For fans of the ABC Marvel series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., seeing actress Chloe Bennet join the cast of Dave Burd’s sometimes-vulgar, always-hilarous FX series Dave may seem to have come from left field. While talking with Collider’s Steve Weintraub for the upcoming release of Rally Road Racers, however, Bennet tells us this collaboration has been years in the making, or at least their hopes to work together have been. Read on to learn all about Bennet’s joining the cast in Season 3, Episode 7, “Rebirthday.”

Here’s How Chloe Bennet Joined the Cast of ‘Dave’
Dave Season 3, which premiered April 5, sees Lil Dicky and friends taking to the road on Dave’s Looking for Love Tour, which the co-creator and star previously told us allows the show to explore a variety of tones, “where every single episode is a new place, and every place has a different vibe.” On that tour, in-show Dave meets a motley crew of people across the country, and one of those characters is Wisconsin photographer, Robyn (Bennet), whose role sees the maybe-couple sharing some pretty special moments together, full of “a lot of weird shit.” So how did Bennet make the leap from Daisy “Sky” Johnson in SHIELD to a recurring Season 3 role? She explains:
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAYSCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

I actually got involved because I’ve been friends with Dave for quite some time. When we first met, I remember us both talking about what we wanted to do outside of what we were currently doing. He would talk about the show and I would talk about various other things that I wanted to do when I was on S.H.I.E.L.D., and the show just kind of was always something that we talked about. And just being as close as we were for a while, it was definitely really exciting to collaborate and get to talk with him about it from the beginning.

Image via FX 

RELATED: Is ‘Dave’ a True Story?

The Relinquishing of Ego
When Burd’s vision was finally set to take off in 2020, Bennet says, “I remember the first time I read the pilot, and just sitting and laughing so hard.” Having spent so much of her career on SHIELD, which spanned seven years, she tells us, “My friendship with Dave was definitely one of the first times I got to kind of collaborate with my friends and kind of go, ‘Oh, I’m not just an actor, I can talk and spit creatively with people at a higher level.’” Nevertheless, the bond the two shared didn’t mean an easy offer. In fact, Bennet went on to explain that:

Dave, of course being Dave, even though we’ve been extremely close friends for years, still made me audition [laughs]. So, for anyone thinking that I got some sort of “in” because we were friends, no, no. I still had to go and, you know, it was so very like, no stone goes unturned with him. It doesn’t really matter, the way that he works is, he just wants the best and he expects the best and he has no problem kind of just being like, “Well, you still have to show me.” It’s like, “We’re good friends!” “Yeah, I don’t care, you still need to show me.” So, it’s a really funny prospect, and one that requires a huge relinquishing of ego, but ultimately a fun practice and kind and worth it.

Though she had to relinquish ego for the part, this process came as no surprise to Bennet who clarifies, “I don’t think anyone works harder. There’s a reason he has had the career that he’s had, completely not dependent on anybody.” In Weintraub’s interview before the Season 3 premiere, Burd was quick to admit, “I was always very particular and had an opinion,” adding, “It’s hard to knock someone for caring, you know… I gain respect because of how much I care.” Bennet expounds on this, believing Burd was “lowkey kind of a pioneer” for creators taking more control over their content within the industry.

As someone who was definitely a part of a bigger system for a very long time, that kind of freedom always was very intriguing and something that I was inspired by. So to get to be a part of the season this year has been pretty fulfilling, and certainly interesting to all of a sudden have one of your best friends become your boss. Quite the experience.

Dave’s Dance Really Was the Pair “Absolutely Vibing”
Because of their friendship, Weintraub noted their chemistry during Bennet’s scenes, and the dance they shared, and wanted to know if that was completely scripted. Bennet explains what informed her character, Robyn, and reveals:

Oh, that was completely just us doing a lot of weird shit. That was just us. Yeah, that was really, you know, a lot of Robyn– I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’m from the Midwest. There’s a lot of me in Robyn and there’s a lot of Robyn in me, and it was very easy to be a terrible dancer. I don’t know, it was really easy for me to do that bad, horrible dancing. But that was all us just absolutely vibing. We had had a long day of shooting, and we were just like, “You know what? Let’s just fucking go for it.” We went much longer. The outtakes of all that, I’m sure I can’t wait to see.

When watching in-show Dave rattle off every awkward, blunt, and meandering thought that comes to his mind, the genuine reality of the show makes it difficult to believe the dialogue isn’t completely improvised. In Robyn and Dave’s case, the dance may have been, but when Weintraub inquires about their dialogue, noting the authentic nature of it, Bennet says:

He’s pretty meticulous about certain things. That first episode was written by this lovely woman, Emma [Wisdom], and a lot of this season is about Dave’s relationship with women, it’s obviously the Looking for Love tour, but the deeper underlining theme below that is like, you know, in this culture where women are very much objectified and we have like a lot of very clear, toxic behavior towards women, where does Dave stand? And what does he think of himself as? And what actually does come out? Because people can think of themselves as one way, but then how does he behave when push comes to shove, and just exploring that relationship with women. And I think Robyn is definitely a vessel for that exploration. So I think there’s important beats for me to maintain.
Just knowing Dave personally, and being around him in real life, we could pull a lot of references from like, “Well, remember that girl…? Remember this, remember that situation?” Like a lot of different things personally. But then also, Dave will be meticulous about certain things, like certain little bits of dialogue that he wants in or certain ways to be kind of viewed, I guess. But then, Ben Sinclair did direct that episode and he was incredible, he’s really great at finding those kind of extremely human, lived-in moments of connection, I would say. And with Dave and I, that wasn’t too difficult. I think that was probably the easier parts.

Dave is pure comedy at its core, and boasts a number of starry cameos, but it doesn’t shy away from life’s ups and downs. The relationships formed along the way in Lil Dicky’s rise to stardom touch on serious topics, including who Dave is as a person, as Bennet mentioned, and the show isn’t afraid to show challenging aspects of humanity. Of herself and other cast members, including Travis Bennett, Andrew Santino, GaTa, and Christine Ko, Bennet says, “I think he does a good job at surrounding himself with people who will naturally kind of fit the bill, you know? There’s a lot of his friends involved. There’s a lot of people in real life that he knows how they are in their essence and then just kind of capturing that, I think, is what he’s good at.”

Check out the trailer for Bennet’s arrival on Dave below, available to stream now on Hulu. And look for more from our exclusive interview with Chloe Bennet soon.