Ayo Edebiri Gave Geraldine Viswanathan the Green Light to Take Her 'Thunderbolts' Role

American actress Ayo Edebiri, known for her role in The Bear, was formerly attached to play Mel, the personal assistant to Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, in Marvel’s Thunderbolts. However, things ultimately didn’t work out due to scheduling conflicts with her role in The Bear.

In an interview with Collider, Australian actress Geraldine Viswanathan, who will replace Edebiri in Thunderbolts, shared how supportive Edebiri was when the two discussed whether she should take on the role:

“I was like, ‘Hey, girl. So, they gave me a call about this. What do you think?’ And she was like, ‘Absolutely, 100%, you need to do this. You’re going to be hanging out with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.’ She was also like, ‘She goes bad, and that’s cool.’ She was like, ‘It’s an awesome chance to play somebody a little villainous.’”

After consulting with her, Viswanathan took on the role of Mel in the film, backed by a strong endorsement from Edebiri herself.

Edebiri wasn’t the only cast member to drop out—Steven Yeun, originally set to play Sentry (now portrayed by Lewis Pullman), also exited the project due to delays caused by the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.