TRUTH OR DAREDEVIL

Charlie Cox is the stylish superhero we need right now

Modesty comes easy to Charlie Cox. He was born in London and grew up in southern England, a fanatical sports fan of slight demeanour (he now clocks in at a whopping 5’8”) and even slighter aspirations of becoming a famous actor. “I’m actually very talentless,” he says. “Actors tend to be artistic, and I’m not at all. Singing is a bad thing for me. And I can’t draw anything.” Which is fine, because Cox doesn’t have to sing or draw in his role as Daredevil, the fearless red-suited Marvel superhero who appears in both his own series (aptly called Daredevil) and alongside Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist in Netflix’s super-ensemble The Defenders.

Instead, Cox just has to sell death-defying leaps and remarkable — you might even say superhuman — athletic prowess. That, he can handle. “I was never a comic book guy growing up. I was all about sports, man,” he says. “Muggsy Bogues was a hero of mine. He’s only 5’3” but he could dunk. When I heard that, I thought, I’m gonna figure that out.” Cox delved headlong into perfecting his sporting prowess, though admittedly stuck to more British pursuits like soccer or rugby than basketball — anything, though, that involved using his body and the chance that he might be able to show someone up on the playing field. That even included a brief stint at circus school, where he learned some (now very hidden) talents. “The one thing I can do is ride a unicycle. And juggle. Stuff like that,” he says. “It’s very useful.” If you ask us, that’s far more impressive than anything his Marvel alter ego can do.