It seems like everything important happening to Liza Colón-Zayas when it comes to Spider-Man: Brand New Day takes place over the phone. A phone call is how she got the part of Jean DeWolff, the police detective who becomes Spider-Man’s closest ally during his years of single-minded devotion to the job. Phone call scenes were the majority of Colón-Zayas’ scenes with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, who would frequently ring her up to chat crime statistics and his strange headaches. And a phone call is how I interviewed Colón-Zayas to chat about her scene-stealing performance as DeWolff in Brand New Day. “I don't think I've ever had so many phone confrontations in any other work!” Colón-Zayas tells Inverse, on a break from her production schedule.The Emmy-winning actress best known for her role as the cynical line cook-turned-professional chef Tina in The Bear reveals that she didn’t audition for the part of the friendly detective, but received a call inviting her to a Zoom meeting with director Destin Daniel Cretton. “We set that up, and I didn't really have any expectations at all. So I was really relaxed,” Colón-Zayas says. A few weeks went by, and Colón-Zayas hadn’t heard anything, so she assumed that she didn’t get the part. “And then the call came in that I was offered this role — and I didn't know anything about it.”She got a crash course on the character from her son DJ, a “massive Spider-Man fan.” Jean DeWolff is a longtime ally of Spider-Man, often described as the Commissioner Gordon to Spider-Man’s Batman. Usually depicted as a younger, leggy blonde woman, she’s got a strained relationship with her father and some ties to various Spider-Man villains, but there wasn’t much else for Colón-Zayas to go on. “She's very stylish, shoulder pad, angular, blonde. But at the core, we're both strong, determined, and caring...scrappy and courageous,” Colón-Zayas says. “And I think that basically Destin was just wanting me to be me. He didn't want me to try to imitate anything else, just to be myself.”Inverse spoke with Colón-Zayas about bringing Jean DeWolff off the page, the scene that she was glad was cut from the movie, and what spinoff she would love to star in with Jon Bernthal’s Punisher and Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s The Thing.Tom Holland and Liza Colón-Zayas. | Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty ImagesThe opening montage of Brand New Day does such a great job of establishing DeWolff and her and Peter's working relationship. What was the biggest challenge in introducing a character that was supposed to feel like they were already established and part of this world?Well, one of the big challenges is the scripts are kept locked up pretty tight. So I just had to trust Destin and to just be myself. And that's what I did. I had to go in there. I'm a theater actor for many years, and you get the script, then you work on it, and you do all of your. There wasn't really a whole lot of that that I could do because I didn't have the script. So it was easy, though in terms of the dynamic, the caring, the playfulness, to build that with Tom, because he's genuinely so lovable. He's just such a sweetheart, a decent, generous human from day one. So it wasn't hard. And they're both so open to any ideas, to any vibe.Were there any sequences that you shot for the film, especially for that montage, that didn't make it the final cut, that you wish did?There was only one that got cut and I was glad it did. It was when Dr. Banner is being led into the ambulance, and it was raining, and it's outside. There was this rain machine, and I was soaking, me and Tom were soaking, soaking, soaking wet. But he has the mask, so you can't really see. But my hair, I looked like a wet chicken. My eyelashes all kept getting stuck. I was blinking like crazy. And so thankfully it wasn't a whole lot of necessary information. It was just like a check-in. So I'm glad that that was not there.Your dynamic with Tom is so great, even though you mostly speak either through the phone or when he's masked in some way. How did you establish that ease of interaction and easy chemistry right off the bat?Well, I don't think I've ever had so many phone confrontations in any other work. So this was a good practice, but he wanted to be nearby. So he was always just a few feet away while we were having our phone calls.So that we could have that genuine connection so that we feel it. So it's not like I was in a studio somewhere. We were nearby each other for the phone calls. And then with the mask, that was challenging, I will say, because I got to really stare into those screens for my eyes to adjust to where his eyes are. So that took some adjustment, but he'll listen to whatever I need. At first I was nervous and then time after time proved to not be so hard because of the people I was working with.Destin Daniel Cretton and Tom Holland on the set of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. | Sony PicturesI really like how your DeWolff adopts a maternal kind of role to Spider-Man because you look so young. Do you think DeWolff clocks early on that he's still pretty young despite never really knowing who he is?Oh, absolutely. She's a mom, and I think that she genuinely sees it. Am I ambitious? Do I appreciate having a superhero help me track down bad guys? Sure. But I think that she's equally cares about his well-being. And I think that's a major theme in the whole film, how we can isolate and be on our devices and suffer from a lack of community. And so hopefully that's something that family, or made family, extended family, community, I hope that that's something that continues to resonate with the audiences.So DeWolff is considered the Commissioner Gordon to Spider-Man. How do you navigate that type of character and make it feel like you're doing more than just Jim Gordon?It really didn't come up a whole lot, that kind of stuff, because the movies don't 100% align with the comics. So my main focus, and Destin's as well, was to play the truth of what was happening in the moment. My husband's a retired cop, so I would ask him questions about how I would approach a suspect or whatever. But I would find that on the day things would adjust. So I just had to be really fluid and not locked into some other whatever, some pre-planned thing that I had locked in my head. Just had to let it go.So did your theater background help a lot with this role, then?I think my theater background helps in every role. I would say the only thing that I had never prepared for in theater was weapons training. So this is the first time, even though ultimately I ended up not having to use a weapon at all, which is great. But also it was a little exciting to have that training, just to get the sense of it. I think most actors overall, unless you're a super brilliant genius, benefit from the training of working in theater — how to break down a script, how to break down beats, how to move your body depending in a space. All of the things that go into rehearsals. And then on the screen it gets reduced, but hopefully you have those instincts still bubbling in your core.Jean DeWolff inspects the scene. | Sony PicturesI'm curious, how much of DeWolff’s backstory did you develop on your own? Because not a lot of it will get to make it on screen, but obviously it helps with the performance of it.Because the script was being changed in real time, it felt like a trust exercise. When you throw yourself backward and then you hope your friends are there to catch you, that's kind of what it felt like. And I just surrendered to it because even the comic books, or at least the ones I had, didn't have a whole lot of detail about how DeWolff and Spider-Man grew to trust each other. [In] the film, we're already in the midst of it. So I just trusted the text as I got it, as it came through. Yeah, I read the stories about the dad and the this and that. But ultimately, it's about this strong woman in authority who has integrity and cares. And that's what I leaned into.You don't share many scenes with him, but did you work with Jon Bernthal on The Bear. Did being in the same production together help with making that trust exercise aspect of the production easier?I don't know. Honestly, I don't think we ever ran into each other on set because [I’m] completely separated from that world. DeWolff shows up after the destruction and the mayhem. But we got to see each other a couple of times and catch up, and that was nice. Jon, he's just amazing, and I really respect him. And he looks so scary, but he's a sweetheart. It was nice to just meet up in London a couple of random times. But no, we didn't run into each other on set.I don't know if you've seen, but there's this meme of the two of you. There's a scene of you two from The Bear, and the meme says something like Jon Bernthal and Liza preparing to co-parent Spider-Man.I haven't seen it. I love that. No, I saw a different one where somebody posted a picture of the two of us at The Bear having that conversation. And then someone else came up with an idea that we should have a sequel of The Punisher, DeWolff, and Cousin Richie, The Thing, opening their own sandwich shop.I would watch that!I would jump on that in a heartbeat. That would be fun.Liza Colón-Zayas on The Bear. | FX on HukuSo do you think we'll see DeWolff in another Spider-Man movie or another Marvel movie maybe? Everything takes place in New York in the MCU, so you're cross paths maybe with The Thing after all.I would love that, but I don't know. These are the most highest guarded secrets. I would love to. I'm hoping that there's more for DeWolff. I read the comics. I'm aware of some things, but I have no information about what's going to happen in the future or when. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.Yeah. I would love to see DeWolff in more future Marvel projects. Maybe on the TV side, because Punisher's hanging out over there too.That would be great, right?Spider-Man: Brand New Day is just doing amazing at the box office. People are just so happy to have another Spider-Man movie. What do you think it is about Spider-Man that has made him so enduring and beloved as a cinematic hero?Well, I can't speak to all of the past and everything leading up to this. I'll say that with this film, yes, it's beautifully put together, but I think it's the story. It's so personal. And I think that we all relate. I think, yes, as much as we want to see all of the special effects and superhero stuff, I think that audiences really are eating up what he's going through personally and how it's universal. Superheroes go through it. And seeing that is something that I think audiences are really appreciating. And the writing on this level is special. I think that what Destin did is phenomenal, and I love him. I think he's the best. So I hope more of this and more Destin.Spider-Man: Brand New Day is playing now in theaters.