Elden Henson never considered himself a "comic book guy" growing up. Instead, he was watching Stanley Kubrick movies and reading Kurt Vonnegut by age of 11.
So, when he got the part of Foggy Nelson in the new Netflix series, "Marvel's Daredevil," he quickly had to learn everything about the blind superhero who made his debut over 50 years ago.
"I really had to go back and figure a lot of stuff out and watch a lot of the other Marvel movies, which has been awesome," Henson tells Headlines & Global News in an exclusive interview. "I think the biggest difference for me is getting to discover this whole new world, see how much the fans care and see how long these characters have been around. It's been an incredible experience."
The 37-year-old actor describes his Foggy Nelson character as a "man of the people" with a big heart, who shares many of the same ideas about what's right and what's wrong as his best friend and law partner Matt Murdock a.k.a. Daredevil. He also admits Foggy can be a little loud and obnoxious sometimes, but he sticks up for his friend.
"He goes about [getting justice] in a slightly different way than [Matt]. Some people would say it's just as exciting as what Matt Murdock is doing," Henson laughs. "I'm just kidding. No one would say that."
The interconnected Marvel world drew Henson to the "Daredevil" project, but he feared not getting the part after suffering technical difficulties during his audition. He had to conduct his screen test via Skype while filming "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay" movies in Berlin.
"Of course, I couldn't get Skype to work on my computer but I could get it to work on my phone. Then everybody I knew decided to call me right then," Henson says. "The screen test kept getting interrupted and I thought, for sure, I'm never going to get the job. By some miracle, it happened."
He soon received another miracle when his wife gave birth to their first son shortly before production started on "Daredevil." Between starring in two major franchises and becoming a father, Henson says his life has completely changed.
"I have a child now which I'm definitely not sure that I'm qualified to be raising kids," he jokes. "I'm going to do my best and the same goes for the other franchises. Hopefully I was able to bring characters to life in the way fans really want, because when you're working on these kinds of things that have such a giant fan base that's really what's important."
Henson joined "The Hunger Games" in "Mockingjay Part 1" as Pollux, and will continue the role in the fourth and final film of the franchise, out on Nov. 20. He called the two-part shoot one of the best times he's ever had making a movie.
"You never know coming in on the tail end of a franchise and people being together for a long time," he says. "From top to bottom - Francis [Lawrence], Jen[nifer Lawrence], Liam [Hemsworth] and Josh [Hutcherson] - they were all so warm and welcoming."
Pollux, the mute Avox, serves as a cameraman who films Katniss Everdeen's rebellion against the Capitol. The actor had to work especially hard to stay present in a scene since Pollux never speaks.
"It was a lot of what I like to call 'eyebrow acting,'" he jokes. "No, I realized early on that not speaking, it could be easy to lose focus and not be present. So I tried to do my best to stay in the scene at all times. For me, it was cool to learn to be present and think about how you would look at things more internally and see how they come out."
Right now, Henson is focused on the reception of "Daredevil" and is both excited and nervous for the premiere. He feels lucky to be on Netflix, which he watches more than regular television, and will premiere three other Marvel series over the next couple years.
"They are certain things that you're able to do [on Netflix] that you can't do on network television like having the show come out all at once and being able to binge watch," he says. "Having a little more depth to the surrounding characters and their stories, you probably wouldn't be able to get that in a two-hour movie."
The character of Matt Murdock will likely crossover with those other planned Marvel series, but Henson doesn't know what's ahead for Foggy Nelson after this first season. He hopes "Daredevil" continues so he can continue working with the amazing cast, especially his co-star Vincent D'Onofrio.
"I've loved that guy since forever. Going back to the Kubrick reference, I've watched [him in] 'Full Metal Jacket' like 50,000 times. I still get star struck around him," Henson gushes. "I get quiet [around him]. I'll be staring at him and he's like, 'Why are you looking at me?' It's cool."
"Daredevil" premieres on Friday, April 10 on Netflix.
