From Marvel Studios, exclusively for Disney+, comes the all-new, original, live-action series “Moon Knight,” starring Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke and May Calamawy.

The story follows Steven Grant (portrayed by Isaac), a mild-mannered man who lives a mundane life, plagued by blackouts and mysterious memories of a life somehow separate from his own. Steven discovers he has Dissociative Identity Disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt.

Entertainment Affair recently joined Oscar Isaac and co-stars Ethan Hawke and May Calamawy; directors Mohamed Diab, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead; and executive producer Grant Curtis for a virtual press conference moderated by Entertainment Weekly staffer Devan Coogan. Check out a few highlights of the event below.

Being Egyptian, director Mohamed Diab was delighted in being a part of bringing the story to life

“What really attracted me was the Egyptian part of it, the present and the past, the Egyptology of it. As an Egyptian, we always see us depicted or the Middle East depicted in a way that is – we call it orientalism when you see us as exotic and dehumanized.  Just showing us as a human, just normal human beings, through Layla’s character and seeing even Egypt as Egypt because 90 per cent of the time, Egypt is not Egypt. Imagine Paris and you’re seeing Big Ben in the background.  That’s how we see our country.  So it’s funny, but it hurts.“

Isaac cast his brother to be his stand-in during scenes in which Steven and Marc need to interact

“The first thing was that we hired my brother, Michael Hernández, to come in and be the other me. It’s the closest thing to me there is,” he explained. “He came in and he would play either Steven or Marc; he even did both accents! It was really helpful to have someone who’s not only a great actor, but who also shares my DNA to play off of. I didn’t anticipate how technically demanding it would be to show up and decide which character I was going to play first, then try to block that out, give my brother notes, do the scene, switch characters, and figure it out. One of the most fun things about acting is acting opposite somebody and letting something spontaneous happen. There wasn’t really an opportunity to do that [without Hernández].”

May Calamawy spoke about developing her character and the respect given to her input from her colleagues

“I love how strong she is. But at the same time, I felt like I got to play the full gamut of a woman with her, because she’s strong, she’s for the people, and she fights for what she believes,” Calamawy said, “but she’s also really vulnerable and scared. So that was fun for me.”

“I’m relatively new to this whole process and this industry, so I’m lucky you’re all fighting for Layla as well. I just didn’t know I was going to be able to take the space to collaborate in this way, and then seeing that I had it, I think it took me a second to trust my opinion. I’ve been in this place where I’m like, I’m just gonna do what I’m told. They all really heard me.”

Ethan Hawke drew inspiration from shooting on location

“I loved getting to be in the deserts of Jordan, being on the same location where they shot Lawrence of Arabia,” he said. “One of the things that surprised me about the Marvel Universe is that it’s fun acting in front of a lot of green screens. I come from a theater training, so I enjoyed pretending something was there. But then when you’re really in the desert, it’s so beautiful. I felt a connection to the cinema history of the desert, and the people in Jordan treated us so well. It elevated our collective imagination, and I think it broadened the scope of the show.”

Producer Grant Curtis on bringing Moon Knight to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

“Well, I think Moon Knight, in particular, has been on Kevin Feige’s radar from day one. I mean you look at his history, first appeared in Werewolf By Night in 1975, then he kind of bounced around in the Marvel universe for the next five years, then got his own offering in 1980. And when you look at years and decades of storytelling, as the great storytellers and artists on the Moon Knight pages have been doing, I think this was a natural progression, a merger into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight launches on March 30, on Disney+.