Valeria Richards is the smartest woman on Earth. She’s immortal and lonely. So after she survives a rain of nuclear missiles and gains possession of the reality warping Cosmic Cube, she goes crazy almost to the extent that she becomes evil. Now its up to the superheroes of Marvel’s Wastelanders to stop her and bring some sense into her. This is the synopsis with which Yashaswini Dayama went into playing Valeria in Hindi Audible Original Marvel’s Wastelanders podcast series. 

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After proving her range in Dear Zindagi, Bandish Bandits and now Marvel’s Wastelanders, Yashaswini is excited for people to listen to the last season of the hit podcast series. We got talking to the actress about her collaboration with Audible, her experience playing a baddie and telling the origin story of a villain you will love to hate. 

Here are the edited excerpts of our conversation: 

Q: The last we saw you on screen, you were singing in Bandish Bandits and now you’re kicking some in Marvel’s Wastelanders. How are you? How does it feel?

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A: It's good to be back in action, literally. After being in a musical, it's nice to be the bad guy.

Q: Yes, you play a baddie in the show. What can you tell us about the experience? 

A: It's been really great. I spoke about this last time also when we did interviews for the beginning of my character arc. It's been such a novel experience. I did start off doing some audio work a couple of years ago with Audible itself. But this is completely different. That's the beauty about storytelling in general. Depending on the genre, you're going to have such a different experience. There’s drama, there’s action. It's thrilling, it's gritty, it's very interactive. You feel like there's people inside your ears, inside your brain. So it's been really exciting. 

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Q: Will your fans be shocked to hear you play a villain?

A: Possibly, but all in all, I think they can just expect to be in the middle of action. It's the culmination of the entire story. It's Valeria Richards against our biggest Avengers.

I was very excited when I found out that she's going to become the ultimate villain. I was like ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Is there another Yashaswini Dahima you were thinking of?’ I was thinking, ‘How did you make this casting choice? but at the same time, I don't want to take it back.’ I'm happy to be here, I'm happy to do it all. 

Q: Does that mean you'll be open to doing a lot more of these grey characters on the big screen? 

A: Of course, I'm open to doing everything. Please, just keep giving me opportunities. I'm happy to oblige.

Q: What’s something you like or hate about Valeria? 

A: I really love how manic she is because you really feel for her since she was very close to just getting to be human with Taru's character. But then things happen in her life with the Cosmic Cube and Doctor Doom. I feel some people just aren't meant to find happiness.It’s just this tragic and manic graph that the character ends up having where she becomes like this because of the explosion that happened in the end of the previous season. She’s driven to madness because of that. She loses all sense of rationality and is driven by just one goal. I love that about her because very rarely do you get to see anybody who gives in to their destiny. 

Q: Who’s your most favourite character in the entire universe of Marvel’s Wastelanders?

A: I love Doctor Doom. I really love him. He’s so funny. I especially love how Ashish sir has done it. It's so special, he's so funny. It’s dry humour. I love Star-Lord as well. Saif sir is funny as Star-Lord. I love them. 

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Q: What next after this show?

A: I am looking for my next job. I am auditioning. I am trying to make it happen but I'm trying to enjoy where we are right now.