has revealed how he went about creating the British persona of Steven Grant in Marvel series , with sitcom Stath Lets Flats providing some essential inspiration.
In the upcoming show set to launch on Plus this month, Oscar plays a who has dissociative identity disorder and is a conduit for the .
When the first trailer was released, fans were perplexed by the actor’s , the voice he uses when he adopts the persona of Steven, a mild-mannered English man who works in the gift shop of a museum.
During a recent press event attended by Metro.co.uk and other media, Oscar, 43, explained how he was influenced by the Jewish community in , given the superhero’s Jewish background in the comics, as well as quintessentially British comedies.
‘I love English humour, like The Office and Stath Lets Flats, and there’s so much of that humour that I find so funny and I thought there’s an opportunity here to maybe make something,’ he said.
‘What if we make him English, what if Peter Sellers was approached with a Marvel project, what would he do?’
The Star Wars actor continued, explaining that as he set down that train of thought, that led him to ‘Karl Pilkington from An Idiot Abroad, not so much for the accent, but just for his sense of humour where you can’t tell if he knows he’s being funny’.
‘Then I thought about the Jewish community in London and where a lot of that community is from, and Enfield is an area,’ he said.
‘I started listening to accents that are kind of north east London and then just committed to that and found this guy that wasn’t just about his accent, but was also about his timidness and also wanting to connect with people but not quite knowing how. Russell Kane was a comedian that I listened to as well.’
When taking on the role of Moon Knight, Oscar had a unique task in depicting several different personas within one character, which often involved flitting between the distinct personalities and changing his mannerisms in an instant.
He admitted that he ‘didn’t anticipate how technically demanding it was going to be’, when having to switch characters.
However, one person who made things easier for him was his brother, Michael Hernandez, who appeared in scenes when Marc was interacting with Steven.
Oscar described his sibling as a ‘great actor’, saying that it helped to have someone perform opposite him who ‘shares my DNA’.
When it came to the setting of Moon Knight in London, Oscar joked about the fact that many previous superhero adventures – including the Avengers, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man to name a few – have all taken place in New York.
‘It was set in London and when I asked why, the answer was that we just have too many characters in New York. Let’s make him an expat in London,’ he said, laughing.
Moon Knight premieres on Wednesday March 30 on Disney Plus.
