Why WandaVision's Agent Rodriguez Looks So Familiar

Marvel Studios/Disney+

BY ROBERT BALKOVICH/JAN. 29, 2021 3:41 PM EDT

Contains spoilers for WandaVision

Between the abundance of references to TV and pop culture of the 20th century and the overflowing basket of Marvel Cinematic Universe Easter eggs, it can be hard to register everything going on in any given episode of WandaVision. That's especially compounded by the fact that the series employs tons of memorable actors, often in uncanny and potentially very significant roles, to fill out its ensemble.

That same principal applies to the show's supporting players. Episode 4 of WandaVision was a big leap forward for the series, bringing viewers out of the illusion that Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), presumably created and is maintaining and into reality. There, viewers discovered that the agency S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department) was involved in all of this.

Thanks to this peeling back of the curtain, we also got to meet some S.W.O.R.D. personnel, including Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), Director Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg), and Agent Rodriguez, played by Selena Anduze. If, like many of the other denizens of the intriguing world of WandaVision, Anduze had your "I know I've seen them somewhere before" senses buzzing, there's a good reason for that. She's appeared in plenty of film and TV projects throughout her career, including a rival superhero franchise.

Selena Anduze got involved with the Crain family on The Haunting of Hill House

Netflix

Anduze has been popping up in small TV roles for over five years, and you may have caught her before on shows like country music drama Nashville, the reboot of MacGyver, and the supernatural caper Sleepy Hollow. In 2018, Anduze also had a small but vital role on the hit Netflix horror series The Haunting of Hill House.

In the episode entitled "The Twin Thing," troubled former Hill House resident Luke Crain (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is at a rehab facility, working toward maintaining his sobriety. The spirits that have haunted him since his childhood make this especially difficult, but thankfully, he has the stern yet empathetic recovery counselor Paige, played by Anduze, to help him.

Unfortunately, after Luke escapes the facility to track down a fellow runaway patient whom he has grown close with, Paige is forced to make the tough decision to not let either of them back. Like many of the parts of The Haunting of Hill House, Paige is a character full of complexity and pathos, even though she is a more minor one in the grand scheme.

The show that welcomed Selena Anduze into the DCEU

DC Universe

Don't tell the Marvel purists, but Anduze is one of those actors who has crossed the gulf between the MCU and the other mega-popular franchise of superhero movies and TV shows. In addition to appearing as a S.W.O.R.D. agent in WandaVision, Anduze also had a significant role in the DC Extended Universe TV series Swamp Thing. As the title of the series implies, Swamp Thing takes place in the bayou town of Marais, Louisiana, which is being afflicted by a mysterious disease. Doctor and former Marais resident Abby Arcane (Crystal Reed) returns to try and get to the bottom of things, but, in classic superhero franchise fashion, everything goes so much deeper than it first seems.

Anduze has a meaty supporting role as Caroline Woodrue in Swamp Thing. The wife of biogeneticist Jason Woodrue, aka Floronic Man (Kevin Durand), from the comics, Caroline joins her husband when he's called to investigate the strange happenings in Marais. Like her husband, Caroline is also a scientist — but she suffers from early-onset Alzheimer's, which puts both a ticking clock and an unbearable strain on her marriage.

Although it was certainly a unique entry in the DCEU, Swamp Thing ran for only one season on the now-defunct streaming arm of DC Universe (now known as DC Universe Infinite).

Selena Anduze was a member of Doctor Sleep's terrifying True Knot

Warner Bros. Pictures

Although it's not a Marvel or DC property, in a way, the 2019 horror film Doctor Sleep exists within its own cinematic universe: the Stephen King Extended Universe. The film, based on a King novel of the same name, is a direct sequel to horror masterpiece The Shining. It follows an adult Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) as he battles alcoholism and a terrifying cult of near-immortal beings who feed off the life essence of those who have the psychic abilities known as the Shining.

This cult is known as the True Knot, and is led by malevolent Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson). About as nightmarish as evil cults get, the group travels across the country, keeping a low profile to hide the fact that some of them have kept themselves alive for centuries by kidnapping and harvesting life essence from young psychics. Each one of its members has their own unique terrifying trait, usually adopted due to some aspect of their physical appearance. This includes Apron Annie, played by Anduze. Although she is more of a background member of the ensemble, she's vital to the real terror of the True Knot, which is that they travel and operate as a pack.

Those are just a few of the places where you may have seen Selena Anduze, aka Agent Rodriguez from episode 4 of WandaVision before.

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