Antonia Salib portrays Taweret, an Egyptian Goddess in Disney+’s ongoing series Moon Knight. In a recent interview with Marvel about her character, Salib discussed the difficulties of filming scenes as a giant hippopotamus and more.
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“[The character] was a complete surprise. I knew I was auditioning for Marvel Studios and I knew it was for a lead — an Egyptian woman,” Salib said of her character. “They kind of gave me a fake name, and they had a dummy script. It was only once I was about to meet the director, and the casting team, they just mentioned, ‘By the way, you’re going to be a CGI hippo.’ I was like ‘OK, sounds great, let’s do it!’”
When it came to portraying the character, Salib had to get used to the process of filming with motion capture in mind. In order to accomplish the size and scale differences of Taweret, Salib had to wear large platform shoes, as well as some of the costume pieces of the Egyptian goddess.
“I wore these huge platform shoes … they were [supposed] to be hippo feet,” said Salib. “There was this gorgeous scarab, and hieroglyphs carved into my costume. It was kind of a big breastplate that I wore around my neck. And I had several layers of feathers that plumed out. She’s a very fashionable goddess. [I had] these brilliant bracelets, and it was just beautiful, all gold. The joy of having this incredible costume, and these beautiful sets, was just that it really helped elevate me to this godly hippo status so that I rise to the role.”
Moon Knight stars Golden Globe winner Oscar Isaac as Steven Grant/Marc Spector, marking the fan-favorite superhero’s live-action debut. It also features Ethan Hawke as Arthur Harrow, F. Murray Abraham as the voice of Khonshu, May Calamawy as Layla, and the late Gaspard Ulliel as Midnight Man.
“It follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, who becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life,” says the official synopsis. “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.”
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Based on the character created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin, Moon Knight hails from head writer and executive producer Jeremy Slater (The Umbrella Academy). The episodes are directed by acclaimed filmmaker Mohamed Diab, along with Synchronic duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead.
Executive producers are Isaac, Diab, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Grant Curtis, Trevor Waterson, and Rebecca Kirsch.
