Late Tuesday night rumor broke that The Purge and Boyhood actor Ethan Hawke was in contention for Marvel’s Doctor Strange film, after the studio reportedly gave up on trying to get Joaquin Phoenix to sign on for the role. While we have yet to hear confirmation about that casting update MTV spoke with Hawke back in July about the role, and asked him his thoughts about the possibility of taking it on.
Hawke didn’t have much to say, of course, as he likely wasn’t in the running for it at the time. Still, he said that he would definitely be interested, and praised director Scott Derrickson, who he worked with on Sinister. When told that he was rumored for the role of the Sorcerer Supreme, Hawke said:
“Well, tell that to [Scott Derrickson]! The thing about Scott is that he’s a filmmaker, you know? I mean, uh, he’s the real deal… It was really clear to me when I met him that he knows about film and he cares about it and he knows how to make a scary movie like Hitchcock knows how to make a scary movie. And I mean that. I’ve been making movies since I was thirteen, and when I met him I felt like I didn’t know anything, because he knows so much about the math of that genre… Whoever he casts in a Marvel movie would be great. I’d take it from him, sure.”
As I said, not the biggest update, but hey, at least we know he’s interested in the role and it sounds like he’d love to work with Derrickson again. As always, we’ll keep you updated on this news.
Doctor Strange is scheduled to hit theaters on July 8th, 2016.
Originally published October 2, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
