Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight is just a few days away, and it also happens to be Ethan Hawke’s first superhero project. Hawke will portray Arthur Harrow, a cult leader and devout follower of the Egyptian goddess, Ammit. As witnessed in recent trailers, Harrow has real supernatural power. However, Hawke took some of his inspiration from real spiritual figures, especially when pitching Marvel on how the show should introduce Harrow. Ethan Hawke teases.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hawke explained how he came up with Harrow’s first scene on the show. He also praised Marvel for being so open to his ideas.
“I went to the directors and said, ‘If you were looking at a really good comic book, there’s usually one full-page drawing of the villain,'” recalled Hawke. “So I was like, ‘What would the full-page drawing be that introduces Harrow? What is his secret that you want to let the audience in on?’ And then they turned it back on me and said, ‘Well, would you tell us what you think it is?'”
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“I was always hypnotized by deeply spiritual people who were self-lacerating,” added Hawke. “You hear stories about all these saints and how they would wear hair shirts or whip themselves. So I always was like, ‘I thought we were supposed to love each other and be kind. What is all this self-immolation? What is that about?’ I had this vision of him pouring glass in his shoes and listening to Bob Dylan. And then I explained that to them, and they were like, ‘Let’s do that!’ And I was like, ‘Alright!’ But that’s how that came about, and I’ll be curious how Billy Bob [Thornton] came up with that in Sling Blade. Mine was more inspired by … I don’t know. I guess I was probably reading too much Flannery O’Connor.”
“That opening scene is a great example of [Marvel] using your creativity to help get you to invest in the show and to come up with original ideas,” continued Hawke. “I was really impressed by that. Oscar [Isaac] poured himself into this part. At one point when Oscar and I were rehearsing, I said to him, ‘You realize that they’re being so kind? They believe in us so much that if this doesn’t work, it’s our fault. We can’t blame anybody.’ (Laughs.) But that’s really empowering as a performer. Yes, you have to work in their kitchen, but they’re going to let you work.”
Moon Knight will premiere on Disney+ on Wednesday, March 30.
Are you looking forward to seeing what Ethan Hawke does with the role of Arthur Harrow on Moon Knight? Let us know in the comment section below!
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