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LOS ANGELES, July 3 (UPI) -- Hanna (Esme Creed-Miles) is a 15-year-old girl with enhanced DNA, trained to fight and hunt like an assassin. It might seem to give her an advantage over other teenagers, but it comes with the burden of being hunted by the CIA. Season 2 of the thriller series, Hanna, originally a 2011 film of the same name, premieres Friday on Amazon.
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Mireille Enos' character, Marissa Wiegler, once an enemy of Hanna, becomes a surrogate mother to her in the second season.
In Season 1, Hanna and her father figure Erik Heller (Joel Kinnaman), lived off the grid, in hiding from Wiegler, who tried to retrieve Hanna for the CIA. Season 2 picks up after Heller has died and Wiegler let Hanna go.
John Carmichael (Dermot Mulroney) has taken over Utrax, the program breeding other potential supersoldiers like Hanna. She turns to her former enemy for help.
"[Wiegler] just decides that enough is enough," Enos told UPI over Zoom. "Instead of eliminating another person, she's going to save one."
Enos said she thinks both of these women are deeply distrustful of anyone.
"They're not good at having allies," she said.
Enos said Wiegler is used to running her own show and circumventing any CIA oversight to get her way. Caring for Hanna brings out a new side in Wiegler.
"She is a fiercely protective mother," Enos said. "Once she has decided to be her mother, she's very loyal and will go to great lengths."
Wiegler's protectiveness over Hanna surprises even her, Enos said. She let Hanna go in the Season 1 finale. At that time, Wiegler thought she was freeing herself of the pursuit too.
"I don't know that she thought she would ever see Hanna again," Enos said. "Hanna's really good at hiding and that might've just been that, the question mark hanging over her life."
Mulroney was clear about his character when he joined the cast. John Carmichael is the bad guy, he said.
"We know what Utrax is," Mulroney said in a separate Zoom. "Anybody who's running it isn't good."
Carmichael rules over a facility full of teenage assassins in training. Hanna is his greatest threat, because she could expose Utrax, or destroy it.
"He needs to get Hanna back into the program or the whole thing blows up," Mulroney said. "It's been decades in the making."
Enos welcomed the threat Mulroney brought to Hanna with his character of Carmichael. Although Wiegler was CIA, she was more of a rogue antagonist. This CIA official creates challenges even for her, let alone for Hanna.
"He embodies ... the 'end justifies the means' kind of guy," Enos said. "It is a wonderful flavor."
Mulroney said he learned more about Carmichael from each script he received. However, he noticed a pattern in Carmichael's ability to navigate children, adults and anyone standing in his way.
"What Carmichael is saying, he's saying for a reason," Mulroney said. "He can lie his way through anything imperceptibly."
Carmichael's pursuit puts both Wiegler and Hanna through intense situations. Enos said she learns fight sequences with doubles trained in jiu jitsu.
When Wiegler emerges from action bruised and battered, it is only makeup. Enos, however, appreciates portraying Wiegler taking a beating.
"It just gives you so much more room to play as an actor," Enos said. "You don't have to think about what you look like because you know what you look like is a mess."
Carmichael will emerge from behind the desk by the end of Season 2, also, Mulroney promises. He said Farr's story requires Carmichael to physically defend Utrax.
"All the roads lead to a final confrontation," Mulroney said.
