Vincent D’Onofrio’s ‘Wild’ Journey to ‘Daredevil: Born Again’
March 4, 2025
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Vincent D’Onofrio of “Daredevil: Born Again” poses in the IMDb Official Portrait Studio at D23 2024 at Honda Center on August 09, 2024 in Anaheim, California. Vincent D’Onofrio of “Daredevil: Born Again” poses in the IMDb Official Portrait Studio at D23 2024 at Honda Center on August 09, 2024 in Anaheim, California. Corey Nickols/Getty Images for IMDb
“It’s not that difficult to return to it. It’s probably one of the easiest characters I’ve ever played.”
The path to get Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again made was a “wild” journey, says Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin, the supervillain at odds with Matt Murdock aka Daredevil (played by Charlie Cox), a lawyer by trade fighting for justice. “Any time you’re involved with a project that people are digging, you just feel like you owe them so much and it really inspires you to do a great job and to do the best you can.” After a ferocious campaign from fans, Disney+ brought the series back—initially a Netflix original from 2015 to 2018. Playing a dark character isn’t really about “a love for evil” for D’Onofrio, but “a love for interesting.” As he says: “Do you remember that show Three’s Company? At the end of all those shows, it was always just a big misunderstanding, and that’s how I like to think about how I approach parts that are so far from me…you have to love your character, and if it’s a well-written character you fall in love with it, and then I just think, this is just a big misunderstanding. I’m actually not what people think. That’s the only way.”
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Editor’s Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.
How does it feel to have this very vocal fan base built in and excited about this new iteration of Daredevil?
Well, first, I’d like to say that the fans over the last 10 years have always been very positive with Charlie and I and the whole cast of the original show that we’d had on Netflix, the original Daredevil show. And then the Daredevil organization was born. They went as far as to even do a billboard in Times Square. I mean, I think I’ve met everybody that actually started this little movement of theirs. But it was so helpful in making what’s happening now happen. So I just want to say that, as far as how do I feel about it? It’s wild. Any time you’re involved with a project that people are digging, you just feel like you owe them so much and it really inspires you to do a great job and to do the best you can. Charlie and I are very good friends, we have been for a long time now. And we both feel exactly the same about this kind of thing. The idea that this new trailer for Daredevil: Born Again got 12.4 million views in the first two days. I was told it’s the most-viewed Marvel trailer ever. And the absolute truth is that they still have to love the show. And so I can’t wait for them to see the show. That’s how it really makes me feel. I just feel like Charlie and I both put in so much work a year ago, we worked so hard to get it right, and the only reason we worked so hard to get it right was because we knew what the fans wanted. And so those are the feelings.
What is it like to return to this character in this new iteration of the show?
It’s not that difficult to return to it. It’s probably one of the easiest characters I’ve ever played when it comes to returning to it. The prep work for the character that I did originally, when it was first my character to play, that prep work is very internal stuff. A lot of the choices that I make come from events in my own life, which make each character very individual, because the different events in my life that I bring back up create a kind of emotional life, and then I act a character through that stuff. So [Wilson] Fisk has very specific choices that I make when I play him, and they’re all to do with my interior self. Once you become familiar with showing that side of yourself as I play the character, it’s pretty easy once you get back into it.
Charlie Cox (L) and Vincent D’Onofrio (R) in Daredevil: Born Again. Charlie Cox (L) and Vincent D’Onofrio (R) in Daredevil: Born Again. Disney
You’re such a great actor, and I’m sure you’re very nice, but you play evil and dark so well. So how do people respond to you?
People recognize me as Wilson Fisk or Kingpin, whatever you want to call him, all the time, and their reactions are always the same. When they’re adults, they speak about it like you’ve been speaking about it [evil, dark]. If they’re old enough to watch the show, because the show is pretty violent, when they’re in their early teens, their questions are very different. They want to know exactly how Charlie and I actually feel about each other in real life. Like, why do you hate him so much? [laughs] It’s that kind of thing. Which I also love, because they’re so into it that they really believe [it], and we tell them all the time that we’re good friends, we know each other’s families and stuff. But that’s fun. I like that.
You’ve now been with this character for 10 years. Considering the long list of characters you’ve played, which are all so different, do you ever worry about being typecast or staying with a character too long?
No. I never really thought about it that way. There’s probably particular characters that I’ve played throughout my career that I wouldn’t want to continue playing, just because it would be unhealthy, or I just don’t like the character, or just not liking the character enough to enjoy playing it again. This character of Kingpin is different. We’ve been very lucky that Marvel, and the boss over there at Marvel, Kevin [Feige], just treats us so well and treats our show so well. I feel like I’m still just sort of tapping into it, really. This character that I play is the kind of character you can put in any circumstance, and something crazy is going to happen because he’s such a broken lunatic, and I love him so much. But other characters, there’s some that I would like to play longer. Like I would like to play my [Law & Order] Criminal Intent character again someday, that would be nice.
Vincent D’Onofrio in Daredevil: Born Again. Vincent D’Onofrio in Daredevil: Born Again. Disney
Is it more fun to play someone less nice, let’s say, or evil, than maybe a romantic lead?
Well, I understand your question, but I need to adjust the question a little bit, because I’m not playing it to be evil. I’m not playing it to act evil. I’m playing a guy, yeah who has a different past than I have in real life. And so it’s my job to service the story in that way, to do the best I can at servicing what’s written. And so I enjoy the complications that it takes to play Wilson Fisk. It’s a great part. But it is complicated, and that’s what I enjoy. And that could be a nice guy or a bad guy. I approach them all the same way. So there’s not really a love for evil, but there’s a love for interesting.
Vincent D’Onofrio attends the Daredevil: Born Again red-carpet launch event at The Hudson Theater on February 24, 2025 in New York City. Vincent D’Onofrio attends the Daredevil: Born Again red-carpet launch event at The Hudson Theater on February 24, 2025 in New York City. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Disney
When you are playing a character with a dark side, how do you find that nugget of humanity?
It’s funny because, do you remember that show Three’s Company? Yeah. So at the end of all those shows, it was always just a big misunderstanding, and that’s how I like to think about how I approach parts that are so far from me. Like these evil parts that you’re talking about. I approach it in a way where, because you have to love your character—and if it’s a well-written character, you fall in love with it—and then I just think, this is just a big misunderstanding. I’m actually not what people think. That’s the only way.
Were you a comic book person growing up?
I wasn’t. I was a kid that spent a lot of time in his room, and I was very shy and very introverted, and there’s still a lot of those aspects left in me today. But I was extremely introverted. Music was one of the things that kept me busy. And early television. But comics, I had a few go-tos. I don’t know if it still happens these days, because the comics that I have these days don’t have it, but back then, when I was a kid, in the very last few pages, they would break in the middle of the comic, and they would advertise all these things you could send for, crazy X-ray glasses, spy pens that write invisible ink, stuff like that. I used to save up my lawn mower cash money that I got and sent for that stuff. But my comics were Batman, Captain America, Spider-Man and Punisher, those were my guys. I had a couple of Daredevil ones. So I was familiar with Wilson Fisk through Spider-Man, and that’s why I bought the Daredevil comics, because a few of those had Kingpin as a major character in Daredevil‘s run, even back then. So those were my comics. I wasn’t one of those guys who collected. I just bought what I saw that I liked and that was it. But I had never thought of it again since I was a kid. But when Jeph Loeb, the guy who cast me and produced the original Netflix show for Marvel when it was on, when we first started, I hadn’t thought about Wilson Fisk or Kingpin.
Listen, you’ve had a lot of prestigious work over the course of your career, but there’s one film of yours that I’m obsessed with: Stuart Saves His Family.
I was talking to somebody yesterday and they said the same thing to me. And nobody ever says that. It is such a good movie. I’ll tell you what I told them, I love that movie. I loved everybody in it. It was a great cast. I loved the director, Harold Ramis. Harold was the first one to teach me how to get away with comedy. I had no idea. I was very nervous, because I was with a lot of comedically skilled people, obviously, and Harold as well. Harold is one of those guys who was a writer and performer for many years doing comedy. He was such a sweet man. I loved him so much, and I stayed in touch with him for a long time after that, and up until he passed. And it was a great experience. I wish more people had seen it, because I think it probably still holds up, I would imagine, because it’s so goofy.
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