Moon Knight directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead have revealed the inspirations behind Ethan Hawke's psychiatrist version of Arthur Harrow. The actor portrays the Ammit-worshipping cult leader and former avatar of Khonshu in the Disney+ series. Hawke stars alongside Oscar Isaac, who portrays the titular complex Marvel Comics hero Moon Knight, aka Marc Spector.

In a surprising turn of events, Moon Knight episode 4, "The Tomb", threw Marc and the audience's perspectives into question. After being shot in the chest by Harrow in the tomb of Alexander the Great, Marc awakens as a patient in a psychiatric hospital. His surroundings - made up of familiar faces and items - cast doubt on whether anything that came before is real. To further muddy the reality of Moon Knight, Harrow is present in this new reality as Marc's psychiatrist. In a move made to disorient audiences while paying tribute to the original comic runs, Moon Knight directing duo Benson and Moorhead have shared some of the inspirations behind Hawke's alternative version of Harrow.

Related: Moon Knight: Who Was The [SPOILER] At The End Of Episode 4?!

Speaking to EW about Moon Knight's shocking fourth episode, Benson and Moorhead discuss Hawke's portrayal of Harrow as Marc's psychiatrist. As with the cult leader version of Harrow, Hawke mined a real-life figure to shape his performance. Both Benson and Moorhead were impressed by his transformation, and they even intended to keep Harrow as the primary focus for the scene. However, that changed after seeing Isaac's performance. Check out Benson and Moorhead's recollections below.

Benson: I remember in the preparation of that scene, Ethan would talk about how he was feeling inspired by Carl Jung — by some of the most famous photographs of him and the pop culture interpretation of who he is, if nothing else. We remember showing up to set and suddenly seeing Ethan in that mustache, with that hair, wearing the glasses, and I just thought what a wild transformation that was from Harrow.

The energy to his acting in that role was impressive — to the point of being exhausting to watch. [Laughs] Watching him do that scene over and over and over with such precision was a very special thing to get to witness.

Moorhead: He has 99 percent of the dialogue in that scene, and we shot his coverage first on that day. What's funny is we assumed that because he is doing all the talking, that scene would just kind of be about him, with a few cutaways back to Marc. But once we turned it around on Oscar and saw what he was giving us and figuring out his eyelines, we realized how active it was. There's this wonderful take where a fly lands on his hand on accident. That's a real fly! He chased it.

It's funny because we assumed we were going to be cutting the whole thing around Harrow, but we completely refocused the edit in our heads to be back in Marc's experience in that moment — because Oscar was giving us so much.

Moon Knight Episode 4 Ethan Hawke as Arthur Harrow Psychiatrist Scene

As well as Jung, Hawke revealed multiple real-life inspirations for Harrow prior to Moon Knight's debut. Hawke stated he drew from a number of real-world figures to inform how he would portray the classic Moon Knight villain. They included Leo Tolstoy, Fidel Castro, the Dalai Lama, and even Steve Jobs. He also provided input on Harrow's introduction in Moon Knight episode 1, revealing that he had the idea of Harrow wearing shards of broken glass within his sandals.

By joining Moon Knight, Hawke finally found an opportunity to work with Marvel Studios, and the star's dedication to his role has been evident both on-screen and behind the scenes. While his portrayal of the cult leader Harrow managed to create a memorable villain who strikes a good balance between calm and threatening, the Moon Knight episode 4 twist and Hawke's approach to the psychiatrist version of Arthur Harrow paired incredibly well with prior appearances to help make the audience question the reality of the series. Hawke's input on Harrow's characterization has helped update one of Marvel's lesser-known villains, making him a perfect foil for Isaac's complex hero.

Next: Moon Knight Episode 4 Twist Ending Explained: Was Anything Real?!

Moon Knight releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.

Source: EW

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