Daredevil’s Elden Henson Was Cast as Foggy Nelson Because He Accidentally Filmed Audition Upside Down

Nearly throughout Matt Murdock’s entire Marvel Comics career, Foggy Nelson has virtually always been a sidekick rooted in comic relief. When the duo was imagined for live-action as part of Netflix’s Daredevil show, the characteristics carried over from comics to screen. With Foggy such a lovable guy in the comics, Elden Henson was able to secure the gig due to an epic on-brand technical difficulty. According to Daredevil star Charlie Cox, Henson was cast after he accidentally did a FaceTime audition sidewise, because he was holding his phone completely wrong. Naturally, the slight mishap forced then-Marvel Television boss Jeph Loeb and the top Daredevil brass to hand the role of Foggy Nelson over to the Mighty Ducks alumnus.

“The story I’ve heard about Elden, which I don’t know if I’ve ever spoke to him about it, but the story I had about Elden was that he — and this is kind of what helped him get the part, apparently — was that he did the audition on iPhone,” Cox tells us. “But they were watching it live, the studio was watching it, Jeph [Loeb] was watching it live. But, he filmed it and he was holding it the wrong way around, so they all had to watch his audition like this [tilts head.]”

Cox adds, “Because, he was holding it incorrectly, the phone. And, they asked him, they were like, ‘It doesn’t really matter how he did it.’ That is Foggy. That’s exactly what Foggy would do.”

During an extensive audition process that lasted around four rounds for Cox, he never had the chance to screen test with either Henson of Deborah Ann Woll, the two largest supporting characters in the series. According to the show, there were some initial concerns that Woll wouldn’t be able to sign on the project due to another project the actor was being courted for.

“I don’t know actually what was going on behind the scenes, but I think that there was an ambiguity about whether Deb was available, but she was everyone’s first choice,” reveals Cox. “And, there was a moment where she wasn’t going to be available and then I think she was. And, so, as soon as her availability came up, they snapped her up.”

All three seasons of Daredevil are now streaming on Netflix.