While most actors would consider themselves lucky to play a single character for any length of time, getting accustomed to one role can start to affect the way you approach others. Case in point: Charlie Cox, who thinks a habit picked up while portraying Marvel’s Daredevil may have cost him a shot at playing a young Han Solo.
According to ScreenCrush, the actor told THR that he has learned to avoid eye contact while playing a blind Matt Murdock (Daredevil’s alter ego), and that it has affected him during other auditions. Here’s a snippet of the interview:
“I had gone to an audition — one of those things that are super secretive and they don’t tell you, but I’m pretty sure it was for the Han Solo reboot — and halfway through it, the casting director stopped me and said, ‘Why aren’t you looking at me?’ I realized I had gotten into a habit of not making eye contact, because the only thing I had done for two years is play someone who is blind. I never got invited back, probably because they couldn’t figure out why I was acting like a complete idiot.”
While it’s easy to understand how Cox could have made the mistake, it’s also easy to understand why producers went another way. A character with the charisma of Solo needs to be able to look people dead in the eye … and then shoot them under the table before they can shoot him. #HanShotFirst
Alas, the role went to Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!), but Cox is keeping busy with an off-Broadway play called Incognito, in which he plays six separate characters — all of whom have 20/20 vision. “It’s been really fun to look people in the eye,” he said.
There’s still some question over when/if season 3 of Daredevil will happen, but if you’re itching to see the actor don his superhero duds, don’t fret. He will also take part in Netflix’s The Defenders, which sees Daredevil team with Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage to clean up New York City’s streets.
