Naomi: Kaci Walfall on her first superhero fight, that kiss

Warning: This article contains spoilers from Naomi season 1 episode 4, "Enigma."

Kaci Walfall's Naomi McDuffie had a number of firsts in Naomi's latest episode. Not only did she find out where she's likely from, but she had her first real superhero fight.

In Tuesday's episode, titled "Enigma," Naomi (Walfall) acquired the mysterious disc from Zumbado (Cranston Johnson), which produced coordinates that led her to a street in Portland. There, she encountered Akira (Stephanie March), Zumbado's enigmatic contact from episode 3, who reveals that all of three of them are from Earth-29.

Unfortunately, activating the disc, along with Naomi's burgeoning powers, lures a bounty hunter searching for her to Port Oswego. The speedy killer attacks her one night at school, and she barely makes it out alive, thanks to Dee (Alexander Wraith). In the fallout of the battle, Naomi finally chooses between her three love interests and kisses her ex-boyfriend Nathan (Daniel Puig) in the episode's final moments.

After screening the episode, EW hopped on the phone with Walfall to discuss the big fight, kiss, and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How does Naomi finding out she's from Earth-29 affect her moving forward?

KACI WALFALL: Yeah, I mean, through the first three episodes, Naomi's asking a lot of questions and no one's giving her answers. So it's really nice when Akira tells her [that]. Even though she doesn't know who she is, it helps Naomi in a way. And she's able to find out where she really is from, and that's really special to her.

How does she handle Akira's warning about Zumbado?

Naomi has a very strong point of view on Zumbado. You see that Naomi loves everyone that she's surrounded with, but he's the only person in the town that she doesn't like. And that's a strong, strong point of view. So I think when Akira says, "Are you working for him?" she's like, "Absolutely not." But when she says stay away from Zumbado, it's a little bit more applied pressure to that hate she has.

Dee's dinner with Naomi's parents was pretty tense, and I can understand why Jennifer (Mouzam Makkar) and Greg (Barry Watson) are so wary of a stranger training their daughter. Where does that dynamic go from here?

It's so funny because in the pilot, Naomi asks like, "Do you guys know the tattoo shop guy?" And they're like, "We have no idea who he is." And then they have this conversation at the table and it really introduces them together. I think that it's an interesting dynamic. I think that they're both a part of Naomi's team, so they are going to have to reunite. They're definitely not the best of friends as we can see at this table. So tension does build, but I think that it's good tension because they both have Naomi's best interest at heart.

Obviously Greg has a military background. Does he take any part in her training?

I mean, not really. I think Naomi loves to keep her home life, her home life and then her alien life, her alien life. I think especially in this episode. In the pilot, she comes off so confident, everyone loves her, and that she doesn't have as many insecurities as you think she would. And I think in this episode you see that she is the people pleaser. She's going to do what other people want her to do to make them happy. And it may not be [in] her best interests for herself. And she has trouble being vulnerable, and she has a fear in that, which is why she puts on this confident façade all the time. Although these people have her best interest at heart, she's going to want to keep the two separate for her own sanity.

I loved watching Naomi and her friends go through the escape room so they could use a Turing machine to decode the disc. Was the escape room sequence as much fun to shoot as it was to watch?

Yeah. It's always so fun shooting with the younger cast because I get along with everyone [in the cast], but we all get along. So it was almost like we were playing the escape room. Of course, Naomi is super serious and she has another intention, so I always have to refocus, but it was a lot of fun. I didn't expect [them to build] like a whole escape room set, and I don't know why I didn't expect it to be so intricate and like a real escape room. But it was a lot of fun. And I remember we were just laughing that day and that was one of the most fun scenes to shoot in that episode.

Have you guys done anything similar as a group off set?

Oh yes. The boys, a.k.a. Aidan [Gemme], Daniel and Will [Meyers], rock climb all the time. It's their thing. They have invited us to go several times and I went for the first time a couple weeks ago with Camila [Moreno]. Mary-Charles [Jones] hasn't gone yet, but that was super duper fun. We've hung out on the weekends [before]. We went to an Atlanta United Soccer game, which was like a whole experience, but [rock climbing] was super fun because it took us out of work and it was something so polar opposite of work. I don't even think we really talked about it that day, but it's really good to get to know them because they're all just very good people. Everyone is good people. So, I'm grateful to be surrounded by them.

Naomi has her first superhero fight in this episode. What was it like shooting that scene and did you do anything special to prepare?

I remember when [showrunner/executive producer] Jill Blankenship told me about the script, she was like, "This is the first big fight for Naomi and Dee." I like to go back into scripts too, especially to see what Dee says, because I think it plays a part. He says, "Control your emotions, control your powers." She can't control her emotions. You see that throughout the series and when she finally gets her grasp on that, then she's able to do what she's supposed to do, but she can't control her emotions [yet in episode 4] because she's scared. It goes down to the thing of like, she's a 16-year-old girl. So, her having this encounter with this guy is scary.

So when it came down to [preparing], I'm 17 [in real life], so I work only 10 and a half hours a day. So, you know, that was the last scene that we did that day on the field (we did the other part, on the set.) And sometimes there can be sort of a time crunch. I remember just having to focus the most that I can and give it my all in the time that was allotted. So, I do a lot of preparation, a lot of script work. I go to drama school, so I'm always based in that. But you know, it's all about just feeling. You do all this visible work so that it can be invisible on the screen and you can be present. So, I had a great time with the director Neema Barnette and I'm excited to see that scene.

How does this fight with the bounty hunter affect her moving forward?

It really does affect her because she had no idea that Dee was going to come. So I think she thought she was going to die. And that was very scary. She doesn't know enough yet and she's never been encountered like that. We see Naomi, especially in the pilot, living this great, happy life. She's happy, her parents are happy, her friends are happy, and her life just takes a huge turn. None of it is her choice. I will definitely tell you, it does affect her brain and her confidence a lot after that encounter.

Is it a matter of her truly realizing how high the stakes are?

I think in episode 4, yes and no. So I think that [it's] more the stress is coming out of no one giving her the correct answer and no one telling her what she needs to know more than it's like [her worrying], "Someone's coming for me, I need to brace myself for this big fight." It's more about uncovering who she is and every episode of discovering new powers.

Naomi has three love interests, but this episode ends with her appearing to pick Nathan. How did you feel about that development?

As Kaci, I don't think I have a favorite, but I love working with all the actors playing love interests. When I got the call from Jill [about Naomi and Nathan's kiss], I was like, "Oh wow" because he is her ex and you know, Anthony, that was done in episode 2, but then you also have Lourdes. Naomi and Lourdes are little flirtatious in episode 3. But with all these choices that are being made for her — like she didn't choose to find out that she was an alien and she didn't choose for the Superman day to happen — this is a choice that she's making and there's power in that.

I haven't seen the final cut, but I think there was a scene we shot where Nathan is one of the only people who can really see her. She puts on this confident façade, but Nathan's the only person that can really see through her and she can be vulnerable in front of. And I think that's especially what she needs when everyone's looking to her for this power. So I think that, in the field is Naomi reclaiming her power in a sense.

What can you tease about what's coming down the pike?

Although Naomi has this great superhero power, she generally just wants to have a normal life. And I think that, these friendships and these relationships allow for normal life. But I also think with having three love interests, Naomi also doesn't want to upset any of them. She loves them as friends. But you know, it's high school, people are going to find out things and some people may be super excited and some people may not be super excited about this relationship, but I think that it's fun to see how that relationship, specifically in characters' opinions on it, grows throughout the series.

Naomi returns Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 9 p.m. on The CW.

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Naomi star Kaci Walfall breaks down her first superhero fight and that kiss

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