Marvel Studios’ Eternals follows a group of ten ancient heroes from beyond the stars who have protected Earth since the dawn of man, guiding humanity's development from their alien duomo since the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But when monstrous apex predators called Deviants, long-thought hunt to extinction—and relegated to the London Natural History Museum's display cases—mysteriously return, the Eternals are forced to reunite to solve the unexpected mystery in order to defend humanity once again.

Academy Award-winner Chloé Zhao directed Eternals, which has seen a resurgence in interest and popularity. The movie had a record-breaking debut on the Disney+ platform, and it was the biggest MCU premiere yet, bringing in over two million U.S. households tuning in to the movie within the first five days.

Next up for the Eternals, physical media. In honor of the release of Eternals on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on February 15, I had the opportunity to speak with Lia McHugh, who stars as Sprite, a 7,000-year-old cosmic being who can create illusions and craft stories, but is trapped in the body of a child.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

On Nostalgia, Deviant Dinos and Marvel

MakkariSprite
Marvel Studios

Rebecca Kaplan: There's a deleted scene "Nostalgia" during which Sprite and Makkari reminisce about humankind while overlooking the ruins of Babylon. Did you learn American Sign Language for that scene or movie?

Lia McHugh: I was very interested in learning ASL to talk with Lauren Ridloff, and they didn't add that scene until later in the shooting process. But I took a sign language class, and I spoke with Lauren quite a bit. The sign language I learned in that scene, I still know it to this day. Once you learn ASL, it's in your body almost, and you just remember it. So I still remember exactly what I did during that scene, but that was fun, especially to have a good moment with Lauren.

RK: ​​​​​​​How was learning ASL?

LM: I took it as a really fun learning experience. Once I learned the basics, like the alphabet and a few things, it's not very difficult to spell things out. Lauren, who used to be a sign language teacher, is good at teaching it, and that's what her husband does. He teaches it for movies. He worked on A Quiet Place, which is pretty cool. So, I talked to them a lot, and her husband helped me out a lot with the dialogue I had in Eternals. I had a lot of fun with it. My sister even learned enough to babysit Lauren's kids, who are also deaf, which I thought was really cool — like, talking to little kids in sign language is awesome. I really loved it. Like, it was really beautiful to communicate with her a lot. I was really excited that I got to do it in Eternals too. I wanted to show it off.

RK: In the "Small Talk" deleted scene from Eternals, which takes place in the London Natural History Museum, Sprite challenges Dane Whitman's (Kit Harington) beliefs about human history, even what dinosaurs looked like. I really enjoyed this scene, how was filming it?

LM: It was actually a very long day. There were quite a few pages that didn't make it into the deleted scene, and it was almost choreography work because I was walking around a lot of statues and pointing at different things. Its continuity, so you have to do everything the same way for every take. It was quite a lot of work for Kit and me. But it was really fun too, because Kit and I were getting to know each other well, and he's a really, really cool guy, He's been in this industry for so long, so he had a lot of interesting things to say.

Watch the "Small Talk" deleted scene below:

RK: What is your personal history with Marvel?

LM: I'm a huge Marvel fan. I have been for forever. At Comic-Con, I was asked, "What is it like?" I was like, I've been watching these movies since I was little with my brothers, and to be a part of it is insane. But that's what I said back then, but it's crazy to suddenly be a part of a universe that I've been watching for forever. Like even as an actor, I never imagined that I would be part of this, and a role like this never happens, like a kid superhero in the Marvel Universe; that's in a prominent role! It's just hard to wrap your mind around.

Can't remember pre-COVID-19 to 2019? Don't blame you. Here's a link to the Eternals portion of the Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 on YouTube.

Illusions, McHugh

McHug
Marvel Studios

RK: What's next for Sprite?

LM: I honestly don't know. I would hope to explore her being a human in the next movie, but they don't really tell me anything. I have no idea if she would come back or what she would do.

RK: Sprite is one of the main characters in a large ensemble cast. What was that like?

LM: It was scary to be a main character. It's a lot of work, and I wouldn't say pressure, but I put pressure on myself to do my best. I actually work well under pressure. Surprisingly, maybe it's not super fun for me because it stresses me out, but I work great under pressure. But, it was also a lot of fun to be on set every day, get to know the crew, and just really get to know Chloé too. It was the best experience of my life. It was incredible.

RK: What is your history of storytelling? Your character was a great storyteller, and you are a storyteller as an actor.

LM: Yes, that's very true. I love telling stories, and I find that interesting about Sprite. You can think of a lot with it, right? She has taken history with her as she has gone through it to current times. I mean, if you think about it, every history book has been written by Sprite. It's her carrying on humanity. I think that's also really contributing to why she wants to be human so badly; she understands them so much through their history because she's lived through it, and she's been telling these stories.

But yeah, also in my personal life, I'm an actor, I tell stories. That's what I love to do. I love to make the audience feel something.

RK: What little moments do you want to highlight from Eternals?

LM: Some people didn't get the love I have for Ikaris (Richard Madden). If you really pay attention throughout the movie, and you watch me, and if you watch my reaction to a lot of things, and some of the things that I say, and how I act, I feel like you can catch it really early on in the movie. If you're paying attention to their wedding, there's a moment where I look upset, and during the Peter Pan scene with Kingo and me, I feel like that's a really beautiful, vulnerable moment between us.

Related: Marvel's Eternals Racks Up Record-Breaking 2 Million View Debut on Disney+

On Meeting Other Space Gods

Eternies
Marvel Studios

RK: What was it like for you to be part of such a diverse ensemble cast in Eternals, especially as s young actor?

LM: The amount of world scoping talent that I got was incredible. People from all over the world, getting to know them and all of their talent and their individualized experience, it was like a masterclass, honestly. Working on that film, having my little relationships with every one of them, and hearing all of their experience, was a crazy cool learning experience for me.

RK: What was working with Chloé like?

LM: She's so brilliant. I think that shows through everything she's done, including Eternals. If you watch it, not just for the Marvel action aspect of it, and you really pay attention to the little moments, her brilliance shines through, and there are so many beautiful moments.

The work we did together was a lot of preparation with the cast getting to know each other. Then, she would just stop by my trailer sometimes and run scenes with me. And, a lot of the stuff also just happened on the day on set with her cause once you're in the scene and working on it, and you're on the set, and you're in costume, and you're really getting into the scene, you can really dive deep into the character and into the little moments. It was just really special to have that teaching from her; I learned so much.

RK: Do you have a favorite story from set or learning experience?

LM: I definitely learned a lot from Kumail Nanjiani. He's such a hard worker. And honestly, this is funny. When I first met him, it was at Comic-Con, and we weren't serious, but we were going there to go on stage. So, we had to be ready... and more professional almost. So when I first met him, he's a comedian, right? And, I thought he was a little serious the first time I met him. So I was like, I'm not sure how I feel about this guy, but we ended up becoming best friends on set. We had our hair and makeup chairs next to each other, and we would just talk in the morning, and all day on set, we were just constantly bantering, having a great time with each other.

We had a lot of scenes together too. I feel that showed through in our characters because it was similar to our relationship in real life. We made fun of each other and, we still text, and I still call him. But, I learned so much from his work ethic. In the mornings, he would be working on his script, and Chloé encouraged him to improv and come up with funny things to say. All day long, just all day long, he was coming up with new things and trying new things. And I'm like that's such hard work. Not only is he knowing his lines, but he's also constantly thinking of what else he can say. And that takes a lot of hard work, and I learned a lot from that.

Second Star to the Right

Spritey
Marvel Studios

RK: Did you have a favorite costume?

LM: The one in the Aztec temple was really comfortable. It's funny to say, but the super suits were super uncomfortable. None of us were very excited to shoot scenes with the super suits. We were ready for the other ones. But yeah, Aztec temple, it was like wearing pajamas. It was great. I loved it.

RK: What are the super suits made out of?

LM: They're like spandex, but they also have harder, like silicone pieces. I had ones on my shoulder, on my chest, and then there are flaps on the knee, and they're very form-fitting. So the range of movement is difficult like you can cut off your circulation pretty quickly, like sitting down sort of cut off my circulation to my arms sometimes. I tried to stand up all the time when I was wearing my suit. I also grew during filming. I got taller, and it got tighter on my arms. And then, my circulation would be cut off very quickly. They were a lot of work.

Marvel Studios’ Eternals debuted on all major digital platforms January 12, and it will debut on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on February 15. Marvel fans can enjoy never-before-seen bonus material including four deleted scenes and a gag reel.