Ethan Hawke has said he signed up for Marvel’s Moon Knight to put “food on the table”.
The actor, who played religious zealot Arthur Harrow in the Disney+ series, was asked about starring in the show as he finished work directing documentary series The Last Movie Stars, which followed the lives and careers of Paul Newman and wife Joanne Woodward.
Speaking to Insider, Hawke explained his decision to accept Moon Knight was inspired by Newman, believing that’s what he would have done.
“I remember I was sitting at my dinner table and I had just been offered Moon Knight and I was trying to decide whether to do that or not,” Hawke said. “And my youngest, Indiana, who was 10 at the time, said, ‘Well, Dad, what would Paul do?’”
Newman is known for roles in classics like Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid and The Hustler, although he starred in some blockbusters, like The Towering Inferno, later in his career.
“Do I think he admired blockbusters and superhero movies? No, I don’t,” Hawke said about Newman. “He hated doing Towering Inferno. That was his idea of a giant sellout. You see him in physical pain in that movie.”
He added: “But, it’s still a job. You still have to put food on the table.
“I am an actor. That is how I pay my kids’ medical bills, that’s how I put a roof over our heads. And my job is not to change the world and make it the perfect place. My job is to do good work to the best of my ability. So we all decided, ‘I think you should do it.’ And I’m glad I did.”
Alongside Hawke, Moon Knight starred Oscar Isaac as the titular hero, who suffers from a dissociative identity disorder which splits his personality between characters Steven Grant and Marc Spector.
In a five-star review, NME wrote: “With Moon Knight, they’ve finally hit on the perfect formula. It’s a series that never looks like anything less than a huge summer blockbuster, but one that isn’t afraid to fill six hours instead of two.
“Always pushing into unexpected places and never afraid to head into the dark, it’s a grandstand character-piece dressed up as a swashbuckler with at least a couple of the roles Isaac was born to play.”
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