Michael Gandolfini Is Right on Time

Who is Daniel Blake? That's the question Marvel fans have been asking since Michael Gandolfini (The Many Saints of Newark and Beau Is Afraid) was cast to play Blake in Daredevil: Born Again. Having no prior existence in the Daredevil world—in which blind Hell's Kitchen lawyer Matt Murdock moonlights as a masked vigilante—or the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe for that matter, the character was (and remains) a mystery, prompting widespread internet speculation. One theory proposes Blake could be Wilson Fisk's, aka Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio), biological son. Another argues he could be Skrull, a race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters. Or perhaps he's just a rising political aide from Long Island looking to make real change in New York City.

Gandolfini's poker face suggests I won't be getting the real answer from him. Darn. But he does confirm he has read your theories. "Sometimes, it's amazing because someone will be so sure of something that is the most inaccurate thing I've ever read," he laughs. "Other times, I'm like, 'That's interesting. The writers should read that. If they didn't think about that, that's kind of cool.' Other times, you go like, 'Oh shit, maybe they're following something. That's pretty great.'"

On a short break from filming the second half of the show's first season, the actor meets me over Zoom from a West Hollywood hotel room. He's in town from New York City for the premiere of his other big project out this month, Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza's star-studded drama Warfare. (More on that in a minute.) Seeing as I watched all of Daredevil: Born Again in a 48-hour span, I'm eager to dive in on all things Daniel Blake.

We meet Gandolfini's Blake in episode one. He's a young, people-pleasing political aide working on Fisk's mayoral campaign. Despite the candidate's controversial past and political agenda, Blake is inspired by Fisk's messaging of creating change in New York City and wanting to better the lives of its citizens, and it's his similar "get it done" work ethic that sees him quickly rising the ranks in Fisk's powerful inner circle. But at what cost?

When I ask Gandolfini if joining the expansive MCU was on his acting bucket list, he replies honestly: "I wouldn't say it's something that I ever really thought about doing. I wouldn't say it feels really right for me to play a superhero or a supervillain, but it depends on the tone."

When the opportunity for Daredevil: Born Again, a noir-style series, and the character of Daniel Blake, someone without superpowers who has power, came forward, that was interesting to the 25-year-old. "Back 20 years ago, we had so many heroes that didn't have powers," he says. "We had doctors, like House. He's a superhero. You watch and go, 'If I ever get sick, I'm gonna be fine because doctors are superheroes.' Or a district attorney who takes down some corrupt scheme, you're like, 'Great, there are heroes out there doing good.' It made me feel better [watching those storylines], and I don't think we see that too much [anymore]. So when they came to me and were like, 'You're gonna be a young communications director rising through the ranks,' I just felt super excited about that." There was also the no-brainer of getting to work alongside acting veterans like D'Onofrio and Jon Bernthal.

Lucky for Gandolfini, playing a completely new MCU character meant that he wasn't beholden to previous lore or fan expectations, granting him freedom to make the character his own, which started with making Blake funny. "One of the most beautiful gifts about this is that I've actually gotten to play against the entire theme of it," he tells me. "It's so fun to play against tone and to play such an optimist and such a networker in this world."

It's not necessarily all fun and games for Blake. With great power comes great responsibility, and despite Blake's pure intentions in working with Fisk in the beginning, Gandolfini says that there's a realization as the season goes on that they might not actually be helping people. In the wake of his growing status and the perks that come with it, Blake is blinded to the greed that is motivating Fisk, and we see him grappling with that moral dilemma at the end of part one.

With part two in production now (and due out in 2026), the actor hints at an exciting set of remaining episodes where we'll see all of what was set up in part one come to a boiling point. "Daniel's at the head of quite a lot of it," he shares, adding that Blake's people-pleasing ways will come to a head, too, when he's faced with having to answer for all of his actions. "There are two starkly different sides that are finally asking, Who are you? What side are you on? What are you gonna do? I'll say that these choices… As they begin to become more complicated, they become much higher stakes. It becomes life or death at some point."

Just as Daredevil: Born Again part one is reaching its crescendo, Gandolfini's next project, A24's Warfare, is hitting theaters. It's a powerful one-two punch for the young actor. The intense and ultrarealistic drama recounts from memories the tragic events of November 19, 2006, when a surveillance mission by a platoon of U.S. Navy SEALs in insurgent territory in Iraq goes wrong. Gandolfini plays Lt. McDonald. As it was conceived by Garland and codirector Mendoza, who served in the mission, the film serves two purposes: to help SEAL Elliott Miller, the unit's head sniper and medic who suffered severe physical and mental injuries that day, understand what happened to him and, secondly, to have something that veterans can show loved ones to illustrate the experience of combat.

Warfare features a stacked cast of Hollywood's most exciting young actors. Gandolfini. Joseph Quinn. Kit Connor. Will Poulter. Charles Melton. Cosmo Jarvis. It is a brotherhood that was formed following a grueling three-and-a-half-week boot camp to prepare them for filming. "We have matching tattoos," Gandolfini says of the bonded group. "I talk to them 24-7. They've all changed my life, truly. It was unbelievable."

"Unbelievable" is a word Gandolfini uses a lot during our conversation—to describe his Daredevil costar Genneya Walton and the show's second half, in reference to his experience working on Warfare, and again when considering the idea of potentially working for Ben Stiller one day. It's as if the experiences are too good to be true, but with talent like Gandolfini's, he's right where he should be. He's grounded, making smart project choices, and working with some of the best in the business. While Marvel fans are asking "Who is Daniel Blake?" the real question should be, Who is Michael Gandolfini? He's one to watch—that's for sure.

Catch up on Daredevil: Born Again, now streaming on Disney+.

Photographer: Thea Traff

Groomer: Jenny Sauce