Jurnee Smollett isn’t afraid to push the limits for a role — which was the case when she gained 20 pounds for the part of Michelle Calderone on Smoke.
“I was really drawn to this character, Michelle, and when I met [creator] Dennis [Lehane], he said to me something that struck with me and really was my way into her,” Smollett, 38, recalled to People in an interview published on Wednesday, July 30. “He said, ‘We all say we want to be happy, and yet we’re drawn to the very things that want to destroy us.’ And that was it.”
Michelle is a former Marine, now detective, who has been called to assist on an arson investigation, which is just the type of complex character Smollett likes to play.
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As she began portraying Michelle, the actress said she did “severe” workouts and eventually gained weight to coincide with the character’s physical journey.
“She’s someone who uses working out as an escape, and she tries to push herself pretty hard,” Smollett told the outlet. “She’s running away from a lot of her emotions and pours it into different aspects of her life, [like] working out but [she’s also] overworking [her] toxic relationships.”
She explained that Michelle is a “workaholic” who is “very ambitious.” To accurately portray her, Smollett said she decided to bulk up a bit.
“I knew physically that Michelle needed to have more of a muscular presence than I personally did,” Smollett shared. “I did put on initially 15 pounds, and by the end of shooting, I was up to 20 pounds, because I wanted that part to feel more truthful.”
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Smollett noted that Michelle’s physical appearance reflects her inner struggles as well. “She’s a loner. She’s a lone wolf,” she said. “And so, yeah, she has a little bit of body dysmorphia.”
Smoke, which also stars Taron Egerton as Dave Gudsen and Rafe Spall as Steven Burk, follows arson investigator Gudsen as he begrudgingly teams up with Michelle to try and stop two arsonists on a rampage.
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As the cases unfold, Michelle and Gudsen follow dark and unexpected twists and turns while working to uncover who is responsible.
“It takes a very special person to say, ‘I’m going to put my life on the line, and I’m seeking out danger to fight for this cause that I believe in or fight for justice,’” Smollett explained of her character. “But with Michelle, there’s an added layer of complexity because she’s also a bit single-minded, and because she’s a lone wolf, she doesn’t always follow the rules.”
New episodes of Smoke drop Fridays on AppleTV+.