Actor Corey Stoll used empathy to make sense of the inner workings driving Dr. Darren Cross, also known as Yellowjacket/MODOK, in Ant-Man.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stoll unpacked how he worked with director Peyton Reed and actor/producer Paul Rudd to decipher Edgar Wright’s screenplay and decode the subconscious motives for Dr. Cross’s anti-social behavior. The trio concluded that an enormous father wound drives MODOK’s aggression.
What Peyton, Paul [Rudd] and I tried to do — on top of the great script that Edgar had written — was give a little bit more of the sense that Darren was motivated by a desire for approval, primarily from Hank [Michael Douglas] and really wanting this father figure.
MODOK appetite for a father figure finds satiety in the hostility of Kang The Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), as he is reminiscent of the implacable parent whose negligence and rejection wounded him in early life. Stoll explains:
A lot of his dysfunctional relationship with Kang is about wanting this father figure, and unfortunately, Kang is an even more abusive father than Hank was.
Starved for paternal affection, MODOK thrives on the crumbs of validation he receives whenever he manages to please Kang.
Stoll reprised the role of Yellowjacket for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where he transforms into MODOK in the Quantum Realm. MODOK is short for ‘Mental Organism Designed Only’ for Killing, a name that illustrates how tragically disconnected Dr. Cross has become from his humanity.
He earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He rose to fame as Rep. Peter Russo in the television series House of Cards. His performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film. He also starred in The Strain and Baghdad Central. He also starts as Michael Prince on the Showtime drama Billions.
He is also an accomplished theater actor, starring in numerous Shakespearean plays, including Henry VI, Troilus and Cressida, Julius Caesar, Othello, and Macbeth.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is currently in theaters.
