‘Daredevil’ Might Have Ruined Charlie Cox’s Audition for ‘Han Solo’

Marvel’s Netlix Daredevil will be keeping Charlie Cox busy for the time being, between The Defenders and a potential third season, but the blind hero may actually have taken aim at the actor’s career. Cox had a bit of trouble shaking one particular aspect of his Matt Murdock performance, and it may even have cost him Star Wars’ Han Solo spinoff.

Take this with a grain of salt for the moment, as Cox admits his own certainty in the anecdote, but the Daredevil star spoke with The Hollywood Reporter of his current off-Broadway role in Incognito, also sharing a bit of holdover from the Man Without Fear. It seems Cox had gotten used to avoiding eye contact in his portrayal of Matt Murdock’s blindness, which may have cost him a shot at Star Wars:

It’s been really fun to look people in the eye. I had gone to an audition — one of those things that are super secretive and they don’t tell you, but I’m pretty sure it was for the Han Solo reboot— and halfway through it, the casting director stopped me and said, ‘Why aren’t you looking at me?’ I realized I had gotten into a habit of not making eye contact, because the only thing I had done for two years is play someone who is blind. I never got invited back, probably because they couldn’t figure out why I was acting like a complete idiot.

It’s admittedly hard to imagine the 33-year old Cox taking on the role of Han Solo, at least over the as-yet-unconfirmed Alden Ehrenreich, not to mention the calamity resulting from Disney plucking out one of Marvel TV’s most recognizable stars. If anything, Cox probably gave a great Han Solo audition for the first half-hour of Return of the Jedi.

Nothing necessarily lost to have Cox continuing on as Daredevil, but did we luck out that blindness cost him the role of Han Solo?

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