At the 'Daredevil: Born Again' red carpet premiere, Michael Gandolfini tells THR what it felt like to join a series like this one. Plus, he talks about developing his character, filming in Staten Island and working alongside Vincent D'Onofrio.
00:00Listen, this is a big night. This premiere is kind of wild. You can kind of see the vibe right before you. How are you feeling?
00:05I feel amazing. It's very bright in here. I can see like everyone's faces, which is a little scary, but I'm more of like a dark room kind of vibe.
00:14But honestly, this is an incredible room, incredible people. It's an amazing night.
00:19How does it feel to kind of join a series like Daredevil that has such a huge fan base, had a previous iteration, and kind of come on board?
00:27Yeah, look, it's a big responsibility, right? You feel the pressure of bringing something completely new in.
00:35You want to further the story, but you also want to, you know, respect the past.
00:41And, you know, I was a huge fan as a 16-year-old going to high school, and now I get to be in this.
00:46So it's a lot of pressure, but honestly, you get to work with amazing actors.
00:51You get to work with people that take you along and can show you this is how we did it previously.
00:55This is the vibe. This is the tone. And you just follow them.
00:59So it truly is a dream come true.
01:01And from your perspective, since you were such a big fan of the original series, would you call this a continuation of that Daredevil?
01:09Or would you say that this does bring something completely brand new?
01:13Yeah, I would absolutely say it's a continuation.
01:15You know, this is picking up years after the original show.
01:21It's not a season four. It is new people. It's a new world. Time has changed.
01:25But it absolutely is a continuation of the feelings, the people, and the story arcs that were happening in the original.
01:33Just they're, you know, ten years later. And what's going on now?
01:37And so, you know, that's where some of the new people come in and shake things up.
01:42How were you excited to explore your character and kind of see where he fits into this world?
01:48I mean, I was so excited.
01:50You know, I was pretty clear from the beginning about where I was going, where I was coming from.
01:55And I just focused in on that.
01:58And I really wanted to bring a real authentic sort of New York feeling to it.
02:03I wanted to bring this very exciting, very younger vibe to it.
02:08But he kind of gets right into the middle of the snake pit, you know.
02:12And maybe he doesn't even realize it until it's too late.
02:15But it really is an amazing character to play. And I love him.
02:18So, yeah.
02:19I heard that New York is the number one on the call sheet.
02:21So what was it like kind of playing with the grit of New York?
02:24Oh, it was incredible. I got to my character from Staten Island, which is like the forgotten borough.
02:29So I got to go down. I was in Staten Island for a week.
02:33I stayed there. I got toured. I went to the bars.
02:35And, like, shooting in New York is, like, unbelievable.
02:38You know, like, our extras half the time are real New York people.
02:41You'll just be walking on the street and run into someone running to work.
02:45Like, it is really incredible to be shooting in the middle of New York. It's amazing.
02:51Do you have a newfound appreciation for Staten Island?
02:54Yeah, absolutely.
02:55I have to be honest. I didn't go to Staten Island before this show.
02:59So I'll call myself out.
03:00But now that I've been, I love it.
03:03It looks beautiful.
03:04It's kind of like Williamsburg.
03:06It's a little bit of Jersey.
03:08I love it.
03:08It's got great food.
03:09The people are so nice.
03:10So I am a, I love going to Staten Island now.
03:13And the ferry is amazing.
03:15It's beautiful.
03:17It's incredible.
03:17I love taking the ferry now.
03:19Yeah.
03:19Oh, my God. I love that.
03:20I love that.
03:21And I know fans are also really, you know, curious about other defenders maybe popping up.
03:27As a fan, how would you feel?
03:29Maybe if not this season, next season?
03:31Look, I would be so excited.
03:33You know, I watched, I watched all of them.
03:36And I would love to be able to work with or just be able to watch any of their return.
03:41So I hope it happens personally.
03:43And working with Charlie and Vincent, what was it like kind of sharing, sharing a screen with them?
03:48Look, me and Vincent, like two peas in a pod.
03:52I absolutely adore him.
03:54He's a big teddy bear.
03:56I just, we immediately clicked.
03:58And I just felt like we really had this amazing rapport.
04:01And he has taught me so much.
04:03He took me right under his wing.
04:05And most of my scenes are with him.
04:08And I just, I felt so safe and appreciated.
04:12And felt like it's very rare you can, like, really play tennis with an actor like that.
04:15You just give it to him, he gives you right back.
04:17And we really just vibe so much.
04:20And I'm so happy I get to go back next week and do it again with him.
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