‘Wonder Man’ Stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II & Sir Ben Kingsley Preview Their Onscreen Friendship (VIDEO)
What To Know
- Wonder Man stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sir Ben Kingsley preview their roles.
- Learn more about how acting brings Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery together.
- The actors offer a glimpse behind the Marvel curtain.
Wonder Man is pulling back the curtain on the acting world inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the street-level series introduces viewers to Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II).
The down-on-his-luck actor is looking for his next big break, which Mateen teases is something many other people are likely to relate to. “I think a lot of people will see themselves as Simon,” Mateen tells TV Insider. “Simon is a guy with a dream, and I think that’s something that everybody will be able to relate to, is feeling like they have something to share with the world, and we get to watch him go on his journey.”
Plucked from the comics, Simon Williams is getting a slight twist, as the trailer teases he’s trying out for the famed titular role in a remake of the cult classic movie within the MCU. In the process of going out for the part, he crosses paths with the infamous Mandarin, a.k.a. Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley), making them one delightfully odd duo.
Disney+ / Suzanne Tenner
Kingsley shares, “One thing I’ve noticed which is really endearing about this series is that Yahya’s character Simon has a very primal link with his dad, where he gets the first experience of acting, of transforming, of being the superhero version of oneself. And I, my character Trevor, have almost exactly the same parallel with his mother Dorothy, who has great faith in him as an actor.”
Acting is in their bones and, as Kingsley puts it, “is actually vital to the tribe, to humanity… and I think that both Simon and Trevor, from their different directions, are far more interested in craft than they are in fame.”
Mateen echoes his costar’s sentiments, saying, “Simon is looking for a sense of belonging, you know, and acting, I believe, has been a place where Simon feels the most seen, where he feels heard. It’s the possibility of there being a safe world for him where he has friends and he can be loud and he can and he can express himself.”
Watch the video interview with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley above. Then, see them share in that joy onscreen in Wonder Man and see the series when it arrives on Disney+.
Wonder Man, Series Premiere, Tuesday, January 27, Disney+
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