Sep 17, 2026 6:58pm IST
‘Lanterns’ Actor Poorna Jagannathan on Her Character’s Big Reveal and Geeta Vasant Patel’s Direction: ‘We Were Speaking About Gujarati Food Between Takes!’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Poorna Jagannathan had her first big moment with HBO’s miniseries, “The Night Of”. And now, as Zoe Macon on HBO’s DCU superhero series, “Lanterns,” alongside Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler, the actor has had another career milestone. She’s now, officially, a supervillain, and the rarity of such representation and the thrill of working with "one of her heroes," Kyle Chandler, isn’t lost on her.
In an exclusive chat with Variety India, the “Deli Boys” actor highlights why her casting feels so relevant. “There’s this great line in ‘Lanterns’ Episode 3, where Bernadette (Jasmine Cephas Jones) says something like, ‘Even in space, you don't think about us.’ And it's so relevant. Our representation is so minute that I couldn't even see myself ever joining a universe like this.
It was not on my bingo card, because I didn’t think it was possible. I mean, there is ‘Ms. Marvel’, which has South Asian characters. Of course, Kumail [Nanjiani] in ‘Eternals’. Persis Khambatta was on ‘Star Trek’ for a hot minute. When it happens, it's such a massive novelty. Everyone is so grateful that we've managed to break through this impenetrable genre. People like us are not represented even in outer space, you know?”
Jagannathan’s Zoe Macon makes quite the impression right from the very first episode, when the Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, and his trainee, John Stewart, arrive in the small Nebraskan town of Rushville, investigating a possible presence of a Manhunter, an alien race that can shape-shift into humans.
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Speaking about her character’s major reveal, Jagannathan says, “When I read the script, I thought it'd be a man, right? They planted my character as a South Asian woman in Nebraska, very strategically. So she can hide in plain sight. She gives a whole speech about being an outsider. When you are one, you are alien enough. It's a good cover to be visibly different, so you become invisible. But Zoe's monologue about being an outsider being your superpower is really something I relate to. I'm such an outsider in this business. I've always felt like an outsider in my life.”
Even before Zoe's truth comes out, her nuanced characterization and the steamy age-gap relationship with Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart generated quite the buzz. Jagannathan explains. "She didn't go after Jon Stewart because he's a younger man or anything. She went after him because she perceives him as a potential Green Lantern and a more powerful enemy. And her MO (modus operandi) is really to flip the enemy and keep them close to protect her. So yes, definitely, it's an older woman with agency and all that stuff. But actually, it's massively strategic.”
She adds, "She will do anything to survive. She will love, manipulate, screw over. At the beginning of Episode 5, you see her talking to Kelly, and you see her make a contract. And there's a feeling like she's made that contract with every single person in that town. Even with John Stewart, she waits until his life is hanging by a thread. Because she gets people at their most vulnerable, when they have to choose between life and death. And when they choose life, they're indebted to her right away. So that's how strong the bonds in Rushville are. They'll do anything for her. She assumes John is going to do that for her too. So in the end, when he has a gun to her head, it's almost like she got outdone at her own game for the first time.”
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Does that make John Stewart Zoe’s favorite Green Lantern? Maybe, but Poorna has a clear favorite. “Oh, it's John. Especially towards the end, John is as flawed a human being as all of them. But at the end of the day, his sense of duty and what's right and wrong is crystal clear. Also, Aaron is just the loveliest guy. I'm also so floored to be able to work with one of my heroes, Kyle Chandler. He's hilarious and unbelievable in this. I often say they were both born to play the Green Lantern, but also the Green Lantern universe was waiting for them as well.”
Apart from episodes 4 and 5 being her character’s swan song, what makes them extra special for the “Never Have I Ever” actor is being directed by Geeta Vasant Patel, who has previously directed on the “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of The Dragon” and “Star Wars” spinoff “Ahsoka” and brings the scale and spectacle to “Lanterns” too.
“In fact, both of my major episodes were directed by an Indian director. It was unbelievable; we were just speaking about dhoklas and Gujarati food in between takes! There was a level of comfort,” Jagannathan concludes.
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