Earlier this year, Netflix invited a group of journalists to the Brooklyn set of Marvel’s Daredevil. The streaming network was deep into production on season 3, so we got a great sense of a story that seems to be a return to basics of sorts for the superhero series after the mystical, Hand-based madness of season 2 and The Defenders. In addition to getting a glimpse of Matt Murdock’s new church basement hideout and Wilson Fisk’s fresh-out-of-jail penthouse apartment, we got a chance to talk to stars Charlie CoxDeborah Ann WollElden Henson, and Joanne Whalley—who plays a new character, Sister Maggie—who all seemed genuinely jazzed about the grittier street-level direction new showrunner Erik Oleson is taking the series.

Below, Elden Henson discusses Foggy's various reactions to Matt Murdock's death, the character's success as a lawyer, his physical transformation, why his disastrous Skype audition for Jeff Loeb guaranteed he landed the role, and the reason "avocados at law" is the one Daredevil line that will not go away.

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Image via Netflix

Question: How does it feel to be back in Daredevil after popping up in other Marvel shows, does it feel good to be home?

HENSON: It does, yes. We have a lot of people on the crew that have been with us since day one so definitely feels like a family atmosphere at this point. So it’s always nice to come back and get back into the swing of things.

We heard that we can expect some major costume changes for you this season. Can you tell us anything about that?

HENSON: I spoke to Erik before this season started. He was nice enough to ask what we were hoping for with our characters. One of the things that I brought up was wanting to see Foggy evolve emotionally. He’s really done that this season. Foggy has kind of stepped out from Matt’s shadow a little bit and become his own man in some ways. It’s been exciting, man. Erik’s done a really great job this season. Not just with my character but everybody’s character. It’s going to be a good season.

How does Foggy feel about Matt early in the season, is there any anger there?

HENSON: I think there’s anger, and guilt, maybe a little resentment. It’s been an interesting ride, their relationship. Again, this season we’ve had an opportunity to see Foggy not just break out on his own but we get a look into his home life a little bit. We meet some of his family, which is really cool. [I don’t know if I was supposed to say that.] It’s been cool, man. In many ways it feels much different than seasons past but at the same time also familiar in a lot of ways.

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Image via Netflix

There was no chance for Matt and Foggy to reconcile at the end, do you think that open-ended question is haunting Foggy? And do you think there’s any room for forgiveness?

HENSON: Again, I think there are all those feelings. With how close Matt and Foggy are, at least this is my viewpoint from what I’m trying to do, much like brothers, I think, no matter what happens there’s always that love there. But I think also with family you can fight a lot worse than you could with someone else that you’re not as close with. So there’s a lot going on for Foggy in terms of how he feels about Matt.

Foggy spent two seasons basically telling Matt not to be a superhero, and then Matt died, but Foggy has also now seen there’s an entire city full of [superheroes]. Has his opinion changed?

HENSON: Foggy, he’s about the law. He believes in the law. He doesn’t waver when things have gone wrong in the past. I think that’s a really cool thing about Foggy, he doesn’t think that you need to solve problems with violence. He really believes in the law and doing things the right way. I think that comes also from how close he is to his family and his friends and how much he really loves them. He obviously doesn’t want to see anyone hurt.

Foggy’s law career has really taken off without Matt. Would it almost be fair to say that Foggy is better off without Matt?

HENSON: Financially, maybe. Yeah, look, I think in this season we’re starting to see Foggy gain some confidence. I think there is always going to be that connection that he has with Matt. I don’t think underneath it all that Foggy really cares about the money and the success as much as he cares about his best friend.

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Image via Netflix

Because Foggy is all about the law, will he be going toe-to-toe with Wilson Fisk?

HENSON: I have no idea, but from a personal standpoint, I would love to be able to work with Vincent. We still haven’t actually shot any scenes together over the first two seasons. I hope so. But I don’t know.

 

 

 

Can you talk about whether Karen and Foggy will be reconnecting in the absence of Matt?

HENSON: I think there’s always going to be a really strong connection between the three of them. A cool thing that Erik’s done with this season is even though these characters have broken out on their own, I think they find that they always do ultimately need each other. That bond they have is always going to be really strong.

You’re one of the only folks that had this straight line from Daredevil season 2, and then Defenders, then Jessica Jones season 2 and now here you are. How much time do you spend time away from this world these days?

HENSON: I’m incredibly grateful to have a job. I tend to try and really separate my work from my real life. When I go home, I got a kid, I don’t really spend a lot of time thinking about the character or anything that may or may not happen. So far they‘ve done an amazing job and I’ve had a really good time playing the character but, you know, when I’m home, I’m home. I’m trying to be a dad. My kid doesn’t understand any of this stuff. He’s a little bit young for The Punisher. A little bit young.

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Image via Netflix

What sets this season apart, compared to other seasons of Daredevil?

HENSON: In a lot of ways, it feels different, but there’s also a real familiarity there. These characters finding their own paths but ultimately needing each other. It’s a tough question to answer because I’m always so worried about giving something away that I’m not supposed to. But yeah, I think people are going to really like this season. Erik’s done a really good job of coming in and picking up where the other showrunners have left off. It’s a world that I didn’t really know much about, coming into it. So I’m sort of still discovering it as it goes. People are really going to like this season.

Erik talked to us about making sure every character had his or her own arc. Do you feel comfortable with that for Foggy?

HENSON: Yeah, I think Erik’s done an incredible job. It does feel like each of us have our own arcs. I do think that that’s also been the same in seasons past, but Erik’s done a really great job of understanding the characters and having a chance to dig into their pasts a little bit more and meet the people around them, that’s been really cool.

We’ve gotten a sense of going back to basics of season one in various ways. For you, did that manifest as Foggy?

HENSON: In some ways. Foggy talked about his family in season one. Going back and meeting them now, and seeing how he fits into that family dynamic in many ways feels like we’re getting back to season one in some ways. But I don’t know, each season has always felt very different for me.

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Image via Netflix

Do you think the seasons feel different because it’s a different showrunner each year?

HENSON: Well no, they more just feel different because the story is progressing. Your characters doing new things. I think the great thing about working for Marvel is no matter who is in the driver’s seat, they seem to be making good stuff. At least I’ve been really happy with the stuff we’ve been able to do.

Without getting too specific, is there an episode that you feel really highlights Foggy’s development?

HENSON: Again, it’s like the family stuff. I can’t really single out any one episode because they’ve all seemed to have blended together now. But the Foggy family stuff.

Will he go darker? I know Matt’s going darker, but will Foggy still stay his light-hearted, though grieving self?

HENSON: I haven’t been playing him any darker.

What about in the sense that you started off in season one, he’s walking into a biker bar, peeing his pants a little bit but he’s still valiantly protecting the law. Now he’s progressed to this hotshot lawyer, is that still a part of him or now he’s the Jeri Hogarth, he’s going to come into a room and lay the law down?

HENSON: I think Foggy’s still Foggy. That’s kind of the thing that I like most about the character. He is who he is, and at the end of the day he cares about the people around him and will do anything for him.

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Image via Netflix

I thought the scenes with Foggy and Matt defending Frank Castle in season two was really powerful stuff and as close to a courtroom drama as you’ll see in a superhero show. Will we get to see Foggy in action like that again and do you do any lawyerly research for your own performance?

HENSON: I haven’t. I’ll be honest, I haven’t done any lawyer research. We have great writers, you know what I mean? I learned very quickly that if you just trust in the writing and the dialogue, we will be okay. It’s funny, though, I was doing some signing, I don’t remember where, and there was a guy waiting, he was like, “You know the lawyer stuff you guys do is way off!” And another guy in line was like, “I don’t think that’s true, I think it’s right on!” They got into an argument and I was like, “Oh my God, this is crazy, people are so invested in this show.” It’s awesome.

That’s an interesting point, you’ve been in this kind of concentrated fandom more than a lot of other actors have been. Have you gotten accustomed to how invested people are?

HENSON: When I was a kid I was in all The Mighty Ducks movies and that sort of created this weird thing when I was very young. And luckily I had a lot of really good friends and family that kept me from I guess going down a more negative path that actors can go down. The Hunger Games stuff was also a very weird experience. It’s never really quite the same, but in some ways you just sort of become immune to any bewilderment. Where it just becomes a part of your life. I just try and focus on having a kid and becoming a dad, so I don’t really think about that stuff much. It’s a weird thing, growing up in this business. It’s a weird lifestyle. I remember being young, shooting something and staying at the Four Seasons, then I come home after wrapping and I’m in my shitty studio apartment. It’s this really weird life where you just kind of learn to roll with the punches and be really grateful for every job that you have. This has been really awesome. Again, I didn’t know anything about comics and to be welcomed into this world has been really cool. Especially by the fans. I didn’t know how great the comic book fans are. So that’s been really cool.

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Image via Netflix

You have a great line from season one, “Avocados at law.” Has that been driven into the ground when fans come up to you yet?

HENSON: Oh yeah, and it’s funny because it's random what people grasp on to. I remember reading that line and being like, “I don’t know.” But people fucking loved it. It shows how much I know about what’s funny or not. But it’s crazy. You take pictures and people want you to hold an avocado. People do a lot of fan art and this one girl drew an avocado with like my head. I was like, “Yeah, that’s pretty much the shape of my body.” So yeah, it’s become a thing.

Is there anything you find yourself, since doing Daredevil, geeking out about?

HENSON: I wasn’t into comics but I was really into movies growing up. I was always seeking out obscure prints or whatever, and growing up in LA there’s a lot of revival theaters that play really great movies. I get being fanatical about things. It wasn’t comic books, but I get it.

After living with this character for so long, is there any part of Foggy that is you? That you brought to the character and it sort of melded together?

HENSON: You know, I don’t think so. But if you ask other people, like Jeff Loeb will say, “Oh that’s so Foggy. That’s so Foggy of you.” So I guess there is. He actually told me a story. When I was auditioning for this, I was in Germany, I had to do a screen-test over Skype. I was having all kinds of technical problems, I couldn’t get it to work on my computer but I could get it to work on my phone. And he said that as I was getting more flustered and freaked out about everything going wrong, he was like, “Oh, he just is Foggy.” So I guess it had very little to do with my audition. So yeah, I don’t think so but a lot of people do think that.

Foggy has had a lot of hair changes over the years. What do you make of Foggy’s journey through hair?

HENSON: It was important to me, when we started this, that the character evolve physically. I just wanted him to be a little less lawyer-like. Almost still like a child a little bit, with his long hair. It’s been nice to see, over the seasons, now I have a haircut that’s a very professional haircut and the suits that I’m wearing, they’re made by Martin Greenfield. Which is just one of the coolest things in the world, by the way. I don’t know if anyone’s ever had a suit specially fitted for them, but it’s awesome. I literally put the suit on for the first time and the guy was like, “What do you think?” I was like, “I feel like a man for the first time. This is awesome.”

So no more rolled up sleeves for Foggy?

HENSON: I hope not, man. I always have to cover up my tattoos when they roll up the sleeves, so makeups always hating me when that stuff happens. But yeah, I hope not. We’ll see.

To catch up on all of our Daredevil Season 3 set visit coverage, peruse the links below:

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Image via Netflix