Vincent D’Onofrio used to put on weight to play Marvel’s Kingpin. Now he uses a fatsuit

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Let’s face it, one of the most iconic features of Kingpin is his girth. The Marvel villain is known for his large stature, and not every actor fits that frame. Vincent D’Onofrio has been playing Wilson Fisk since the 2015 Daredevil Netflix series, and he had to work to reshape his body for the role. In fact, it even affected other roles he took. Luckily, things are a bit easier now in the Disney+ era, thanks to fatsuits and prosthetics. 

Speaking to a crowd at Dragon Con, D’Onofrio shared his fitness journey as Kingpin.

“The story with my size and Fisk is not that fucking interesting. Jeph Loeb was interested in me playing Fisk, and I knew who Fisk was. I had a couple of Daredevils and I had a lot of Spider-Man comics when I was young. I knew that I would have to put on weight to do it, I put on about 40 pounds or so for that first Netflix show. I never stopped exercising and doing my normal exercises and stuff. I bulked up and got….let’s face it…lovely and fat, which I thought was amazing. I loved it, because I could eat all the carbs and dairy I wanted.”

D’Onofrio also had to warn other directors about his weight for projects he would do when Daredevil was on hiatus. “The three seasons took almost five years, and that was intense. I kept that weight on for all that time. In between I was doing Jurassic World and Magnificent Seven. I was saying to directors, ‘My guy is going to be a big dude.’”

However, when he returned to the role for Hawkeye, everything changed.

“What I learned during Hawkeye is that they have these new suits that make you look like you’re big. It’s the first time they ever looked real to me under clothes. They used it on Thor when he gains the weight. That was also prosthetics and CGI combined.”

“They did start making these amazing suits that NASA makes and they contour to all your muscles, and they just extend your actual muscle form to bigger. It’s really nice and they’re really light. They weigh as much as a sneaker. But they’re hot. They’re warm, but they’re not heavy.”

“I said I should start wearing those instead of having this weight on. During Hawkeye I started to take the weight off and I wore the big suit. And then when Echo came around I was already getting very close to my original shape again, and having my weight off. It took a while because I’m older.”

“I wore a suit in Echo, which was also fantastic. Now I’m just able to do my regular routine and wear these suits that are amazing. In the new series I’m wearing the suit, and it’s incredible. We play with makeup a little bit too to make my face look rounder. I’ve seen a few of the episodes now of the new season, and it works really well. I think you’ll be happy.”

Daredevil: Born Again will premiere on Disney+ in March 2025.

Fear not, we have the essentials when it comes to Marvel’s Daredevil. From the best Daredevil stories of all time, to a guide to watching Daredevil, a comprehensive guide to Marvel Studios’ Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+, Marvel’s Daredevil actors, ranked from Charlie Cox to Ben Affleck and even Rex Smith, how Frank Miller accidentally killed a Daredevil cartoon (and Marvel killed a book to avoid pissing him off), and even that time we caught Daredevil actor Charlie Cox sneaking into New York Comic Con as Bluey.