Those who’ve been watched the third episode of the MCU limited series Hawkeye have been introduced to Maya Lopez, aka Echo, aka the head of the tracksuit mafia after Clint Barton (Jeremey Renner) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). What you may not have known, however, is that Alaqua Cox—the actor who plays Echo—had never acted before joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“I never dreamed of being an actor,” Cox explained in the featurette. “A tweet said, “female, Native, athletic, smart… everyone texted me, ‘This is you!’”
It’s hard to believe that Cox had never acted before playing Maya on Hawkeye. She has an impressive on-screen presence, something that Hawkeye directors Bert and Bertie noticed right away. “Something that happens with some actors, that when they step in front of the camera, there’s this kind of collective inhale of breath… she’s just got this star quality to her,” Bertie shared.
The featurette, which you can watch in its entirety above, includes some behind-the-scenes clips and a bit more about Cox’s introduction to the MCU. While we’ve only had a few minutes with her character so far, I can’t wait to see what happens in Hawkeye’s remaining three episodes as well as in her own Disney+ spinoff show, whenever that rolls around.
In the meantime, this featurette sheds some light on Cox and how she approaches playing Maya. “I am very proud and I’m excited to show everyone that for people with disabilities, anything is possible,” Cox shared at the end of the video.
New episodes of Hawkeye drop on Disney+ on Wednesdays.
Buy the Book
Sisters of the Forsaken Stars
