick up for Danny Rand after the ending of Defenders for his own show in the second season of Iron Fist. 411 recently had the chance to speak with Finn Jones about his work on Season 2, working with the new showrunner Raven Metzner and his other costars.

Jeffrey Harris: Raven Metzner serves as the new showrunner for Season 2. What do you think he brought to the table to head up the new season?

Finn Jones: Raven Metzner is a very special individual. One of the greatest things that he brought to the table for Season 2 was a passion for Iron Fist — the character, the mythology and the story — and also an optimism. He brought a genuine sense of, “We can make this show great.” Like, [he] really believed in the show. He believed in the character. He believed in what it could be, and he was a collaborator. He wanted to work with everyone. He wanted to hear everyone’s opinion, everyone’s voices, and he really made sure that it felt like a creative collaboration for Season 2. And yeah, he’s just a super-talented writer and a very talented showrunner and just really feels like the perfect union. He feels like the perfect guy to lead the ship, and I’m grateful that he’s come on board and he’s now telling the Iron Fist story.

Jeffrey Harris: This season starts off very quickly with that fight showing Danny punching a cargo truck off the road. And early on, we also see a lot more of what Danny went through in K’un L’un. How do you like that we a lot more of Danny’s backstory and layers this season?

Finn Jones: Yeah, we definitely do, and that’s no mistake. We all worked very hard to make the show as good as it can be. We brought on Clayton Barber to coordinate the stunts, who has a lot of great experience and also has a lot of passion to make sure these fight sequences look as cool as they did. And yeah, I think the thing that Raven wanted to do with the show was to really make it feel authentic and bring all the characters onto the street, and we wanted to see these characters really fleshed out. We wanted to understand their reasons and their objectives, and we want to see Danny and Colleen on a date. We want to see them at home. We really want to know who these characters are. I think that’s really important because it allows you to connect to the characters and relate to the characters in a way that you haven’t been able to before.

Jeffrey Harris: Sacha Dhawan’s role as Davos has also been fleshed out this season. He’s been transformed into a major player in the story. And that fight scene between you two that was shown at Comic-Con was epic.

Finn Jones: Yeah, really epic. We worked really hard on that. It was very emotional and very physically exhausting as well. Sacha has devoted so much of his time and energy to the character, and me and Sacha have had a great time developing the relationship between the two of us. I think the great thing about Danny and Davos is that at the heart of their relationship is love. They really care about each other. They grew up together. They trained together. When they were younger, they protected each other. I think because of that strong, deep connection, it informs what happens later on in their lives when this resentment starts to build in Davos. Danny knows who Davos is. He can see the best side of Davos, and he’s trying to bring that out of him.

Jeffrey Harris: The Danny/Davos fight scene that was shown at Comic-Con, I was blown away by that fight scene, and that we got to see the whole fight scene. How long did the K’un L’un fight scene take the production to complete from start to finish?

Finn Jones: We filmed it over three days. We rehearsed it — we had about a week-and-a-half of rehearsals before we actually shot it. But yeah, it took three days to film, and it was a very exhausting three days because there’s no moment in that fight where any of us stops to take a breather. We pushed ourselves physically and emotionally for that fight, and I’m really glad we did because the results are great I think.

Jeffrey Harris: We can actually talk about it since the footage was shown at Comic-Con, but was there a giddiness at all when you saw that you were wearing the yellow Iron Fist mask? I was certainly giddy when I saw the mask.

Finn Jones: Yeah, it’s awesome. It was really nice to see that come to screen. It’s such an iconic look for the character. It was just so nice to actually be able to finally bring that into the show. And actually, the mythology behind why we brought that into the show — the mask we see is a ceremonial mask in K’un L’un. When you’re in the arena, it’s brother against brother. It’s very difficult to face a brother because there’s this emotional connection. So the ceremonial mask is there to make you anonymous from your brother that you’re about to fight. That’s the kind of mythology behind why the mask is brought in this season. I thought it would be an interesting thing for fans to know is that’s the intention of why the mask is brought into the story.

Jeffrey Harris: That is very interesting. I’m also curious. Right now, Danny is going out with Colleen [Wing]. But hypothetically, if Danny were to start going out with Misty Knight, who is also friends with Colleen, do you think everyone could still be friends with each other, or would it be too weird?

Finn Jones: I think it’d be pretty weird, don’t you? It would be pretty weird.

Jeffrey Harris: *Laughs* I think it would be very dramatic, and I would love to see something like that happen.

Finn Jones: Who knows? Hopefully, we’ve got many more seasons to tell these stories. Anything can happen.

Jeffrey Harris: Alice Eve is a very intense presence this season as Mary Walker (aka Typhoid Mary in the comics). She’s a very powerful presence in the show. Did she bring that intensity to the set, and were you every worried about which “Mary” you were talking to?

Finn Jones: Alice is such a wonderful actress. From the get-go — Alice is from England as well, she’s also British — from the get-go, me and Alice had a really great relationship. She’s very funny. She’s very intelligent, and she applies herself to the work in a really disciplined and talented way. You know what? It was really great working with Alice because one moment, we’re having these deep conversations about life — existential conversations — and then the next minute, she’s Walker and we’re fighting each other. Or she’s Mary, and I’m being creeped out by her. Her ability to switch between Alice, Mary and Walker, it really impresses. She’s a wonderful actress, and I just loved having her on the show. I think she brings such a great vibe to the show, and I can only hope she sticks around the Marvel Netflix Universe for longer.

Jeffrey Harris: When I spoke with Jessica Henwick, she mentioned that you had already known each other. You both worked on Game of Thrones, but had never actually worked together on that show since that’s such a massive show. Sometimes characters will never interact or meet up with each other.

Finn Jones: Yes. Yeah, so me and Jess, we’ve known each other for about five or six years now. We actually first met at a Comic-Con. I think it was in Sheffield in the UK. Yeah, so me and Jess have been friends for a long time. I got the role of Iron Fist, and Jess messaged me because she’s a friend of mine. She messaged me saying, “Congratulations. That’s fantastic. I can’t believe you got that role. Well done.” And then about two weeks later, she messaged me again, saying, “Hey, Finn. You’ll never guess what. I’m coming over to LA to audition to play Colleen — your girlfriend [in Iron Fist.” And I went, “No way! That’s crazy!” And so, we did the audition together, and I guess we had great chemistry because we’ve had that friendship beforehand. It’s just been wonderful to go on this journey with Jess because she’s a friend of mine. I’m just so very blessed.

Jeffrey Harris: For the magical Iron Fist effect, what do they have you use on set?

Finn Jones: So, what they have, it’s like an electronic bracelet with lights around it. The bracelet goes on your hand, and that gives it like a glow. So when I’ve got like my hand in my chest for instance, there’s light bouncing off my chest. It feels like the Fist is in the real world. And then on my fist, they put a series of black dots to mark it for the computer. And the rest of it is all done in post.

Jeffrey Harris: Do you ever play around and do cool poses when the camera is off?

Finn Jones: All the time *Laughs*.

Jeffrey Harris: I think one of the more interesting aspects to Danny’s character this season is his belief that he’s invincible and that he has to take everything on himself, and he can’t. As a result, we see a lot more vulnerability for Danny this season.

Finn Jones: It’s relatable because of that. None of us are invincible. All of us try our hardest to go through life to do the best that we can. And many times, we bite off more than we can chew because we’re trying to do the right thing. But often, what we find is that if we don’t reach out to friends or family to help us out along the way, we’ll run into trouble. That’s definitely what Danny discovers this season. He’s trying to do everything alone. He’s trying to take it all on his shoulders. What he discovers is that he’s out of balance, and if he continues to be out of balance, he’s going to run himself into the ground. He’s going to get himself in trouble. And actually this season, he does. He gets himself in trouble because he’s out of balance. And this season is all about Danny finding balance.

Jeffrey Harris: There was also a great scene this season with Tom Pelphrey as Ward Meachum where you talk about being haunted by the dragon, Shou-Lao. How great was that season and idea to bring to life?

Finn Jones: You know what? I really love working with Tom this year. It’s really nice to see the characters are really starting to support each other and reaching for that friendship. That’s something that I think is going to continue to evolve this season and hopefully further seasons. Tom is a wicked actor It’s always great working with him. He brings of himself into the role. It’s always just a really dynamic performance when working with him, and I can only hope there’s more later on down the line.

Jeffrey Harris: When I heard Danny talking about the dragon being behind him, which we see a little bit on early in the season with the eyes —

Finn Jones: Yeah, at the train station.

Jeffrey Harris: I was getting chills. So, I think next step is to meet Shou-Lao, right?

Finn Jones: Yeah, well that’s the idea. That the dragon that taken over Danny. The spirit of the dragon is coursing through Danny. He can’t control it. It’s not that he can’t control it, it’s that he’s allowing the dragon to influence him too much and finding balance. That moment when he’s in that train station and taking out his rage on the door, that’s just to show how much the Fist is almost controlling Danny, and he doesn’t really have much power of it. And the dragon is leading him.

Thank you to Finn Jones for taking the time to speak with us. Marvel’s Iron Fist Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix.