Despite having a great relationship with Whedon, Richards said he still had to audition for the role of Mike Peterson for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Richards said even the Joss Whedon All-Stars have to fit the part in Whedons eyes.
One of the things I love about Joss is, while he is loyal to the actors hes worked with in the past, he never gives handouts, Richards said. Its always whats right with the story. So I had to audition and it entailed me doing a lot of things that no one had ever seen me do play a father
there were a lot of elements to the character that I didnt necessarily do on Angel.
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I felt like I just had to play this guy because theres a line in the pilot that was also in my audition where Mike says, I could be, you know? A hero, Richards said. That line just spoke to me so much because prior to doing Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I was out of work for 18 months. I was going to audition after audition after audition and I wasnt booking anything.
There was one particular day in those 18 months where I was working on an audition and I was working on it so hard and I kind of zoomed out from myself for a second and I said, Wow, you havent worked for so long, but youre still throwing yourself into this 100 percent as if you just started.
So when I read the audition scene for Mike Peterson and he said, I could be, you know? A hero, I just really understood that moment because I know what it feels like to have your back up against the wall and still believe in yourself so completely. Once I read that line, I really understood who the man was and from there it was just easy.
Enjoy!
She was back as her sweet self after being all quirky and badass as Root. 
