Moon Knight cast and creators discuss filming on location in the desert, creating the Moon Knight & Mr. Knight suits, and more in this interview.
During the Moon Knight press conference, the cast and creators dove into filming on location and creating the Moon Knight and Mr. Knight suits. It was also confirmed that Ethan Hawke signed on to Moon Knight without reading the script — the first time he has done this in 35 years. Oscar Isaac also explained what it was like to play opposite himself.
Participating Talent
- Oscar Isaac
- Ethan Hawke
- May Calamawy
- Mohamed Diab (Director of episodes 1, 3, 5 and 6)
- Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead (Directors of episodes 2 and 4)
- Grant Curtis (Executive Producer)
Filming On Location
Moon Knight actually filmed in the desert, on location, something that the entire team is thrilled about. Ethan Hawke recalls just how incredible it was to be on the deserts in Jordan and literally being on location where Lawrence of Arabia was shot.
“One of the things that surprised me about the Marvel Universe is that it’s kind of fun acting in front of a lot of green screens. I come from a theatre training. I enjoyed all that, pretending something was there, pretending you’re on top of a pyramid. But then when you’re really in the desert, it’s so beautiful and you feel — I don’t know, I felt some kind of connection to the cinema history of the desert. And the people there in Jordan treated us so well, and it elevated our collective imagination, and it broadened the scope of the show. So I loved being there.” – Ethan Hawke
Director Aaron Moorhead adds that on day three of working on the Moon Knight series, while scouting locations, the driver points out the Dead Sea as they were blasting through the Jordanian desert. That is when he realized how much he had mythologized the Dead Sea as this place that he was never going to get to see. He knew it existed, of course, but he never expected to be there and actually see it with his own eyes. Moorhead actually started tearing up while looking at it. “I’m just from Florida. I never thought I’d ever see the Dead Sea. Incredible.
Director Justin Benson contributes another fun fact about filming on location for Moon Knight, and that in a way he wouldn’t exist if it was not for the Jordanian desert. Everything came full circle for him as he was standing there because his parents met at a David Lane film.
Learning From Oscar Isaac
May Calamawy is fairly new to the acting world, and her character Layla has a different relationship with Steven Grant than she does Marc Spector, both of which are played by Oscar Isaac. When asked about what this dynamic on set was like, she says that Oscar was a big acting teacher for her all throughout filming. She says that on set he very much was these two different people, and these two different characters. She wouldn’t even have to ask him who he was playing, because it was just so obvious with him.
“With Marc, I would find myself more guarded. With Steven, I’d feel more nurturing. And there was no intellect or thought process involved in it. It was just visceral, and it was so fun to work with [Oscar] and experience that.” – May Calamawy
A Women In A Male Centric Story
When asked about her character Layla, and how she wanted to see her grow, May didn’t even have a change to answer before Ethan Hawke jumped in to express how incredible she was in fighting for this character. He explains that it was a very male driven rehearsal room, and she was fighting for Layla all the time. “My favorite thing about watching it was watching you ask questions, keep pushing, keep trying to make her a three-dimensional person. And it was challenging because it’s a male-driven story.”
While she agrees that she was pushing to learn more about her character, she also feels very lucky that the whole cast was fighting for Layla right alongside her. Being new to the whole process and industry, she wasn’t sure if she was going to be in a space where she was allowed to contribute, and to collaborate, so being able to was refreshing. May says she learned from both Hawke and Isaac to throw out ideas when she had them, and if it doesn’t work, they will just go in a different direction. She felt very heard on the set and in the rehearsal room.
“Everyone was empowering. The main thing with Layla, I didn’t have this idea to pull from of this woman — without giving any spoilers — and it was just really important to me that as someone who’s grown up in the Middle East that the more I take from myself, the better — the easier it became. I wanted to find a story that would work with someone who had a similar conditioning, who would deal with situations a certain way. What would that look like for someone raised there versus someone raised in the West?” – May Calamawy
Creating The Suits
There are two very iconic looks from Marvel comic books that fans will see in Moon Knight. That is Moon Knight’s suit, and also Mr. Knight, which is a completely different suit. Executive Producer Grant Curtis explains that when bringing in a team to translate the looks from page to screen, it really is the best idea wins. For this show the best idea was bringing in both the Mr. Knight and the Moon Knight costumes.
“It was an investigation and a collaboration.” says Oscar Isaac, “I think that was what was so exciting.” He goes on to explain that there was a moment when Marc was Mr. Knight and Steven was Moon Knight. But the more they talked about things and tried to connect it all, that switched.
“Meghan, our costume designer, she did such an astounding job taking it from a concept to something that I could wear, and move in, and fight in. The craftsmanship was just astonishing.” – Oscar Isaac
Director Mohamed Diab says that before Oscar came on, there was a suit that everyone felt was the best suit in the world. When Oscar joined the series, he had some comments about it. Right now, one of the main things that fans and viewers are talking about is how beautiful and different the suit is, and Diab says they owe that to collaboration. “You always think — why work with one mind when you can work with 50, you know? And it really showed in that suit. Everyone loves how different from all the other Marvel shows. It’s beautiful.”
NEXT: 5 Reasons You Should Be Excited For Moon Knight
About Moon Knight
The series follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, who becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life. Steven discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt.
“Moon Knight” stars Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke and May Calamawy. Mohamed Diab and the team of Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead directed the episodes. Jeremy Slater is the head writer, and Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Mohamed Diab, Jeremy Slater and Oscar Isaac are the executive producers. Grant Curtis, Trevor Waterson and Rebecca Kirsch serve as co-executive producers.
Moon Knight streams exclusively on Disney+ starting March 30th.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.