Nicholas Hoult is having a ridiculous 2015. At 25 years old,
he feels like an actor on the verge of a major breakthrough. Not only did he
appear in what is still arguably the best film of the year (“Mad Max: Fury Road”),
but he has two films premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival—“Kill
Your Friends” and “Equals,” co-starring Kristen Stewart. “Kill Your Friends” is
based on the darkly comedic novel by John Niven and features a Hoult you haven’t
really seen before. He’s an A&R man in the ‘90s in England—think Blur,
Oasis, and all their imitators. It’s a cutthroat world, in which people will do
literally anything, including inflicting great bodily harm, to get ahead.
Co-starring James Corden, Rosanna Arquette, Craig Roberts, and Tom Riley, “Kill
Your Friends” is kind of like “24 Hour Party People” meets “American Psycho,”
and Hoult is fantastic throughout, keeping us engaged with a sociopath. He sat
down with us during a busy TIFF to talk about both of his films, Nux, and his
idols.
Did you know “Fury
Road” would be as amazing as it was? Did you suspect?
It’s difficult to say. You have great experiences on films with
good people, and sometimes the film doesn’t live up to what you expected. But
that one certainly, seeing what Tom and Charlize were doing, and the amount of
prep and the work behind each story and the character and the props, and
aesthetically what everything looked like. I knew that George Miller was a
genius. It was a great recipe.
But the most highly
acclaimed film of the year?
No, you can never really have an expectation of that. My idea is
to enjoy the film process and learn, and if the film doesn’t turn out exactly
how you expect it, or doesn’t get critically whatever, then you don’t feel like, “Oh, that was a wasted thing.” Some of them don’t get reviewed very well when
they first come out, but then twenty years later people love ‘em. It’s more
about taking something from the experience as a whole.
What’s the learning
experience for “Kill Your Friends”?
Normally, I’m quite relaxed about dialogue and all those sorts
of things, and normally you have freedom with character to go find this it as
you go. But this character was very much about being precise with his words,
and knowing where he started a sentence and where he was going to finish, and
what the cherry on top was going to be. There was no time for me to not be on.
It’s just a different character to work with. And I always look at a film when
it’s finished and think, “Oh, I could have done that scene a differently, or I
should have done that.” Even when I get home, it’s like you’re falling asleep
and BAM! “That was the thing I should have tried, that was the thing I should
have tried.”
This was the chance
for you to spread your wings a little bit more, try something different. Is
that something you seek out?
Yeah, completely. Between “Mad Max,” this, and
“Equals” I’m just trying to do different stuff. And challenges as
well, that’s how you push yourself to not be scared of taking on something that
isn’t necessarily a sure thing.
Was there fear in
this one in playing an unlikable character? This film could have made you look
like a jerk, or an asshole.
But I’ve also played nice characters. And normally the jerks and
the bad guys are more interesting. Unfortunately, they’re more fascinating to
watch. But I wasn’t worried about being unlikable. There’s always that thing,
to get into a character I like, and this is kudos to Jon and Owen more, at
times trying to condone the behavior and figure out where it comes from. What
happened? What is he a product of? It’s more a commentary on that world and the
pressure that the people are in, than anything specifically about the character.
Obviously there are things that are off about his nature, but also I think one
of the more bold things about the book and the film is that he doesn’t really
get a comeuppance. Most of the time with a character like that, you’ll see a
thing like, “Ah, and here’s the humanity, here’s the moral of our tale.” That’s
not the case in this.
And no explanation in
this.
Which I actually appreciate, in a way. It’s like, “Yeah, okay,
this is what it is. It’s twisted, and fun, and tapping into the dark side of a
person’s personality.”
Did you do any
backstory, just for yourself? Was this the first murder he committed, or do you
not bother with that? Do you just do what’s on the page?
Owen and I spoke about that, and the things that he loathed like
the general public. He probably had quite humble beginnings in life, and had to
be a success, because in the end he’s got nothing. And that’s the key thing
about some of the other characters. They come from money families, and if it
doesn’t work out for them, it will be like, “Hey, my dad will give me a job
somewhere else.” My guy is like, he must make it work. This is his only option,
he’s desperate in a way. And this is what pushes him to go farther than other
people, so that was a key part.
Did you worry about
going too far, and making them grotesque, repulsive or did you trust your
writer/directors?
I think Owen was very conscious of not making it too much a “Lads’
Film.” When you’ve got a group of guys, and they’ve got misogynistic views from
my character, it would be easy to suddenly make it a “Lads” kind of film. And
that’s where I think treading a fine line of keeping it elegant and smart and
slightly restrained and withdrawn in certain moments so it doesn’t run away
from itself and become …
It could’ve gotten really dark, but it balances the tone.
I haven’t seen it with an audience yet. They screened it in
Berlin, and I wasn’t able to go. And John peeked it just before the line, “This record is the biggest insult to
humanity since a roomful of Nazis first cooed over the blueprints for
Auschwitz.” And apparently there was a stunned pause in the cinema…and
[then] everyone was laughing. So if that goes down well …
Did you do any
research into the music scene of the 90s? I love all the music choices, Blur,
Oasis. You weren’t quite old enough to experience that, right?
No, I was like seven or eight. And musically, people have asked
if I had a playlist and listened to a lot of music. To be honestly, no, my
character is not meant to like music. A lot of movies I do use music, this one
I didn’t. It’s irrelevant to me. My character is not meant to have a background
taste or know much about it. It’s just a business.
The period details
are great.
The book is actually very useful for that sort of thing. I
remember brief things from that time period, but it’s also that feeling of cool
Britannia and Tony Blair, and everyone being like “yeah, here we go.” It’s that
feeling we wanted to capture as well.
You’re having quite a
fest. You’ve got this and you’ve got “Equals.” Is a festival fun for you? Do
you get to have a good time? Or is it more like work?
I enjoy it.
Do you get to see
other films and meet people?
I don’t think I’ll get to see many other films because I’m doing
press both days. But you do run into a lot of people. And plus it’s just a
smaller environment to be like, “Hey, here’s something we made,” and it just
seems a lot more personal. It’s cool, and I’m very proud to have this and
“Equals” here, two very different movies.
You said you’re
picking things that challenge you. Do you plan things out in your career
trajectory? This is where you want to be in five, ten, fifteen years?
I don’t think you can really say, “Oh, I want to be doing that,”
because you don’t know what role is going to come along, or what is going to
happen. You really don’t know. It’s more about getting better, working with
good people, and learning. And also, I look at the actors I look up to like
Fassbender, Hardy, McAvoy, and I’m like “OK,” and I look at the work of theirs
that I love the most, and most of those came in their early-to-mid 30s, some of
the time. So I’m like, “Okay, take your time, chill, do your thing, learn, get
better, and then hopefully when you’re around the age they started being
inspiring to you, you’ll start be able to give performances like that.”
The actors you look
up to. Anyone else that comes to mind? You look at them and say, “They did it
right. They did the right choices.” Anyone else?
I mean obviously some of the Paul Newmans, and I love Steve
McQueen movies. Everyone says Gary Oldman. But I want to do different stuff as
well, to do comedies, mess about, and see how it goes.
I love your variety
of genres and I think that’s what makes you so interesting. And I’m old enough
to remember “About a Boy.” Do you remember your “I want to act” moment?
It was something that I did as a hobby basically, and enjoyed.
But I never went to work one day and said, “I’m going to be an actor.”
What’s the first
thing that comes to mind when it comes to a movie that affected you as a
kid?
“The Mask.” Robin Williams and Jim Carrey made my childhood. I
loved “The Mask” when I was a kid.
What’s next? What are
you working on?
I just finished the newest “X-Men.”
Can you tell us a
little about that? Or are you on lockdown?
Kind of a planet’s apocalypse, a very big epic. But what I enjoy
about the X-Men scripts is that other superheroes are like, “Hey, we’re awesome
look at us.” But the X-Men are grounded in a nice human way. And they do a
great job of bringing that to the characters, so that is always a nice treat. I’m
going to be playing J.D. Salinger.
That’s Danny Strong who will direct, right?
How is that going to be? And is there fear in taking on such an icon?
It would be stupid not be fearful and nervous about those kinds
of things, but that’s what you thrive on a little bit. There’s no point in … I
could sit here and be like, “I’m going to take on this easy blah blah blah,”
but that’s not how you get better. And there’s roles like this that people feel
passionate about so you just do your best. The script’s brilliant. His life’s
fascinating, there are so many elements to his personality I am intrigued by,
and I see certain similarities between us, but also we’re very different in
many ways obviously. I also just find the brain of the writer, whether lost in
a script or a book, I love that they get lost in their world and are a big part
of it, and that’s something I really can’t do, but am intrigued by.
It’s a common theme
in films. We go back to biopics.
To see someone create, and how they get a voice in all of those
things, is incredible.
