Fans of Spanish actress Elena Anaya might have had a hard time recognizing her in Patty Jenkins’ superhero sensation Wonder Woman. Anaya is a headliner in Spain, with starring roles in films including Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In, the drama They Are All Dead, and the ghost story Fragile. She’s become an international star as well, in the UK’s Swung, France’s high-profile criminal profile Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy #1, and Chile’s The Memory of Water. To people around the world, she’s a memorable face.

But in Wonder Woman, that face is largely covered by prosthetics and makeup, and Anaya’s intensity only comes through in her eyes. She plays villain Dr. Maru, aka Dr. Poison, the savage chemist pioneering an explosive new form of mustard gas that may win World War I for the German forces. It’s a comparatively small role for her, but it’s a central one. She puts a face — a badly damaged face, covered with prosthetic plates — on the war’s weapons of mass destruction. She brings an eerie sensitivity and soulfulness to her acts of mass murder. And in her best scene, she coldly confronts the film’s love interest, Chris Pine, as he infiltrates a German party as a spy. I recently talked to Anaya about the fantasies she built around Wonder Woman’s most enigmatic character, Dr. Maru’s future prospects in a Wonder Woman sequel, and how she got those hideous facial scars. Also: how Dr. Maru is both an ant and a snake.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

How did you approach playing Dr. Maru?

It was very tricky for me to take on the evil of this character, and to live up to Wonder Woman, the strongest female character ever written in a comic book. Dr. Maru loves rage and enjoys people’s pain. She’s creating terrible weapons, and her purpose in life is to kill as many people as possible, and provoke as much pain as possible. When you read a comic book script and then you’re responsible for approaching a character like this, you think, “Well, how is it possible that somebody invented a character like this?” And then unfortunately, I realized that more than ever, there are evil people in real life. They are on television, they are very powerful people, and they don’t wear masks like Dr. Maru wears. These people are villains in real life, hurting a lot of people, and they’re doing a lot of damage to mankind. So that’s one answer.

The other answer is, I did my research about World War I. There was a terrible moment when the army and science came together. I researched Fritz Haber, the chemist who created mustard gas. His personal history was very scary. He was a chemist in a beautiful marriage with another chemist. He wanted to be a powerful man, recognized by everybody. But his wife begged him to stop. The night before the first gas-bomb test, he said, “I’m not going to stop,” so she killed herself with his gun. You imagine this tortured person going to bomb tests with his wife dead in his house, with his love passed away in the process.

Were you thinking about backstories like that in terms of explaining where her rage and pain comes from?

Of course, of course! When I create a character, I read so many things. I get a lot of inspiration from real life. But then that’s not enough. You need to be secure, and to use your imagination and your own tools, your own experiences, to inhabit the feeling. I had to invent all her past, all her sorrows, and why she’s so tortured, and what happened to her. I created her past, her background. You can’t just put on a face, like “Okay, I’m going to be very evil.” I think she makes people suffer to avoid her own suffering, because she cannot suffer anymore. You can see at the end of the movie when she is begging with her eyes, “Do not kill me.” Because everybody is human at the end of the tale. Even if you’re superstrong and you feel like you’re the smartest person on earth, when someone is going to kill you, you’re scared. You feel like a tiny ant. All your insecurities come up.

What did your version of her history look like? Did you have a reason for her facial scars?

I went to Patty Jenkins and asked, “What happened to her?” And she said, “She did it on purpose.” I was like, “What? Patty, you’re going further than I ever imagined.” She said, “She wants to provoke painful suffering, so she tested her own gas on her own face. She wanted to know how deep this form of her gas would go, so she put it on her own face.” You can see half of her face is completely gone. This is the sadistic side of Dr. Maru. And that was the idea of Patty Jenkins, who gave me the best tools ever to work with a character.

If her scars were consciously self-inflicted, why do you think it’s important to her to wear a mask?

Well, first of all, she’s working in a lab. She needs some protection. Same as she wears protection with her boots and gear. But also, she doesn’t want to be seen. She’s like a shade, always in the background. She works day and night in her lab. She’s only trying to erase what happened to her face so she won’t get much attention. She needed to know how deep the gas would go. Okay, she got that, now she needs to keep working. She has no time to give explanations to anyone about what happened. She just doesn’t like to be looked at. She doesn’t like to be the center of any conversation. She works alone. She has hundreds of people building bombs outside of her lab, but the only person authorized to get inside is Ludendorff.

She’s obsessive. She’s a maniac. And she doesn’t care about her face. It’s not important to her. She just doesn’t want attention.

Did you think about her history before the scar? About what made her into this sadistic person?

I think we’re all born in the same condition: we are pure. In any country on the planet, we are born pure. And then we’re terribly changed as things happen in our lives. The reasons I created for her — it’s a long story! I think she suffered. That she had a love she loved so much, and that person went with somebody else. She felt betrayed, and it weighed on her mind and heart. And she became sick. When your pain is not in your body, you can’t get rid of it. It’s like a scar. It can get dark inside, get infected, and that infection can kill your body, even if it’s just a tiny cut on your finger.

She wants to be loved. She wants somebody to take care of her. She doesn’t want to be so lonely and so independent, but she’s completely alone. She would love to have people trust her, and not only because she has an amazing intelligence, not just for the chemist she became, but for the woman she is now. We all have humanity underneath all these masks we wear. But she went so far. She finds it very difficult to get rid of all the hate in her soul. She hates so much, so much.

“We all have humanity underneath all these masks we wear. But she went so far… She hates so much, so much.”

You bring across so much of this anger and hurt with your eyes. Was it frustrating having so much of your face covered, trying to communicate a character with some of your tools taken away?

In some ways, the prosthetics help! I’d go to work every day and put on this beautiful costume — those are real army boots, worn by a female warrior in the first World War. They give you a face. They give you a look, a vision, a perspective. You see the world so differently behind that mask, because you’re hiding so much with the plates. I’m a person who tries to not hide anything at all. I’m super-clear always with all my friends, my family, my lovers, the people I run into every day. The people who hide and cheat and live in the shade, they’re so interesting to play.

I mean, of course those plates were painful on my face. They were glued on, I had to wear them like 12 hours a day. I basically couldn’t eat or drink the whole day. And for talking [hoarse, wheezing voice with slurping noises] you need to do this voice, with this saliva thing. I told Patty “I want to use this noise of the saliva in her mouth all the time,” and she said it was too much. I know they got rid of most of the takes where I had the saliva thing going on.

But always, when I have to wear a mask, or anything I can use for my character — long nails or special boots or a wig — that gives me power. Whatever helps, they’re like magic tools for actors, even though sometimes they’re a pain in the ass. On this occasion, I loved my mask so much. I was very happy every day to wear that beautiful costume and those beautiful plates, and see how people reacted to them. Sometimes I’d just watch the monitor. There’d be seven people around the set, and the minute they’d turn and see my face, they’re like [gasps theatrically] “Oh fuck! She’s here!” They were so impressed!

What do you know about Dr. Maru’s future? Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins are contracted for a second Wonder Woman movie. Are you?

Yes yes yes. But I have no answer for that. As you know, when these movies are made, they ask you basically to marry them for the rest of your life. [Laughs] I’d be so happy to be back, to be able to be evil again. It’s so good, it’s so fantastic.

If she were to turn up again in a future film, what would you want out of her? What would you like to see her do?

Wow. I think Dr. Maru has a lot left to do, and show, and tell. She hides her femininity and vulnerability. It’s so easy for her to escape from every situation. She’s like a tiny criminal ant, it’s so difficult for her to be caught. She has many faces. You know, there is a moment in the movie when we see her face without the damage, and she looks like a fairly normal, easygoing chemist, like somebody who’s clever in her work. Who could tell that this person is going to invent the most destructive weapon ever? So I think Dr. Maru could have a nice side, and show it to the audience. It’d show a lot to the audience about evil people. About what I said about how they exist in real life, with a lot of power to changes everybody’s life.

How did current politics affect your performance?

I’m very in contact with reality. I love my job so much. This is what I dreamt to do. Being able to perform as a professional actress is a gift life has given me somehow. But on the other side, I’m very concerned about the situation in the real world. When I pick a project, I don’t just think about entertainment. I want to show people, while they’re in the movie, what kind of characters are in life, even though it’s a fiction movie. This movie talks about the world, about how we all have to do something — with power or without power, we have to try to get a better world. You know it’s going to be a very dangerous place.

I try to illustrate that evil exists. That evil can press a button and kill, can decide other people’s future and change mankind. They can provoke so much suffering. It’s happening in real life, and I think we’re all in shock, globally. There are so many crazy villains with power in our televisions every day. We just need to make the tiny effort to recognize them.

Patty Jenkins seems to have a particularly strong idea of how women can be heroes, how they can improve their roles in the world, and their portrayals in the media. How did the two of you work together on that question?

You know, I’m so proud of Patty Jenkins, since the first day I met her. I saw her fighting every day on set, defending her ideas. She was surrounded every day by so many people with so many opinions, giving their different points of view. With the best attitude, the best manners, she would explain to everyone why she wanted things this way. With so many people producing and offering opinions, it’s difficult, because you are one against 50 or more. Man or woman, if you become a director, you have to say, “We are going to take this direction, this is how I want it.” Everyone needs to marry her, in a way.

We have an expression in Spain: “She put everybody in her pocket.” Mostly at the end of the day, she got what she wanted. And she fought for it. She was so determined. She must have been exhausted afterward. But she had the best sense of humor, which is very important in this business. She’s an incredible woman, strong, very smart, very hard worker. She doesn’t get tired. She was in the first unit and then also in the second nighttime unit, running everywhere, doing everything. They’d say, “What are you doing here? You are Wonder Woman! What the hell! You should be sleeping, Patty!” “No, guys, I want to be with you and make sure everything’s clear.” It was such a big lesson, and I’m so proud. I celebrate every day these successes, because it means a lot for her, and for female directors.

Did you read any of the comics, or look at the history of the previous versions of the characters?

Yeah, I tried to find Dr. Poison at the beginning, when I got the script. I asked, “Holy shit, who is she?” I asked Patty, and she said, “Listen. We are doing this movie. There are so many comics. There are so many backgrounds, and so many things to put together. Let’s focus on what we have to tell in this script, which is a lot.” You just have to pick one background for yourself, even if it doesn’t match all the originals. You have to pick whatever the director asks you to play in the movie, and be conscious that your character is an important, clever piece, but it’s surrounded by so many other pieces You have to be conscious that you can’t tell the whole story just with your eyes. You try, but there is no room for everybody’s character background.

What was the environment like on set?

It was amazing. Patty has an amazing sense of humor. She was always very in contact with everybody’s needs, taking care of everybody like a mom, and laughing. The moment we had to be super-focused, we were super-focused. The moment we could relax, it was a very easygoing, relaxed atmosphere. And the lead actors, Chris and Gal, they made everybody’s energy very easygoing, even though it was a very expensive, crazy movie. It was like we were friends, like sometimes happens in independent movies. We were in a very good mood, and very proud of what we were doing.

How did you approach your big battle of wills with Chris Pine?

That was my first day on set. And that was cool. I had so much fun. I just wanted to look at his face and imagine and invent. When you have a face in front of your face, and that face is Chris Pine’s, it’s like, “Oh my goodness.” But it wasn’t Chris Pine’s face anymore, it was the character’s. And when he’s giving Dr. Maru attention, she’s thinking “What is going on here?” But she needs to hold her thoughts in and not show them to him. It was very fun. He’s such a good actor, and we had the whole day to shoot the scene. Patty was doing so many takes, asking us so many things.

I remember for that scene, Patty came to me and said, “Could you imagine that you’re a very ugly snake?” And I was like, “Yeah, Patty, I thought about it. If I had to think of an animal as my character, it would be a snake. But what kind of snake?” And then we went farther in on that look she gives him, the look of somebody who is still, but can kill you in a second, with just a tiny movement. The snake just holds its movement and looks at you, like hypnotizing you, but if it wanted, it could strangle you and eat you. I had so much fun.