Before Daredevil, Charlie Cox Starred In This Historical HBO Crime Series
by Devin Meenan · /FilmWe may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
While Charlie Cox's acting resume is hardly thin, it's safe to predict that Matt Murdock/Daredevil is the role people will remember him for — and I don't think he'll mind! Cox is quite passionate about the part, even drawing on some of his own Catholic upbringing to play the conflicted but religious Daredevil.
When Cox was cast as Daredevil in 2014, he was coming off a two season tenure on HBO's historical crime drama "Boardwalk Empire." In the second and third seasons (which aired in 2011 and 2012, respectively), he played Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier turned bootlegger Owen Sleater. In fact, Cox's charming performance on that show helped him get "Daredevil," and not only because he proved he could hold his own against actors like Steve Buscemi (who played series lead Nucky Thompson, a political/crime boss and Sleater's employer).
Joe Quesada, the then chief creative officer of Marvel, had watched "Boardwalk Empire," and Cox became his no. 1 pick to play Matt Murdock. Quesada, originally a comic artist, drew the famous "Daredevil" comic story "Guardian Devil" by Kevin Smith. That meant had some solid insights into what makes a good Daredevil portrayal, and his instincts about Cox were as on point as Daredevil's own enhanced senses. But what about Owen Sleater screamed Matt Murdock?
"Boardwalk Empire" is set in the 1920s; while Prohibition is happening in the U.S., the Irish War for Independence rages across the pond. That converges in Season 2, when Nucky brokers a deal with the IRA to import liquor. Sleater is sent as an emissary and sticks around — especially since he fancies Nucky's Irish wife, Margaret (Kelly Macdonald), who more than reciprocates the interest. Charming up a woman he shouldn't, with no care for the consequences? There's almost nothing more Matt Murdock than that!
Before Charlie Cox was Matt Murdock, he was Owen Sleater on Boardwalk Empire
Today, the most (in)famous iteration of the Irish Republican Army is the Provisional IRA, which kept fighting after a ceasefire treaty and the partition of Ireland in 1922. This left most of the country independent from British rule, except for six counties in the north, and IRA factions were split on whether this was a first step or a betrayal. The PIRA's guerilla campaign from the 1960s to the 1990s, is called "The Troubles" and chronicled in shows like "Say Nothing" (which takes the romance out of the IRA for patriotic Irish Americans) and "Derry Girls."
But Owen Sleater is an O.G. He's part of the original IRA that fought for liberation when Ireland was still a complete British colony, led by revolutionaries like Michael Collins and James Connolly. (It's inferred that one reason Owen sticks around working for Nucky is he doesn't want to be caught in the civil war between pro- and anti-treaty IRA factions.)
When you take up armed rebellion, you are by definition breaking laws you feel are unjust. Therein lies a throughline in Charlie Cox's characters: Owen Sleater and Matt Murdock are both violent men breaking the law due to a deep conviction that overpowers any legality. What were the IRA if not organized vigilantes?
One key difference is that Owen has no problem with killing. He quickly puts his bomb-making experiences to use in Nucky's employ, and one of Cox's favorite "Boardwalk Empire" scenes is in the episode "Peg of Old," when Owen tracks down and kills an IRA "tout" (read: traitor) with a garrote. Considering Owen also decides the life of a bootlegger is for him, he's hardly a man of strong conscience.
The themes of Irish identity in Boardwalk Empire
"Boardwalk Empire" was created by Terence Winter, who cut his teeth writing on "The Sopranos." The shows have undeniable overlap in themes, style, and casting, but their settings are distinct. "The Sopranos" is about turn of the millennium malaise and how the classical Italian mafia doesn't fit in the 21st century, while "Boardwalk Empire" goes back to American organized crime's beginnings.
The series also explores the immigrant experience, but primarily with Irish American gangsters instead of Italians. Compare "Commendatori," the "Sopranos" Season 2 episode where its leads visit Italy and suffers culture shock, with Nucky and Owen's trip to Belfast in "Boardwalk Empire" Season 2's "Battle of the Century."
Nucky and his brother Eli (Shea Wingham) are first generation Irish immigrants and depict how, in the early 20th century, Irish Americans worked as policemen and used political machines to get out from under WASP discrimination with their own power bases. Margaret was born in Ireland and fled her home to escape life in a Magdalene Laundry after getting pregnant. Her attraction to Owen isn't just his handsome face, it's nostalgia.
Owen has been compared to Furio (Federico Castelluccio), the Italian gangster from "The Sopranos" who almost sleeps with Carmela Soprano (Edie Falco) in Season 4. Owen and Margaret actually consummate (repeatedly), but their ending is more tragic. Owen is last seen in Season 3, Episode 10, "A Man, A Plan...," trying to kill crime boss Joe Masseria (Ivo Nandi). In a scene evoking "Se7en," Nucky and Margaret are sent a box with Owen's corpse inside.
His time on "Boardwalk Empire" was fairly short, but Charlie Cox's performance is undeniable. He's so good as Owen you can almost forgive "Boardwalk Empire" casting an English actor as an Irishman fighting against British occupation.