This Tuesday on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC, 8/7c), Amy Acker enjoys a reunion (of sorts?) with her Much Ado About Nothing uncle, Clark Gregg, guest-starring as the beautiful cellist Coulson left behind when he “died.”

With S.H.I.E.L.D. in disarray, Coulson’s snuffed romance “is something he’ll perhaps want to go back to, because Audrey is someone he cared about a lot,” says exec producer Maurissa Tanchareon. But as EP Jed Whedon notes, “Audrey is someone who’s now on a journey of her own, and whether or not he respects that is a question.”

All told, “Emotions run high” when Coulson sets out to protect Audrey from danger. TVLine spoke with Acker about her latest foray into the Whedonverse (Angel boss Joss is also a S.H.I.E.L.D. EP), playing someone who’s normal (and not a stone-cold Person of Interest) and the ABC drama star who’s got her on his “list.”

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TVLINE | Had you and any of the Whedons previously talked about maybe swinging by Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. someday? Even in casual conversation?

You know, I think that Clark [Gregg] and I had exchanged some Twitter banter about it. Someone said, “Oh, Amy should be on it,” and Clark said, “Right,” and then I said, “OK, please” or something like that. Basically me begging to work with Clark again.

TVLINE | Under what circumstances do we meet Audrey? Coulson’s kind of out on a limb, a man with a global peacekeeping organization. Is he checking in on her?

Well, she has someone after her from her past. And you find out that Coulson has been watching over her and is trying to protect her. I think that once he found out about Hydra and everything kind of dissolved as far as S.H.I.E.L.D., he knew the ramifications of what that meant as far as who is out there. He realized that she could be in trouble, and so that became a priority.

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TVLINE | Is there any indication of what she’s been up to since fate tore them apart?

Yeah, I have a really nice, pretty speech that they wrote about just how hard it was to get over him, trying to kind of put my life back together since I lost him.

TVLINE | Are we going to get an actual reunion between Audrey and Coulson? Or will he have to keep her at arm’s length?

Well, they are in a scene together. I’ll say that. [Cue this ABC promo pic. But is all as it seems?]

TVLINE | Is playing the cello something you had to fake, I assume?

Well, I took a nice three-hour lesson after I found out I was playing the part. [Laughs] Unfortunately, you can’t actually learn to play the cello in three hours, but…. It’s funny, because my daughter takes violin, so I’ve been trying to just steal her lessons from her since I have to go with her every time anyway. I’m like, “Oh, I can play the violin now!” I thought I was pretty good at it, but apparently not so much.

TVLINE | You know, the last time I interviewed Nathan Fillion, I asked him if there’s anybody he hasn’t worked with on Castle yet that he’d like to. And he takes out his iPhone, and he actually has a list he maintains, and you are near the top of it. So, when’s that going to happen?

Oh, that’s nice of him. I guess I’ll start stalking him next, I guess! I just think Nathan’s so funny on that show, I love the humor that they have.

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TVLINE | When’s the last time you played someone as normal as Audrey?

I get to be pretty bad and cool on Person of Interest, so it was a nice thing to do S.H.I.E.L.D. and be a normal, nice girl, something total different. [Laughs] I guess [Much Ado‘s] Beatrice would be the most normal person before that, yeah.

TVLINE | Well, going back to the Whedonverse thing: How does it feel to be a part of that sort of “repertoire company”? Is it comforting to know that you will probably always have work in one way, shape or form throughout your career?

Oh, jeez. I mean, it’s been a total blessing to know all those people — and on a personal level as well as a work level. I mean, most of my best friends I’ve met from my Angel days and from doing Shakespeare readings at Joss’ house. And he hires such amazing writers who have now gone on to make their own shows, so I was lucky enough to do something on Grimm and Once Upon a Time, all these different things with different people who have been on or affiliated with Angel. Fred is the gift that keeps on giving, I guess.

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