Kiersey Clemons has made her way into a new franchise after being in the DCEU ‘s The Flash and Zack Snyder's Justice League. She now stars in the MonsterVerse's new series, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. She stars as May, an immigrant living in Japan during the events of Monarch.

Talking to ClutchPoints at the mid-season junket for Monarch, Clemons discussed her research process, which including watching the original Godzilla films that are “so old.” She also discussed her younger brother's impact on her taking the role, and her future in the superhero genre.

Kiersey Clemons-Monarch: Legacy of Monsters interview

 ClutchPoints: I know we're talking now a couple weeks into Monarch's run on Apple TV+. So, for you, what has it been like seeing the reactions? 

Kiersey Clemons: It's so exciting. I feel like I watch the fans of any of these universes, superhero, sci-fi, [and] I feel like watching those fans be disappointed is really scary. [laughs]

You want to live up to their expectations — I mean, at least I do. I do care when you're making a show like this or a movie, that there's this fan base that has been around for such a long time. And there's so much passion for Godzilla and the Titans and for the show. And yeah, I love that.

CP: So were you a fan going into this? I know talking to Matt Shakman, he was saying he's a big fan and has toys from the old movies.

KC: Actually, I knew who Godzilla was — I think we all did — but I didn't necessarily, uh, fixate on Godzilla in any way. [chuckles]

I've seen the movies like anybody else — I feel like everyone has seen the Godzilla movies, which is funny, it's just a given. It's like, you know that you're gonna go see it, that you have to.

But my little brother, who's eight, is obsessed with Godzilla. It's something [where] the timing was perfect that the show came to me at the same time that he sat on the phone for three hours talking about Godzilla, so, I was really excited to do this, partly because of that.

CP: Has he given you his review of the show? 

KC: Well, the first time my stepmom put it on for him to watch it, I think he turned it off and he started watching [A] Charlie Brown Christmas [laughs], and I was like, “What the hell?” I mean, he's a kid. He just wasn't in the mood.

And then the next day he watched it and he couldn't stop talking about it. And he's so excited to see the next episodes. He has so many questions and I can't even fill him in because he will go to school and tell everybody. [laughs]

CP: If you had the option of watching a Godzilla movie or A Charlie Brown Christmas, what would you choose?

KC: A Charlie Brown Christmas.

CP: I know you said you've seen the movies, and even as someone who has seen some of the MonsterVerse films, I get confused. There's so many of them. So prior to Monarch, which kind of takes place right after the 2014 film, did you have to watch any for homework?

KC: I saw some things that were very familiar to stuff that we had shot. I don't really feel like it necessarily definitely didn't inform my character, but I feel like the story that we're telling is about Monarch, and the history of Monarch, and past, present, and we do towards the end kind of, you get to see, [turns to her publicist off-screen] what can I say here?

[chuckles] We have the past looking at the present [which I guess] is kind of the future, I guess 2014. But, God, I don't even remember the question now. [laughs] I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have stopped because once I do that, I'm gone.

CP: Oh, that's okay I was asking if watching the MonsterVerse movies felt like a homework assignment where you were researching for your role.

KC: I watched the very, very first one, which was actually kind of difficult to — it's just so old. [laughs]

That was the only one that I really felt like I needed to kind of pay attention to maybe because of our flashbacks. But other than that, I can't remember the names of them, but I saw the one with Millie Bobby Brown, and then the one with the hottie, what's his name? [smiles]

CP: When you say the one that was old, are you talking about the one from 2014?

KC: Oh, I mean the original black-and-white Godzilla.

CP: Gotcha. I didn't realize you went that far back into the series for research.

KC: Well, I felt like that was the only one that I probably [needed to watch]. I just wanted to be aware.

None of it really informed me, necessarily. I guess I got an idea of the vibe, but even then, I feel like our show feels very different.

CP: I mean, this is probably the TV show with the biggest scale that I've ever seen, and you've worked on all different kinds of movies of big and small scale. So I was wondering what it was like to film Monarch, which is kind of like a movie, but episodic.

KC: Yeah, it was a lot more action-packed than what I usually do, to be fair. I think I do a lot more grounded movies aside from being a part of the DC world. But I really enjoy throwing my body around and pretending to look up at a monster — it's all very fun. I think that we just had a lot of fun.

I feel like it was Mahershala Ali [who] said on a roundtable that you have to know what it is that you're in as an actor. And I always think of that, and I really used that on Monarch to understand the world that I'm in and, you know, I can't play this show the way that I would play a more grounded, indie film, but also at the same time keeping it very real.

That was a fun process, finding that balance in this kind of genre.

CP: You mentioned the DC Universe. I know maybe you don't look too fondly back on that experience, but I am curious, you mentioned that with Monarch, you get to throw your body around and there's obviously a lot of visual effects. You can do a lot of that in superhero movies, and would you ever consider returning to the genre, or have you ruled it out? 

KC: I think that regardless of the genre, if you like a script, it's gonna be so tempting. It would really have to be something that I just would regret if I didn't do on my deathbed, you know?

But personally, for me, I don't know, I guess I did it. Regardless of the experience, there were actually great times. [chuckles]

I think that there's a lot of superhero movies and I think I might be one of those people who's a little tapped out and would like to see something else.

New episodes of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters premiere every Friday on Apple TV+.