Happy Sad Confused - Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Episode Date: December 13, 2024

Aaron Taylor-Johnson doesn't do anything half-way. A chameleon in a leading man's body, he's also assembled quite the superhero resume, from KICK-ASS to Pietro and now to KRAVEN THE HUNTER. He covers it all with Josh in ths rare extended conversation. SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! BetterHelp -- Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BetterHelp.com/HSC ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for 10% off Uncommon Goods – Visit UncommonGoods.com/podcast/HappySad for 15% off Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes, video versions of the podcast, and more! To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Josh's youtube channel here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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You're one of the few one-and-done MCU characters, especially in this multiverse we're living in, the fact that they have never had a conversation with you about coming back, or have they? That's a convenient sip of coffee that just happened. Yeah, well, maybe not everything's out there. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now.

I'm Josh Horowitz, and today on Happy Say I Confused, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is back. It's been far too long. he's been on the podcast. The good news is it's been a ban on for you, Aaron. We've got the fall guy early on. We have no straw to. And now the big one.

Craven the Hunter. Craven the Hunter. You ready to dive in, man? Yeah, I'm ready to dive in, Josh. Yeah, thanks, man. Thanks for having me on the show. It's good to see you again. Last time I saw you in person, a little bit of a different vibe.

4,000 people, New York. We're in Comic Con. We're in New York. It's like a stage full of wannabe cravens trying to take your job. We had a lot of cosplay going on. it's a new word I've learned this thing called cosplay what was that like for you

I mean that's dude it's it's really overwhelming but but flattering and actually you just come out and you really get a sense that there's a lot of love and support and rather than feeling

my usual which is to kind of like back away and show I actually it's I think it was it's some there's this weird moment you have to feel it's important to sort of receive I think and I'm not someone who's very good at receiving and in that moment I felt like even though my body was shaking quite honestly in the backstance and it's quite funny because we were going oh wow you seem so comfortable out there

I'm like no dude the whole body is like you don't really know what to expect and anyway you step out and yeah it was a wave of love and support and energy and and excitement and and anticipation and I think it was a really nice moment. Oh, sorry, it's a really nice moment at the end of it because obviously we'd started to show the footage and by that point, this was the first bit of footage we've ever shown anybody and it was the beginning of the movie, the first eight minutes of the movie,

and then extra little sort of action sequences. And it got so, and it got so, such a great reaction and I think there was a moment of like relief of like yeah I mean for my director and my producers and and I'm like years in the making and oh yeah we years in the making our head of the studio Tom Rothman was there you know there were high stakes there in that moment and it felt like we as a family came to deliver something that we wholeheartedly are very proud of and excited to share and I think you know there's a lot of conversation around Sony Marvel movies that have come out and and it's a reputation that we are trying to you know we

really want to rewrite that narrative with with by showing quality quality work right quality stuff and kind of going okay we hear you because I think there's got to be a dialogue at some point is we got to listen and and the beauty is we really have we really have listened and we've really taken in to a certain degree like you got to you know but I think you you take in this, when you're, and I feel this, maybe this is more me personally, I don't know, I shouldn't really speak for others, but like, I feel there's a responsibility when you step into the shoes of a comic book character that's, you know, it's got that Marvel stamp, you know, it's high standards and you have a duty to deliver, you know, you really do have

to, and I would never have stepped into these shoes had I felt like I couldn't put my all into it and you know we wanted to have emotion and heart and like depth and layer to this character and then obviously there's that physical element and one of those things was trying

we really tried you know the it was we couldn't squeeze this thing into a PG-13 box you know at some point it was like it was it was limiting us to tell the story not only on the action like everyone's theme

and stuff in the trailers it's like well that's that's our which is overall intensity to the material overall intensity when you're dealing with adult themes and the stories of like you know Craven's backstory and his family trauma is real like he's got like you know a head mafia mobster father and his mother's mentally unwell and and you can get that from the comic books and stuff and for those fans They'll understand that, but it gives such context to why Sergei Kravinoff goes on this path of villainary

and also the psychological damage that he's doing as he goes along the way of trying to fight injustice and be this vigilante after a while, the effects and the actions are going to lead up to some consequences. But I think, you know, we have, you carry that weight where you just like, we have a lot to deliver and in that moment at New York Comic-Con first test audience basically said we see you

you have brought it it was that moment where we just it all came to fruition in that moment it became like yeah we've arrived at a place where we all feel

very very excited and proud and um that's a good feeling because uh we put a lot of work into this needles to say knowing your work we put a lot into it yeah and i think we care because it's it's it's such a shame when when these things get done and then out and they dumped and bomb and then you kind of what was that all for and i think we j c shandall as a filmmaker he's a director who tells great stories and and this is a fantastic studio and and understand great movies too and you're so somewhere down the line, we just, you know, we've had to, we just, we've, we've, we've really put our efforts into it. And, and the intention, right, is to make a character that has legs

to stand on in a sense of like, yes, there's this first movie, right? And people go, well, you know, and where is it going? You go, no, ideally, we're setting you up on a beautiful journey, come see this first movie. And I promise you it won't disappoint, especially for of fans who really want to see the trajectory of where Craven the Hunter can go, we can go there. Especially because we've set it up in this R-rated origin story, it allows you to give all of the information, gives you the empathy and the depth of this character. So can he dive around other places? Yeah, sure, of course he can. We've set him up in a way that has got real strong roots. Well, I will say, like, I come at this, I know you weren't a comic book kid, but I was

a comic book kid and Craven meant a lot to a comic book kid oh I thought you said a complicated kid that's you don't have that kind of time though today yeah um well I was a very complicated kid can go there too if you want um but this comic I remember Craven's last hunt I read that when I was like 11 years old whoa that must have been quite um I'm thinking a lot to really kind of digest I know and it's really heavy spoiler alert and I think a lot of people watching it wasn't they know where that goes it's the end of his journey yes just put it that way Yeah, I had never dealt with that subject in my life. And as an 11-year-old, seeing that in comic book form.

So I guess my question is, and look, I'm excited that this movie exists, and I know people keep asking you about that comic because it is, it's a special piece of work. It's a really brilliant story. Do you feel like Sony has, like, would actually go there? Do you feel like they would go where they need to go for Craven's Last Hunt? Let me tell you that, firstly, right, that story, Craven's Last Hunt, It's not only one of my favorites, it's J.C.'s favorites, too.

And the beauty of that story is it's not, it is not like any other comic book out there. Like, I don't really know a character that big, that one, like, established that has gone, there's the end. There's your end of the journey. And you go, whoa, it just hits you in such a different, powerful way, because it's bold. It's someone who, you know, when they wrote that, they went, it's, but, I mean, it's an interesting story about that one. But that's a really bold story. And I think that would make for an absolute stunning movie to bring to the screen, like a story to bring to the screen, sorry.

And would I love to play that? Yes, 100%. Of course I would, right? I think that is, ideally, that is the peak of the mountain, shall we say, right? So, okay, so we've got a story out there. We've got source material that spans, you know, 50 years. and all the way through. That stands as like a beacon for like J.C. and I, especially.

And yeah, of course, I think there's a studio that are definitely, you know, they're not, you know, they understand the trajectory of a franchise, right? Of course they want that, but they understand how important the first movie is, right? And the audience is for that, right? And you can't cheat the audience. You can't just tell them there's going to be three in the movie. running you can't do that you got a you got what you've got to give them a decent fantastic story in the first place and it's only going to hold up on that right and i think that's

fair i think that's realistic and that's actually what it should be like i'm not um i have realistic expectations as to like let's just see how this sits a loud because if the audience don't click to it if they don't draw to it then then then we haven't got somewhere to go really with it but um you know so you've got to be realistic um but we took that you take that element you take the end of this character's journey and you go right let's go to the very beginning right that how did we get how did he get that um dark and complicated complex and layered and dealing with so many different egos mental health depression like it just goes there it goes so dark in a way that is just exciting to take a character of a Marvel world and give it

relatability on such a depth and a level and for me and JC it was like that's plant the seed of that in this movie that's give it like roots to hold on to let's give this character something that has the opportunity to go there which is why is a big thing. Yeah, is he, you know, this is why there's a sort of a buzz around like, is he a villain or is he an anti-hero?

It's like, well, yeah, he's a protagonist of our story, right? He is our hero of our story, right? And you root for this character. You feel empathy for this character. But yes, he will be a villain and he will be the most incredible villain because we've given him

with, you know, the birth story is here and it can we can go somewhere, which is so much more exciting. And to make us, get us to empathize with where this guy goes, is going to make, hopefully, if you get there, all the more power. How complicated would that be, that you're rooting for the villain? Like, you start to kind of go, no, your methods are complex. And the more he goes down that road.

And I don't want to give plot spoilers away. But it's rich, and there's some twists and turns in there. And there's things that are going to just more conflict, more drama, more obstacles in his. way that are just going to put him down that path deeper and deeper on that journey and for me I'm like sorry sorry for me I'm really excited about taking that on the road in a way that could be like and you know and for fans or for audiences like I get the question a lot of like well who's he gonna be with right right and you go great cool it can be with anybody he can be with any of the

comic book characters you've read yes there's Sinister 6 yes there's There's some other characters, you know, out there. And you just kind of go, that's for you guys. I'm not, you know, I can tell you that Craven's Last Hunt is incredible. But right, if that's the end of the journey, like, there's some, there's some, there's some steps along the way that there's a journey there. Why wouldn't you want, why shouldn't, why couldn't we go down that way if it's, if it's interesting enough? So anyway, all of that said, that's why it's exciting because we, so we knew that we had to breathe so much life. into this first movie it has to be detail oriented it needed to have empathy in depth and

and and there's an intention the intention is to have have longevity yeah and that's something that's exciting for me because it's a very rare thing especially to to do in your career and commit to and put yourself out there like that because sometimes you know they can stop short yeah um so what does that do for you in your career or choices of other things that are going on but the way i see it is is like i've done my part right we're in a lot of work for this this is now yeah and it's now to you guys and like enjoy it like enjoy it like and um and if it kicks up a buzz and it kicks up an excitement to go further with it and be a part of something else i'm down i'll be there we'll do it and um and in between that i'm going to continue

to work on very different things and other directors and I have been this year in order to have some nice variety of things out there because I need that

creative consistency of doing something unique and different and so you're doing a good job of that as always I mean so we've been talking for many years

the first time I talked to was for kickass talking about comic book movies I mean for a guy that didn't grow up with comic books I didn't know You've got a lot of comments.

I was a complicated kid. You were a comic book kid. So if you'll indulge me, I want to go down memory lane a little bit with respect to the superhero stuff. Matthew Vaughn, quite an interesting character. Very interesting character. He's done the podcast a couple times. I know from talking to Taryn and others. He's not a guy that's like necessarily a nurturing presence on set.

He identifies talent very well, but he's not going to coddle you. No, he has got a quite paternal way of doing it. but yes it's not in he's not uh he doesn't smother right so was that talk to me a little bit about the learning experience on that which on sorry on kickass on kick ass yeah well i mean yeah like i said he he does have a paternal side and i think he and a mentoring side and i think you really got a look at i mean i think he doesn't get much credit for this but the careers he's actually put out there i mean even that's i mean daniel craig layer cake let's just start with that one. I mean, there wasn't just coincidence there that was a stepping stone in that direction

for that man's career. That never bond doesn't happen if work, it doesn't happen totally. Yeah. I mean, there's, there's moments in that movie where you, you kind of go, oh, you've just seen something, you can't erase. And I think there was, and I know intention, the intention for Matthew at the time making that was in the spirit of that, right, right? But, you know, you can do that, people can try that in many different ways, whether it works or not, you know. But the point is, yeah, Daniel, for me, Kickass was an entry point into adolescent America, I guess, in a way. Like, I'd done movies already and done very different things, but I was sort of reintroduced in a different way on a time. but also as this sort of American high school kind of kid,

sort of guy next door, not really, you know, like. All the casting directors assumed you were American. I mean, you were so, like you're so, I mean, we now know this, but at the time, I think people didn't realize how camellionic you could be with accents and, et cetera. Yeah, I mean, obviously I was playing also an awkward high school kid comic book reader, you know.

And so I created this person that, I see the physicality coming back. I couldn't mean, but like, you know, so it's funny because I come from a whole different, like, active dance background and all sorts of things like, but no one would assume. So it's kind of funny because people go, look at the guy who's going to kick her. I have to do Craven. Like, look at that. And it's like, well, actually, I'm a shapeshifter.

This is closer to the, I mean. I'm a shape shifter. And like, the beauty of that is, and back in that day when you're talking about no one really knew, there's a mystery there. You can't really have much mystery in this sort of, you know, digital age, as it were. he was talking about before, in a sense that, yeah, you have to be like someone who's still approachable in between jobs, but actually when I go in, I really enjoy going into different characters and some of them aren't pleasant, like they just aren't, you know, they're not to be,

you know, and I'm exploring. Natural animals, that guy's a charmer, he's sweet. Yeah, yeah, charismatic serial killer. You know, and so, you know, and I think that's what has obviously built my career. career is having sort of this sort of bizarre varied thing but at the same time I also I also took a sabbatical I took a very long step back there's a good 10-year period where I really wasn't I was saying no to a lot of material and in intentionally because I was a father at home and really want to raise my children

and um and and and also i think there's a moment where you can i'm just speaking truthfully here but i like um there's a there's a there's a moment where you know success is uh is is something you can see sort of see you know and in a sense of like what where you've come to a place where you're like you're really just happy enjoying and you know casting directors calling for you directors want to work with you that's how i sort of value success rather than like fame or that sort of shit because I think that's toxic and it's that's an egotistical thing right if you're comfortably being in the industry someone that filmmakers want to work with that's that's great success but I was putting the foot on

the brakes a bit you know and were you worried that they wouldn't come back calling like was there ever a concern like I need to be it's a good goal question and um i think um i think deep down i felt like there was always i could always um there was space for me somewhere along the line somewhere um and and uh but i think um after the pandemic um and not being not working not being creative in a way where i was was sort of in detriment to like the way I needed to be fulfilling my own sort of sort of creative satisfaction journey. I think I was like, right, right, I want to, I want to dive in and get a bit more involved. And I was really missing that collaboration and fun to be had with

other actors and scene partners, but other directors and things like that. And so, yeah, I don't know how we got on the path of this. I was, there was a reason. We started with Matthew and then I think Sorry, Matthew. It was speaking to just... Just careers how they were born. Yeah, because obviously, so to go back to Matthew, yeah, you know, I mean, Taryn Edgerton, you know, is a fine example of a fantastic career, an actor who you see his growth, but it...

Matthew, you know, very beautifully put him on the map in, and not just that film, other films that he's produced, right, and written and stuff. Is it true that when I spoke to him, he didn't recall this, but then when I said it, he kind of rang a bell. Did you either go up for Kingsman or turn it down? Were you in the mix to play that role? So I'm, I'm not going to, here's the thing. I think, you know, things happen for a reason, and I think there are very clear lines on that. And there is no good for me sort of saying things that I've been for or not been for

or or so I'm you know again I'm not going to answer that question because it actually doesn't and I'm vague enough that it doesn't actually answer because there are so many opportunities that come about right and and and and and and there are things that and you got remember are I grew up um on on on a London casting scene with like Dan Kaluya uh Jack O'Connell Nicholas Holt you know Joe Dempsey we're all

um um you we all went in for practically all the same stuff right some of us would get the job

and then they'd be off working wherever that was and then and then you might get a job with this other thing that happened there and everyone was so

there was like this abundance of like there's so much kind of going around like we were just but But bouncing off each other's energy. And sometimes I think about those days

because it was the hustle. It was the days where we were like teenage. I mean, we were like 15. And I was younger. I started a little bit young. We're like 13, 14, 15, 15 on London, like in and out of castings, almost one, two, three a day for like five times a week. Like there was abundance.

Like, and it could be commercials, TV, film, what have you. And one of them would break. Like when people used to say, you know, one out of 100, when people say like, oh, give me advice. like you just go you know there's like don't give up I mean there's because rejection is a big part of it and you have to grow a thick skin the best actors get rejected nine times out of 10 if you're lucky yeah but also there's like criticism isn't there's like creative healthy criticism and you but you grow in that way you get experience and that's kind of fun but what I mean is

there's a level playing field and and you really get to start to appreciate each other's work like I admire jack's like work is so fantastic that guy is so raw and like like unpredictable and beautiful to watch it's it and the same for Nick like the fact that I get to um being a movie with Nick you know so much later on and in our lives and and we play friends in Nosferatu right so close um uh buddies that grew up together so that it felt really nice for us to do that he Nicholas Holt is absolutely extraordinary in this Robert Eggers movie in Nosferi I mean it literally makes me well up because he's

it's because also I feel emotional because I see um sorry this trajectory of all the work that he's done do I mean so to kind of like to kind of see that and that growth and

him doing like like the favorite and finding that comedic side of himself and then oh my god the great was amazing and the great like Luther now it's all happening And then, you know, during number two and the order and just such varied stuff. And I think, you know, it's like, he's like, there's this, like, he's like arrived on the scene in a way that's come from. So people kind of, oh, I know that actor now.

I really love that stuff. But he's been on the journey for a long time. But it's the hours and the experience and that length and that dedication. And he's just one of those beautiful human beings. is a great actor to be around on set, like a respectable person, right? And I think in our industry, we very quickly, not very quickly, unfortunately, you want to, you know, you want to kind of weed out the divas and the bad ones. There's enough talent out there, we don't need the assholes.

Right, there really is no need for it. You come and you go, no, we get to make things of dreams. You know, it's like that old fucking thing is just like we actually we get to make magic that's a gift 100%. Like we all get to play fun and this is like this is great

and there's no reason to be like horrible or be you know in a certain way on set or have egos but anyway he is extraordinary and in this movie he's absolutely just I literally need

I want to I've watched it a couple times now but I just, it's almost like I want to study how he came to navigate in these scenes. They're so beautifully crafted and he's just, he's just a wonderful person. But my point is, is that everyone has their own right and ability to make what they have and bring their character to the thing and bring their character off the page. So Taryn, I, Nick, Jack, you know, things kind of. I'm about, you know, things don't work for one of, someone else picks him up. And then you watch and go, oh my God, I would never have even thought about it in that way.

I wouldn't have delivered it that way. And that's not to say that's the wrong way or a right way. It's just you kind of go, fuck, I really appreciate how they've, like, owned that character. 100%. People make, yeah, people make iconic characters by putting their imprint into them. So there's no, there's no, it's all individual. There's no, like, replicating. That's what people believe that they can, like, oh, I can do that better.

It's like, no, you can't. You can't. You can't. You can't. You know, you can't. Because they're bringing their own essence to it. Yeah. Yeah.

So that's a lie. And I think that is where it's like, that's just envy. That's projection. That's whatever. You know, it's just shit. You know, it's just like, you know, and that's not productive. It's not growth either. Like, it's just, it's this resentment, right?

And I think you see some of those actors and they, and it just sort of drift away, which is why, you know, the beauty is and the emotional thing for me is to see Nick, to see Dan Kaluya, it's to see Jack O'Connell, to see all my buddies, you know,

have their own solid individual careers and ones that I watch and love and enjoy and admire, you know, so that's a true blessing. It's good to hear the Mutual Admiration Society. I'm also a member of the Nick Holt Appreciation Society, so I'm with you a hundred thousand, A thousand percent.

I don't know anybody who isn't. He's got this. Yeah. Look at it. During the Volvo Fall Experience event, discover exceptional offers and thoughtful design that leaves plenty of room for autumn adventures. And see for yourself how Volvo's legendary safety brings peace of mind to every crisp morning commute. This September, Lisa 2026 Xe 90 plug-in hybrid from 500,000.

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price while paying your people what they're worth too. So your business can stay unfazed. Learn more at SAP.com slash uncertainty. Moving through the comic book world, I do want to mention of course Ultron and Pietro, which again, if you read the war, it's said that it took some convincing to get you. If you read the what? The war, the rumors, the, the internet that never fails to be accurate. I can't, sometimes I might, the war. It's my enunciation, not your hearing. No, no, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, if I read the what, sorry? If you read the interwebs, Aaron.

Okay, yes, sir. It's, it's, it is said that it took some convincing, a lot of convincing for you to take that role. Is that true or were you on the start? No, probably, yeah. No, Josh Whedon came to me, you're right, yeah. Yeah, I mean, so I had just, you know, so I had just, accepted a role with Gareth Edwards's Godzilla and I think for me that was the first time I felt like I was which is bizarre because I think if you think

about Shanghai Nights and Kickass there have been sort of studio movies but I feel like it was a big sort of quote-unquote blockbuster franchisey sort of furniture sure and I got asked to do that and I believe in my head it was like there's this moment where you're like like, oh, am I going to step into commercial stuff and become a bit of a sellout, you know? Am I going to, you know, like my career was like, you know, I want to be the next, you know. Daniel Dale, David Lewis, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale or whatever. I mean, if you look at Christian Bale, Batman, do you know what I mean?

So there is a trajectory there, you can still be an elevated actor in other themes, right? And that's the joy, right? If you can mix it up, then you've done, you've balanced it right. But basically, you kind of go, knock, I'm a British actor, I'm going to do indie dark stuff, and I'm going to do, you know, real drama and stuff like that. And just, you know, and good on.

If you can have a solid career like that, then yeah, you're a master. Ease yourself than John's. In this environment, in 21st century, not really. Cool, yeah, yeah, like this sort of whole weird thing where people are like, yeah, and the cape and the spandex ain't for me, sort of like combo.

and you're like, maybe if it's in front of you, you know, I don't know, because the irony is, the irony is like, the way you're like, you know, it's like, maybe it didn't come your way then. Maybe you haven't been presented it then, because what you're really doing is just denying yourself of choice, right, and options and opportunities, right? And I think, anyway, the Godzilla thing came to me, I'm denied about it, I went, do you know what, I feel really uncomfortable about this sort of, is this a step? a thing you know over-analyzed it you know probably like 20 or something 21 or something and felt like actually because it what there was another film actually I do remember now that I which I turned down to do that and of course which was a lot more was a lot more of a gritty a drama character and things like that right so it definitely was this moment where you've been given the

the options right but I decided go that right because I believed in Gareth Edwards as a filmmaker I thought well if anyone's going to do something interesting let's do it so that kind of came in and then Josh came about and after about Avengers and this

character and I think it took about a year about a year's worth of sort of chatting and negotiations and things like that and was it a real leaf when he when he said it's just one film I'm not saying you don't have to sign the right away that's what I'm going to ask you does that what's the I mean because I

haven't read the whatever you just said No, that's what it says, basically, that it took about a year of convincing, yeah. Right, yeah, so for me, for me, I was very much like I didn't feel comfortable at that time. Like I said, I had my children, and I didn't want to do TV serieses, and I didn't want to do Uptu9 franchises. I didn't, I felt very confined in this sort of, like, a lineup of things. Of things that I didn't know, I'm like, well, where's the character going? Well, you know, at this time, there's scripts don't come out. They're just conversations.

weren't so yeah it was a between you and I kind of thing it's a one done and we don't have to you can but it's a sort of there's a self-sacrifice moment and uh no okay

all right I'm in because yeah I was interested and then and also I was very adamant about like well I think we really need to embrace this character and his roots and this Eastern European background and all that and then you know and I mean, this feels like I'm not supposed to say this,

but this is the truth, and people know this, is that Fox owned X-Men. They owned the other element to these other two characters. Their father's character is their X-Men. What do you do about? What did you do about? Until Fox and Disney blended. Yep.

There's no... So we had this dual thing that happened, simultaneously, of which I signed on way before that was all being... I should own a year before we started shooting. Yeah. So... So if the circumstances...

have been different, obviously, than... I mean, yeah, but again, I don't, I'm not, I'm not someone who, I don't, it doesn't actually faze me, and like, I don't have any regrets or any... It worked out for everybody, I think. Yeah, I were able to have the career you had the last decade, but... Yeah, but I think, um, yeah, and I think also, it just, again, I stepped into a world that was a very well oiled machine,

and it was huge. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? And it was as a sequel, so we had all the guys back. And, um, It was really interesting to observe that world. I'm a little surprised. You're one of the few one-and-done MCU characters,

especially in this multiverse we're living in, the fact that they have never had a conversation with you about coming back, or have they? That's a convenient sip of coffee that just happened. Yeah, well, maybe not everything's out there, then. Okay, that's enough of the teas I'll take. No, I mean, listen, I think you have to work within the boundaries of how far that character can go.

which look not to segue but craven has that's the excitement of craving there's so much material to explore and and we've got we yeah and we've and J.C. was like I'm excited because no one's done Craven it's not like a seat it's not like a 10th Craven you're the first why not you Craven ever we've got somewhere to go we've got so like some people ask you are

is there going to be a like you're like why why would you want that what we're literally just kind of give you a new world let's give you something like just you know you can't There's a bit of a repetition thing going on that's like, I'm doesn't excite my original. Like, you know, I want to see something different. So that was kind of all of that.

And I hope that's not offending anybody or saying things. I'm, you know, I'm, you're speaking the truth. I care, remember, I care. And I think there is a respectable way to, like, protect certain elements of choices, right? And, you know, so, and I think there's decisions you live with, but you live with them without regrets, and you, and I make, I have to make a ton of decision sometimes. That's why it's like, you know. One good decision you made was working with Danny Boyle. 28 years later, I mean, I've been berating, you know, Danny, the question for the last decade, once it's happening.

And finally has happened, you've shot it. We have, then. Jody Comer, Ray Fines. I mean, two the finest actors, our British actors, yeah. What was the experience like? Because that first one was so innovative for a thousand different reasons. We know he's shot on an iPhone, again, that's out there. Okay, cool.

Well, I mean, I'm saying it, so you don't have to. Dude, it's cool, I know. It's out there. But what was, can you hint a little bit about what the experience was like, what made it special for you? I feel like I can't, there's not enough vocabulary to articulate how extraordinary this shoot was, I mean, it was like I had one of the most incredible experiences

on set ever, and I think that's because Danny Boyle is an absolute legendary filmmaker and director, and the enthusiasm. He's like a child. He's like went to Tarantino level of like,

magnetic energy. Energy is like, whoa. Like you, you like just need to plug in and like take some of that energy. It's like, it's a electric and and it's and it's like it like invigorated and inspired me again to be like an actor like like and that sounds bizarre but like well there's there's a moment where you're like oh I fucking love acting again like which is like bizarre because sometimes you know it's a strange that I've kind of possibly dipped that on or something you know along the way but like what we were getting was

what we got was like you know was really feeding the soul and I think because the premise in itself it's just the most extraordinary premise because you've also got that built in audience where like you said it's a cult film that happened like you only come up 2001 I think sounds right yeah right my main

well that second around that's about that time I think and so and so obviously I don't know how much I'm going to say really but you know time is obviously that's time stops still then you know and now we've gone

28 years later so these are like the survivalists that have lived through. I mean, if you think the pandemic of like that two-year period and elongate that for 28 years and just, it just gives you so much imagination and fills in so much but also layers of trauma, obviously. And I think that built-in premise of concept

just on top of like without knowing what the story is. That's how much, there's like that behind everything else so did you should under the issue so much it's just I mean I can't tell you how exciting I'm absolutely excited to see I don't you know I'm at I'm really excited

to see how this comes out and because of the way they were filming the way the way that an iPhone films you right cuts through it's like this moment where you feel like really vulnerable for a second because you're like oh camera's like right so close to you so

rolling checking and you know whatever like go through the motions of like because you shot and there's your mark you get sort of set, you know, you're carrying it and light and then you might go and do your scene or whatever but like an iPhone's just like here it is and then you're like oh shit you can see

and feel every it's something that just like you know when someone sticks a camera in your face and an iPhone it makes you feel vulnerable instantly like they're just like oh you're seeing too much like you know what I mean there's something weird and that got that was funny just to get used to

that at the beginning I think and then and then and then I just was like whoa this is this is wild this is really wild and yeah I can't wait about I there's more I could talk about we have time we have time to get to it don't worry it's but yeah extraordinary and I think it's going to be super exciting to I think it's going to be a bit of an event actually 100% because it's like yeah I think that's something and I and I feel I feel so privileged and honored to be like pulled into the into that family, like, that's a good group of, I mean, and Alex Garland and Ray Fines, you know, we've got,

and there's a roadmap going forward. I don't know if you continue in the rest of the trilogy, but the fact that there's a lot of story to come there, it's exciting, Nia da Costa, I know, and the whole thing. Yeah, yeah, we did one and two back to back, and so that's exciting. And the young lad, Alfie, is an extraordinary young man and an incredible actor, and bless him, he, you know,

grew up pretty much on the, you know, He literally went from boy to like, you know, young man in this short space of time. That sort of pinnacle age where, you know, you're growing on set. And he was just a, you know, I really, Danny and I really sort of, you know, took him under our wing. And I felt very paternal over him. And we have that relationship in the movie and play his father. But it's something I felt incredibly I related to you because of being a father to teenage girl. So I felt very much like I knew how to.

Yeah, I felt really emotionally connected to this character on a way that I just, uh, it was excited. It's been really, I can't wait, man. Wait, I didn't get charged for my donut. It was free with this Tim's rewards points. I think I just stole it. I'm a donut stealer. Ooh. Earn points so fast, it'll seem too good to be true.

Plus, join Tim's rewards today and get enough points for a free. free donut, drink, or timpits. With 800 points after registration, activation, and first purchase of a dollar or more, see the Tim's app for details at participating in restaurants in Canada for a limited time. Summer's here, and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days, delivered with Uber Eats. What do we mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well-groom lawn delivered, but you can get a chicken parmesan delivered. A cabana? That's a no, but a banana, that's a yes.

A nice tan, sorry, nope. But a box fan, happily yes. A day of sunshine? No. A box of fine wines? Yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by Regency App for details. We're going to end with this. The Happy Second Fused profoundly random questions. This is a little bit more rapid fire, Aaron. Are you a dog or cat person? Well, you know how good I am at Rock. It's a... I don't know what to be. You can make these all ten-ended answers.

Dogs or cats? Dogs. You have some at home? I have dogs and cats, but which is, yeah, but at the moment my cat keeps pissing all on the bed, so... Yeah. Yeah. That's because, you know, I'm, you know, because she sees my suitcase getting packed in and out. So I guess there's love there.

Yeah, something. It's like... It's, yeah. She's not very happy with me at the moment. What do you collect, if anything? I'm not really... I'm not really a collector. really a collector.

I mean, I don't know, I suppose Japanese knives, I guess, like kitchen knives, I guess. I've got a collection of... You hope you're a cook. You're not just collecting knives just because I'm braving. Yeah, no, because I like cooking. But I think I've, you know, so like that, there's that, I suppose. But actually, the Japanese gardening tools and things like that, sounds very niche, but they're just such beautiful instruments.

So I just say, you know, and I think that's quite incredible. Although you never really want to get them dirty, so you end up really never using... They're just pieces of barbed in the kitchen. Don't use them, Sam. We have to leave them. Those are made, and they've got a beautiful sheath and had these things. And out there you're just using their hands or like a shitty shovel or something. I guess that's kind of cool.

No, I haven't got like the collection of Porsches or I haven't got. You know what I mean? I'm not. Whatever you had said that? Yeah, I've got 12 Porsches. Does that count? What do you think about that, Josh? I've got a friend in countryside who's that guy.

And he's a nice dude, do you know what I mean? What's the wallpaper on your phone? It's a, you've got my phone? It's, what's the one where you keep clicking it? What do you call that? Yeah, you've got a rotation of just... So you got a bunch of different photos? Yeah, I've got like 50 different photos, and it's just my kids.

Nice. Yeah. It's not you sitting on the Craven throne, just a reminder. Just with my haps. out just like keep looking at that photo like yeah so that's what I think you know it's definitely one of moments when we did that photo shoot oh my god and um I train incredibly hard for that moment they get it and they were like and then it's like my trainer kind of going dude lap it up because you are never going to look this good ever again I was like it's like

yeah you'll trust me you're going to want this when you're 40 and you're going to look like you know like it's like that's and I was like oh shit and then and you kind of in the minute you're like no I can get here you can get back here and um no it's it was definitely oh boy yeah do you remember getting into the pose was there's a lot of just kind of like colding yeah sucking it in a little bit just dude I was actually um it's really unhealthy where I went it you know it's had a whole shoot day that day was a thing where you don't have water like for 24 hours right the thing so there was a there was an actual you know No, I'm probably not supposed to talk about this, but there's like that dehydration period of time, which means three, four days before I, like, overhydrate, gets your metabolism going,

and then, like, 24 hours before you start to cut water. And you have, like, a little espresso in the day. But you really want to get that stuff done in the morning. Instead, we did a full shoot day and then did this thing at the end of a shoot right into the evening. And so I hadn't drunk all day. and you know there's a and you get so like I get so obsessed and disciplined to a point where I'm like I'm not I'm not going to let this thing like you know I'm not going to

break and drink a bottle like a gallon of water no I can tell your commitment to strong so so but also you've done this thing where for the other other the other three days you've um prior to that you've also taken carbs out of your diet right and you're hitting only protein and then on that that day you drink a like a carb-loaded shake or something and salts and stuff like that you sip on that and then you get really pumped up and what happens is I don't know the science and technology that but basically I guess all the water the leftover water goes straight into the muscle yeah and the glycogen and all that stuff and the carbs comes into the veins and the veins start to pump up this is like but it's like body built it's proper body but

bodybuilding sort of kind of regime yeah but and the reason for that obviously is because I'm not a normal person I'm playing this kind of I am playing this animalistic yeah look so like disgustingly like ripped and roar in a way that just looked like it looked beastly it looks some it looked unnaturally like animalistic and wild and say I want yeah the veins coming all over and like in a way that looked um vicious. I wanted to have something that, I wanted to put that out there. So again, it came back to just commitment and, and giving that viewer's first impression. Well, it's the first thing you Google Craven the Hunter. That's like the image. So it's like you have to honor it and

that's part of the job. Yeah. The guy's like, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, well, that's the costume. It's my body. I'm like, that's, you know, and I, because of the years of working on Marvel previously I've seen people they just pump they you know you have you have a costume with all the pads in it right right it's like yeah cool good for you I can't cheat that you know and so that became the thing and as you can see me now I'm like a normal sized person no I'm so well I'm slimming down I'm and also that's you know I'm now after a shift and change for something else I'm working on so um because some you know we just did this a fan event thing and people are like dude what did you

take. Actually, some guy was straight out like, do you take broids? Oh, God. I was like, no. No, because I need to look, I need to, I need to be, and that's so, I don't, that's not my approach. It's like, I have to do this thing, incredibly natural and healthy because I also got to get through a shoe, you know, and also I want to look like a, I want to shift and change as another, because I came to it as an actor, not, I go to the, I'm not a bodybuilder, right, who got the role of a, do you know what I mean? I wasn't, cast as like that fitness because of the shape of your body although we knew that you

have the capacity to change and the commitment to change I had like you know I had a background of dance and athleticism right to the point where I can under the right circumstances you know training really hard and eating the right thing I can build muscle in that respect so that was good but yeah intense to say the least to say the least well proofs in the pudding last actor you were mistaken for did it ever happen um this was quite random actually yeah like logan logan lerman actually okay okay um which is funny because obviously we worked together and um there's just someone on the street and i was like that's funny that's actually quite funny um did you tell

them you weren't did you have to break the news or do you just accept it so yeah thanks no sometimes people are to go do you know you sort of really remind me of right but sometimes they do that with me and they say my name, you really, you know, do you know that, do people ever tell you look like? You go, I go, yeah, sometimes I do. And I go, I know, and you know, I've got better at that as well, you just kind of like, you know. Know how to, yeah, these are odd, yeah, they don't teach you this in acting school. No. Because they're not expecting you to actually like make it. Yeah, exactly. Just so you know, it's probably not going to happen for you. For most of you imagine, the first semester, we're going to actually work on...

Yeah, Comic-Con etiquette. You know, yeah, yeah. That's quite a funny segment to do, isn't it? No. What's the worst note a director has ever given you? The worst note. You don't have to name that in school. I'm trying to think, is it...

What do you find not helpful? What's a note that's like just not your notes? I think he said, um... Yeah, like that. but a bit more or something. More of whatever. Yeah, just again, but more or something. Like more what?

Yeah, exactly, though. No, I think, or maybe Matthew Vaughn probably has that sort of a line that's like, yeah, do that, but better. Right. You know, but I think. That sounds like a Matthew Vaughnard. I think, you know, with love. With irony, I think a little bit.

And I think sometimes you kind of almost know what that note means as well. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, do that, yeah. just but better you know what that means you know but I don't really remember I don't hold on to

everything and we've got a pretty bad memory and in the sense of that self-preservation it's definitely something that happens to you know I had this mechanism it shuts down it's what you're doing to your body in the interest of Craven it's damaging the memory man

yes but it's for our entertainment and I thank you for that I'll let you go you're very generous with your time and you've always been very generous with me I know you don't do a lot of like the podcast thing no I have done it twice with me over the years and I appreciate you man oh that's very kind of you know it's you know it's a real pleasure to be sat here and talking to you yeah because you're a real enthusiast as well movie enthusiast and um and I think um you know

I appreciate that and you know very um thoughtful questions and you know and yeah I'm gonna do I'm gonna do the Craven the Throne Diet next and send you some photos. Tell me how I do. Hey, well, you got to go, they're all over there. They're cooking up a storm over there. You've got big boy Nate over there doing some good stuff. Well, good luck with this. Newspot, who's also fantastic. And Craven the Hunter, guys, get out there to see a lot of love and work has been poured into this. Yeah, it has. Yeah, yeah. Please do. Yeah. It's, yeah. And it's, it really is entertaining and fast-paced movie and it's a great

action movie and I think you know when you go to the cinema it's from choice you know it's like it's actually a really really enjoyable movie to go watch at the cinema excellent best of luck with the man thank you yeah cheers man

and so ends another edition of happy sad confused remember to review rate and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts on the big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressure to do this by Josh. American history is full of infamous tales that continue to captivate audiences, decades, or even hundreds of years after they happened. On the infamous America podcast, you'll hear

the true stories of the Salem Witch Trials and the escape attempts from Alcatraz, of bank robbers like John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, of killers like Lizzie Borden and Charles stark weather, of mysteries like the Black Dahlia and D.B. Cooper, and of events that inspired movies like Goodfellas, Killers of a Flower Moon, Zodiac, Eight Men Out, and many more. I'm Chris Wimmer. Join me as we crisscrossed the country from the Miami Drug Wars and Dixie Mafia in the South, to mobsters in Chicago and New York, to arsonists, kidnappers, and killers in California, to unsolved mysteries in the heartland and in remote corners of Alaska. Every episode features narrative writing and cinematic music, and there are hundreds of episodes available to binge.

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