Daredevil’s Vincent D’Onofrio Put on Weight for Kingpin Return in Hawkeye

Marvel’s Daredevil star Vincent D’Onofrio reveals how he transformed his body for his return as the “big guy” in Hawkeye, including putting on weight to play the big bad: Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. Reprising the role for the first time since the 2018 cancellation of the Marvel-Netflix series Daredevil, where he starred for three seasons as the Kingpin of crime opposite Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock, D’Onofrio says he gained upwards of 20 pounds to achieve his comic book-accurate look in the Marvel Studios series. 

“In a couple of shots, there were [camera perspective tricks]. But we tried a couple of different looks and the one we came down to was some extra shoulders, and extra chest, and extra girth around the middle,” D’Onofrio said on the ComicBook Nation Podcast. “But I did [put on weight], I always go up about somewhere between 15 and 20 pounds when I play Fisk. Because he needs that round face…I have to put on additional weight to get some weight [in my face], to fill out my cheeks a little bit more, and then the rest [is costuming and effects].” 

“I can’t put on that much weight anymore because of my age, it’s too hard to take off and it’s just not healthy anymore,” said D’Onofrio, 62. “Back when I was young, I could go up and down fairly frequently.”

On slimming back down from Fisk size, D’Onofrio said, “You have to be a on a healthy diet and that doesn’t mean less food, it just means the right kind of food. I’ve always worked out my whole life, I never stopped working out. I only changed my size. So I never lose my stretching and I never lose my strength, I just change sizes.”  

In Hawkeye, where he menaces Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and his protege/partner Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) as the big boss of Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) and the Tracksuit Mafia, Fisk’s crime empire is recovering after the Blip in the wake of Avengers: Endgame. After going to the mat with Daredevil (Cox), D’Onofrio confirmed to ComicBook he’s playing the same Kingpin who appeared in the Netflix series. 

All episodes of Marvel’s Hawkeye are now streaming on Disney+.

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