Though Ethan Hawke was Mohamed Diab’s first choice to play the terrifying Arthur Harrow in Moon Knight, the actor has revealed that his daughter Maya convinced him to make the final push and sign up for the role.
Apparently, Ethan Hawke was initially reluctant to take on the role, given that it was a Marvel Studios production. Knowing that the hyper-linked expansive continuity of MCU would probably put Hawke under certain limitations in his approach to the character, Hawke probably wanted to stay away from the massive production. However, his daughter Maya stepped in and advised him to experiment with the project and bring his unique fashion into the franchise.
In a recent interview with IndieWire, Hawke revealed how Maya, famous for portraying Robin in Stranger Things among many other projects, convinced the actor to play Harrow. He said,
Maya would say to me, ‘Why are you sitting on the outside and telling everyone their sandbox is bad? Why don’t you go into their sandbox, play with them, and show them what you have to offer?’
Ethan Hawke has been known for his sheer resilience toward indie cinema, which has allowed him to portray versatile characters and experiment with his skills on-screen while bringing those characters to life. This year, Ethan Hawke’s other films, Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone and Robert Eggers’ The Northman, featured him in off-beat roles. And thanks to Maya, he was able to bring a fresh approach to Harrow as well.
Moreover, Mohamed Diab’s idea to not make Moon Knight an evident pool of references to the rest of the MCU also made it possible to create characters who possess distinct traits and individualities.
Ethan Hawke Brought Oscar Isaac Into Maya’s Advice
Once Ethan Hawke was convinced by his daughter, he followed up with Isaac with her advice. He asked Isaac to join him in the process of finding unique voices for their respective characters and be a part of the experiment with him. Later, both Isaac and Ethan Hawke worked on rehearsals to perfect their roles. Commenting on that experience, Hawke stated,
I said to Oscar Isaac, ‘We’ve got to go play in Marvel’s sandbox and try to do what we do. We don’t have to change Marvel. We just want to show them what we’re capable of doing and see if they find it interesting.’ So we had a lot of rehearsals and worked on things a lot. We had a really good experience.”
Ethan further signed on to Moon Knight without a script and worked with director Mohamed Diab to shape his character gradually throughout the production. Moon Knight became one of the MCU’s highest-rated and most viewed shows, with Hawke getting outstanding praise for his performance.
Arthur Harrow’s fate in the show has been left on a possible cliffhanger. Though it’s suggested that Harrow didn’t make it in the end, maybe, the last of the occultist is yet to be seen. Until then, as fans, we definitely won’t mind Hawke continuing with his enthralling indie performances.