How to Get Cast on ‘Daredevil: Born Again’

According to a 2023 article in the Hollywood Reporter, the series underwent a complete overhaul during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, bringing on a new showrunner and directing team. The show, which was already partway through production, was originally under the creative purview of Chris Ord and Matt Corman. But after the two departed the project, Dario Scardapane (“The Punisher,” “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”) was brought on as showrunner. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (“Loki”) were tasked with filming the remaining episodes of Season 1. 

Like the Netflix original, “Born Again” centers on Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind man gifted with powers that heighten his other senses. By day, he’s an NYC defense attorney; by night, he’s the crime-fighting vigilante Daredevil. The new show traces the unlikely alliance between Matt and his former archrival, crime boss Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). Fisk has reformed his criminal ways to become the mayor of New York City, and Matt has seemingly retired his cowl for good. But their pasts catch up with them before long.

“Born Again” also brings back many of the Netflix series’ supporting characters, including Matt’s friends Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and his fellow vigilante Frank Castle, aka the Punisher (Jon Bernthal). A host of antagonists are also returning, including Fisk’s wife, Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer), and villains Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) and Muse (Hunter Doohan).

The Disney+ series features returning favorites and new faces, including:

• Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil
• Margarita Levieva as Heather Glenn
• Wilson Bethel as Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter/Bullseye
• Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page
• Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher
• Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin
• Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson
• Genneya Walton as BB Urich
• Zabryna Guevara as Sheila Rivera
• Nikki M. James as Kirsten McDuffie
• Arty Froushan as Buck Cashman
• Clark Johnson as Cherry
• Michael Gandolfini as Daniel Blade
• Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Marianna-Fisk
• Jeremy Earl as Cole North
• Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan
• Kamar de los Reyes as Hector Ayala/White Tiger
• Hunter Doonan as Muse

According to Deadline, Matthew Lillard is joining Season 2, but details about his character are still under wraps at this time. 

Beth Bowling and Kim Miscia (“Mr. Robot,” “Mad Men”) are the primary CDs behind Season 1. The pair told us that they appreciate actors who demonstrate that they value casting directors’ time. 

“This is going to sound harsh, but it’s important to come prepared and not have excuses,” Bowling said. Miscia added that it’s important to stay focused during auditions, meaning she doesn’t want to “hear all about your bad day or why you’re sick.”

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Behind the Scenes of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Fights With Jon Bernthal’s Punisher Stunt Double 

Due to the secretive nature of MCU projects, CDs don’t always have a script at hand. Instead, actors are often given dummy material—either an adapted scene that captures the essence of a project or a script that fits its atmosphere.

During a 2018 Collider panel at Las Vegas Comic-Con, Cox said that when he read for the original “Daredevil,” he had no idea what role or project he was being considered for. 

“I got a call about an audition. It was a secret. They didn’t tell us what it was called or what it was; I just had some lines,” the actor explained. “I had to audition; I had a Skype. I was then allowed to read the first two episodes. Then I had to fly to L.A. to have a screen test, and then I had a meeting, and then I had another screen test, and eventually I got the job. So it was a real process. I was really jumping through a lot of hoops to get it.”

When Bernthal tried out for “The Punisher,” he was given sides that evoked the vibe of the series. He got a little help from another future MCU star: Tom Holland. While filming the 2018 film “Pilgrimage,” the two were auditioning for roles that turned out to be the Punisher and Spider-Man.

Bernthal told Variety that he and Holland read offscreen for each other. “They used mock scenes, but [mine] was a man telling this young boy about shooting a deer…. We had to play that the deer was there, and I see him getting ready to kill it. [Tom] was off-camera, and we were like, ‘Get in here and do it with me.’ ”

According to set photos released by Inverse, production for Season 2 is currently underway in New York. Filming is likely to run until July 2025. 

Currently, there are no open audition notices for the series. In the meantime, brush up on how to get cast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and keep an eye on our main casting page.

Learn through experience.

D’Onofrio told IGN that “acting is not a mystery. There’s nothing I know that other actors don’t know; the only thing that separates us is experience. Acting can’t creep up on you from behind without you knowing. It can’t. It’s not a ghost; it can’t suddenly embody you without your control. It’s not that romantic, I’m telling you. It’s a job, you know? You set out to do things, [and] the harder you work, the more you gather, the more you have to throw away, and the more you’re left with [what becomes] the part.

“All of us are trying to achieve 100% in our work,” he continued. “That’s all we struggle to do…. We never do, but we never stop trying until the day we die…. It’s that struggle to achieve 100%. That’s where our performance lies, and that’s what the audience gets. They get the struggle.”

Stay flexible.

Margarita Levieva began her career as a dancer and gymnast, so she knows the value of hitting your mark. “If there’s one muscle that I would encourage anyone [to develop], it’s the ability to let go of things easily and be malleable,” she told us. “I think in the beginning, I was so keen on developing the thing that’s going to work all the time, that’s going to be bulletproof and that is going to get things ‘right.’ I was a gymnast, so I had that mentality of getting the high score. 

“And I’ve just learned that, no—creating, acting, it’s about the ability to say, Yeah, I’m gonna see what I need today,” she added. “But if I have all that [training] behind me and I have the foundation, then I’ll have a big suitcase of tools to pull from, and I’m not, like, searching for it.”

Celebrate the little wins. 

Early in his career, Bernthal saw every open casting call as an opportunity to perform for an audience. “You will get your shot, but don’t waste years of your life banging down doors trying to get in that room,” he told us. “Worry about what you’ll do when you get in there. Have five monologues in your pocket ready to throw down, and be able to walk the walk; don’t just talk about it.”

In a 2022 interview with the New York Times, the actor said that it’s important to remember why you fell in love with acting in the first place. “You’ve got to remind yourself how lucky you are to be doing this, even when it’s not working out,” he said. “Look, when I was starting out and I was going through really hard times, my wife was an ICU trauma nurse. So there’d be plenty of times I would get home and I would have tears in my eyes of frustration; and then, my wife would talk about her day. The things she was encountering—holding somebody’s hand as they were passing or letting somebody know that they weren’t going to ever see a family member again—just put it all into such clear perspective for me.”