With a number of great performances under her belt, including her most recent in the FX on Hulu series, “A Teacher,” Kate Mara has proven to be one of the more talented actresses working today. And normally, with how Hollywood has worked in recent years, that means Marvel Studios would be knocking on her door and asking her to put on some spandex. But yet, outside of her failed “Fantastic Four” reboot at Fox, Mara hasn’t gotten the call for a superhero feature. And that’s likely because she’s already appeared in a Marvel Studios film, “Iron Man 2” to be exact, however, if you blink you might miss her.
Honestly, over the two dozen films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Mara’s appearance in “Iron Man 2” is striking for its strangeness. Why would you hire such a talented actress for what amounts to a glorified cameo? Especially instead of waiting for a bigger, better role to come around? Well, according to an interview with Collider, Mara explained that she only took the part in “Iron Man 2” because it was hinted that her character would have a meatier role down the line, which we now know never happened.
“I had a meeting with Jon Favreau for that and they had said to me, ‘It’s a very, very small part, but it’s with Robert Downey and Jon, and it’ll be really fun. And a lot of times they bring these characters back into bigger more substantial roles,’” said Mara. “It wasn’t a promise, but it was definitely something that was hinted at to me. So that’s the reason why I even took the meeting was because I thought, ‘Well, if there’s a chance of it, why not spend an evening working with Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau? Great. I love them both. They’re amazing. It’ll be a good experience.’ And that’s exactly what it ended up being.”
She continued, “It ended up being nothing more than that, but it really was fun. And we were shooting until like four in the morning. But yeah, it’s a weird cameo that turned into really nothing. But I don’t mind!”
Obviously, Mara isn’t upset over the fact that she cashed in her Marvel Studios ticket for a cameo role, when clearly she’d be contending for something much larger in 2020. However, you can’t help but wonder “What if?” Especially when you consider the fact that Marvel Studios is likely going to reboot “Fantastic Four” soon enough and she could have enjoyed the same role, but in a very different film.
Regardless, you can watch Mara in a number of projects in development, as well as the recent drama series, “A Teacher.”
For context, here’s Mara’s role in the film: