Who Played Young Matt Murdock? the Untold Story of Daredevil's Breakout Child Actor

Is who Played Young Matt Murdock? the Untold Story of Daredevil's Breakout Child Actor a hot topic right now? Read the pros and cons below.

Gaertner was not an absolute novice when he stepped onto the Hell's Kitchen set. Born in 2004, the young actor had already logged guest appearances on procedural dramas including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Person of Interest, alongside indie feature work in films like The Ticket. Yet playing young Matt Murdock required learning entirely unique physical disciplines.

He had to portray absolute blindness while reacting to acute auditory cues. In Season 1, Episode 7 ("Stick"), Gaertner went toe-to-toe with veteran actor Scott Glenn. The sequence demanded intense physicality: dodging wooden quarterstaffs, meditating on cold floorboards, and learning to separate background noise from immediate danger. Gaertner captured Matt's stubborn pride, the exact obstinacy Charlie Cox would later project across three full seasons.

Whenever Netflix's writers needed to illuminate Cox's psychological fracture points, they returned to Gaertner. In Season 3 (2018), flashbacks brought Gaertner back to depict young Matt under the care of Father Lantom and Sister Maggie at Saint Agnes Orphanage. Even as his physical appearance matured between filming cycles, Gaertner maintained the distinct vocal cadence and rigid posture that mirrored Cox's adult interpretation.