From Daredevil to Emerald City, Vincent D’Onofrio has become quite the genre TV fixture. We spoke with him about his role as Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin, and his plans to once again wage war for the soul of Hell’s Kitchen…
Going back to the first season of Daredevil, you gave the audience an introduction to Wilson Fisk that they perhaps wouldn’t expect from character as we know him from the comics.
That first season – the writing is amazing! Every time they delivered a script to me, I could not wait to crack it open.
The gallery scene was actually the first scene we shot. We were called to this office, where it was very secretive as you’d expect from Marvel, and on the table there was a speaker system from which we hear this voice ask, “Can you guys give us an example of how you are going to approach today’s work?”
I’d never had that kind of conversation before, and I’ve been acting for over 30 years!
I look at the couple of the people in the room, and I look at Ayelet Zurer, who plays Vanessa, and I say, “Ayelet and I are going to go on set, we are going to look at each other and we are going to connect in a really human way with each other and let the dialogue come though that process.” There was a long silence, and that was the end of the conversation – it was awesome! It was really quite something that they would let me give an answer like that and consider it in a ‘real’ way.
The reason those shows are so good is because of Marvel and Netflix’s approach and because of the writing – all of us just rise to the occasion.
How have you found being thrown into the deep end of all things ‘Marvel’?
[Laughs] All that stuff is wonderful, and I love it. There’s no question that Robert Downey Jr, for example, isn’t a legitimate, incredibly wonderful and talented actor, and has been one for many years, It’s people like Robert who, whether it’s Marvel or DC, have made these worlds legit. Marvel are just knocking this stuff out of the park and to get involved in this stuff is a great thing because its just fun, all the time.
What can you tell us about Wilson Fisk’s future in the Netflix/Marvel universe? Will Wilson Fisk’s presence be felt in The Defenders?
I have to tell you that I can feel the coldness of a long-barrelled rifle aimed at my head [laughs]. The Defenders isn’t something that’s in the future right now, but I can tell you that Wilson Fisk will be back. Both Jeph Loeb and Charlie Cox have become friends of mine, and we all love Kingpin and we want to have him back, but the when and the where…I wish I knew so that I plan my year better.
Daredevil is available to watch on Netflix now. For all the latest TV news, pick up the new issue of SciFiNow.
