Ethan Hawke Took An Unusual Risk When He Signed Onto Moon Knight

Disney +'s "Moon Knight" will add a fresh chapter to Disney's ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe saga when it is released on March 30, 2022. It will tell the tale of Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac) a seemingly mild-mannered gift shop worker whose sleep is plagued by regular nightmares. It turns out those nightmares are evidence of Marc's double life as Moon Knight, a mercenary, and one of several personalities he undertakes due to dissociative identity disorder.

Isaac won't be alone in bringing Spector's exploits to the small screen. F. Murray Abraham will provide the voice of Khonshu, an Egyptian God. And Ethan Hawke will play Arthur Harrow, a cult leader and Spector's main nemesis. This will be actor/director Hawke's first time appearing in a superhero franchise, but taking on the part of Harrow presented a wholly different challenge to him. What sort of unusual risk did he brave to work on "Moon Knight?"

Via an exclusive presser attended by Looper, Hawke signed up to perform in "Moon Knight" without having seen a single script beforehand. 

Mohamed Diab, who directed the show's first, third, fifth and sixth episodes, explained, "we [Isaac and Diab] pitched him the idea, but I told him please don't read the script. Not that the script is bad, but when you work with him, you have to get from him — like I think Harrow is his son ... he told me that 'this was the first time in 35 years that I've signed something without reading a script.'"

The actor apparently had plenty of confidence in the people behind "Moon Knight," which encouraged him to take the role on. "In my whole experience, usually, when there's a huge budget there's a tremendous amount of fear, and the people in charge are incredibly controlling, and creativity is reduced " Hawke said. He declared that Marvel and co-EP Grant Curtis provided him with the "opposite of that." "You guys have translated your success into confidence." Ergo, there was a "lot of playfulness, a lot of willingness to fail, a lot of willingness to have bad ideas because you can't find a good idea if you don't say some dumb ones" on the set. He lauded Isaac for his "huge passion to contribute" to the project, and he praised the actor's strong "hit" on both DID and Spector. "I felt so safe with Mohamed," Hawke added.

"Moral of the story? Never read the script," quipped Curtis.