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Daredevil’s Charlie Cox tells us how he stepped into the dark side for season 3

Cape Town – Charlie Cox is a classically trained British actor who has a long and illustrious career including a West End debut in Harold Pinter's The Collection at the Ambassadors Theatre in London, but he is most well-known by superhero fans, around the world, as Daredevil. 

His starring role as blind lawyer Matt Murdoch (and his daring superhero alter-ego) started off the uber successful Netflix Marvel universe which later spawned versions of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Punisher that leapt off the page and into viewer’s hearts. 

Following their individual seasons Jessica, Luke, Danny Rand (Iron Fist) and Daredevil all banded together for the first season of The Defenders to fight an epic foe in a battle that left them all forever changed. 

This is the point at which season 3 of Daredevil picks up. 

The new episodes all dropped on Friday, 19 October and in the lead up to the release Channel24 spoke to Charlie about playing a darker, more reckless version of Matt Murdoch than we have ever seen before. 

HERE’S CHANNEL24’S INTERVIEW WITH CHARLIE COX: 

Daredevil

For fans expecting to step back into a world and character they know, Charlie cautions that the Matt we meet at the start of season 3 isn’t the Matt we have come to know and love over the years, saying; "At the end of The Defenders a building fell on Matt and he lost one of the loves of his life for a second time. 

"So, at the beginning of season three of Daredevil, when we pick up with Matt again, he is a pretty broken man. Not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well."

The 35-year-old added that Matt has lost more than love, he has lost his ability to be his alter-ego, which is compounding his woes, explaining; "The first major progression that has taken place is that (initially) he has lost his ability to function as Daredevil, because he is deaf in his right ear. 

"That hearing loss has made him not only very confused but also very angry and very frustrated. He directs a lot of that anger towards God because he doesn’t understand why God would give him these abilities if he was going to take them away. 

"So that anger makes him very reckless and cold and dangerous in the beginning of this season. You feel like he’s very unhinged and you’re not sure of what he’s capable of doing."

Daredevil

When asked how mentally taxing it must be to play such a dark and broken character Charlie lights up and says; "It’s a fun challenge, because it is such a varied state of mind to play with.  But – as the actor doing it – it can be quite draining (laughs). To live with that kind of mentality, for so long."

The physical challenges of playing a man who flings himself into harm’s way on a daily basis is also something the British actor weighed in on saying how he relates to it; "I have had those experiences, well not to that extent obviously, but as a younger man I played a lot of sport and I played quite competitively and it’s difficult when you get injured. 

"Because you’re so desperate to get back on your feet and recover and you’re very frustrated with your body. You’re also angry at the world because it happened. And what ends up happening is that you push yourself more than you should because you don’t want to give yourself enough time to heal. 

"In that situation you’re impatient with yourself and your body and I just relate to that. This is a much more intense experience that he’s going through but I could use my own experience of that and then imagine what it would be like if it was ten times as bad."

Daredevil

Netflix’s Daredevil has been streaming since 2015 and is the leader of The Defenders in a lot of ways. When thinking about which one of the superhero group are Daredevil’s favourite to work with, Charlie gave a fast and easy answer saying; "I think Matt’s favourite character is Jessica Jones. I think that they respect each other a lot. They admire the way each other operate, both of them are quite single minded and opinionated. 

"They’re both quite strong characters. And you know, that relationship can go two ways, but I think they end up admiring each other and enjoying how the other one does business. 

"And that made it a really fun relationship to explore when we were filming the show."

The Defenders

Charlie is more than just well-rounded actor, he also uses his popularity for good and has recently signed on with an organisation called Sight Savers.

A charity closely related to his character Matt (who wears iconic crimson sunglasses in the show); "I’m just at the beginning of my affiliation with them, we’re just having discussions around trying to plan a trip or some other kind of meaningful involvement. 

"I got involved with them because the last few years they have been doing this auction where they auction off celebrity sunglasses and obviously I am good candidate for that because of all the role that I play. 

"And so, they reached out to me about increasing my involvement, so we’re trying to plot a trip somewhere and being on the ground with them."

HERE'S MORE ABOUT THE CHARITY: 

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