Vincent D'Onofrio Gained 15-20 Pounds For Return As Kingpin In Hawkeye

Vincent D’Onofrio explains he gained 15-20 pounds for his return as Kingpin in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Hawkeye. Inspired by Matt Fraction and David Aja’s 2012 comic, Disney+’s Hawkeye sees Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) take on the Tracksuit Mafia and Maya Lopez/Echo (Alaqua Cox), who are led in the shadows by the latter’s “uncle” aka “the big guy.” In Hawkeye’s penultimate episode, it is revealed that the boss is, in fact, Daredevil’s Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (D’Onofrio).

D’Onofrio portrayed the Kingpin to Charlie Cox’s Daredevil/Matt Murdock in all three seasons of Netflix’s Daredevil. In regard to superhero and villain casting in entertainment, let alone the Defenders universe, D’Onofrio and Cox have consistently been hailed as some of the best. When Netflix canceled all MCU-adjacent shows in 2018, it was uncertain whether characters like D'Onofrio’s Kingpin would ever be seen again. In a year filled with MCU debuts, he finally reprised his beloved role in the final two episodes of Hawkeye.

While speaking with ComicBook.com, D’Onofrio, 62, opened up about how he transformed his body for his return as the seemingly even bigger Kingpin of crime in Hawkeye. To facilitate his more comic-book-accurate look—which includes a white hat, tux, and floral shirt—in Marvel Studios’ series, the actor gained upwards of 20 pounds. Read what he had to say below:

"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," said D'Onofrio. "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. Back when I was young, I could go up and down fairly frequently."

D’Onofrio went on to explain how he always slims back down the right way: with a healthy diet consisting, not of less food, but the right kind of food. His willingness to put on weight to play Kingpin reasserts his dedication to the role—which has always been evident in his performance. On-screen and in the comics, Kingpin is known for his large stature and imposing physicality. In Daredevil, D’Onofrio put his size to use in fight scenes against Cox, often throwing the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen around like a rag doll. In Hawkeye, Steinfeld’s Kate gets that same Kingpin treatment in a climactic fight that sees the latter endure the impossible and walk away with a limp. Thankfully, he has a cane.

While Kingpin was certainly a formidable opponent in Daredevil, he’d never seemed capable of ripping off car doors and surviving explosions as he does in Hawkeye. Many fans have taken issue with this apparent power up. However, D’Onofrio has maintained that his character is the same and has even talked about Fisk recovering his crime empire after Avengers: Endgame. Kingpin has always been a powerhouse and, Hawkeye's exploits included, his strength still pales in comparison to his comic book counterpart. In the Hawkeye finale, Kingpin was seemingly shot and killed by Echo but the camera pans away before showing anything definitive. Hopefully, D'Onofrio plans on retaining some weight to appear in the Echo spinoff series, fight Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, or reunite with Cox.

More: Hawkeye: Is [SPOILER] Really Dead?

Source: ComicBook.com