Actor Ethan Hawke Talks Marvel’s ‘Moon Knight’

Ethan Hawke plays Arthur Harrow in Marvel's 'Moon Knight' on Disney+.

Premiering March 30th on Disney+ is the new six-part Marvel TV series ‘Moon Knight,’ which is based on the popular comic book character.

The series follows Oscar Isaac (‘Dune’) as Marc Spector, a mercenary with dissociative identity disorder. One of his multiple identities, Steven Grant is thrown into a mystery involving Egyptian gods and Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), a religious zealot and cult leader.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with four-time Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke (‘Training Day’) about his work on ‘Moon Knight’ and joining the Marvel Universe.

You can read our full interview with Ethan Hawke below, or watch a video of our interviews with Hawke, actress May Calamawy (Layla El-Faouly), executive producer Grant Curtis, and directors Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, and Mohamed Diab by clicking on the player above.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your experience joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe and watching how Kevin Feige and his team create these huge projects?

Ethan Hawke: Well, as a guy who basically grew up in independent cinema, I was a little blown away to see all the equipment. I mean, to see all the toys. When they want a crane shot, they got four cranes. You want a better crane shot? We got bigger. Do you want a helicopter shot? Let's get the chopper. You want a pyramid? Let's build one. You want a hospital? Let's build one. You want Cairo? Let's build it. In the independent cinema, it's like, "No. No crane shots, no Cairo, no pyramids. We're going to shoot it in the basement and talk about it."

Ethan Hawke as Arthur Harrow in Marvel Studios' 'Moon Knight.' Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

MF: I understand that you used some interesting real-life inspiration for playing your character, Arthur Harrow. Can you talk about your character and you approach to playing him?

EH: Yeah, because we're in new terrain here, most people don't know Moon Knight. There isn't a definitive Moon Knight villain that I have to hit certain notes. It could be its own thing. As I got to know Oscar better and what he was doing, he was taking the mental illness aspect of the character so seriously and studying dissociative identity disorder. He was so interested in what that was, and he was talking a lot about the dream landscape and the power of symbols.

I started thinking about Carl Jung and all his dream teachings and how, in a lot of ways, that could work well with superheroes because there's a dream aspect to them. They do seem to work in myths and icons. I started reading Carl Jung, and I started thinking, "Oh, if my character could be like a cross between a monk and Carl Jung, I could be the different aspect in it." I mean, as this series continues, you really start to see that the Moon Knight himself doesn't understand reality, and so he's not sure if my character is really a supervillain.

(L to R) Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke in Marvel Studios' 'Moon Knight,' exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Csaba Aknay. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

MF: Finally, what was it like for you to work with Oscar Isaac and create the unique relationship between your two characters?

EH: Well, that's the thing, heroes and villains. Right? You can't have one without the other. There is no hero without a villain. So, I had to be a counterpoint. If he was going to really play somebody deeply unbalanced, well, the counterpoint would be to find somebody who is incredibly balanced and to try to always be moving left when he moves right. If he's going to be the moon, inconstant and changing, I needed to be the sun, penetrating and even. That was my thought.

'Moon Knight' premieres on Disney+ beginning March 30th.