Happy Sad Confused - Nicholas Hoult, Vol. III

Episode Date: May 14, 2019

A "Happy Sad Confused" visit from Nicholas Hoult is always a welcome treat, filled with tangents, absurdities, and of course a little movie talk. This summer Nicholas has not one but two offerings for audiences with "Tolkien" and "Dark Phoenix"! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

D.C. high volume, Batman. The Dark Nights definitive DC comic stories adapted directly for audio for the very first time. Fear, I have to make them afraid. He's got a motorcycle. Get after him or have you shot. What do you mean blow up the building? From this moment on,

none of you are safe. New episodes every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. Today on HappySat Confused, Nicholas Holt tackles Tolkien and perhaps one last X-Men adventure with two films this summer. Hey guys, I'm Josh Harrowitz. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad Confused. Happy to say we've got a regular back on the podcast this time. It is his third go-around on Happy Say I Confused.

Nicholas Holt becomes one of the three. timers. Unhappy, sad, confused. Nicholas, always welcome here. One of my favorite people. Always a random, meandering, delightful chat with this very talented young actor. And a lot to talk about. He's got a lot going on. As I said, this summer he's got not one but two films that you should check out. Tolkien is now in theaters. And it is, as the name would suggest, a bit of a biopic. It captures at least an important portion of J.R. Tolkien's life. He is, of course, the eminent author who created the Lord of the Rings saga and The Hobbit and much more. And it's a really well-told story. It stars Nicholas alongside Lily Collins and talks about

J.R. Tolkien's kind of band of brothers, you know, as he came to age, rather, and how their influence on him and vice versa. influenced his work and life, not to mention his experiences in World War I, how those kind of shaped his work and life going forward. Well worth checking out if you get the opportunity. Also, of course, we touch on a little bit his upcoming role in X-Men Dark Phoenix, which may or may not, we don't really know, like it may be the last go-round for this great ensemble of actors playing the X-Men. I mean, you know, with the Disney Fox merger, it's unclear what they're going to do with X-Men, but at least this summer, we know we get one more go-around

with Nicolte and Jennifer Lawrence and Fastbender and McAvoy and the whole whole gang of talented actors. So it was fun to talk to him at least one more time about X-Men. And, you know, as with any Nicholas Holt conversation, this one goes to random fun places that cannot be predicted. So I think you guys will have a blast with this one. He's one of the good ones. And Yeah, always welcome here. Beyond that, other stuff worth mentioning this week, John Wick, Chapter 3 comes out, Parabellum, odd subtitle, but hey, the important thing is the movie's very good. If you like John Wick, you're going to be satisfied with this one. I had a conversation with Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, and director Chad Stahelsky for MTV.

We're rolling out that extended conversation this week on MTV's YouTube page. social channels, I'll send out the information on my social feeds. So that's something well worth checking out because Keanu is somebody that I always love catching up with. And it was fun to talk, you know, all things John Wick. I was privileged enough to be on the set of the first John Wick before we even knew what we were dealing with. It was just kind of a low-budget action movie and to see where this franchise is gone now in its third installment, adding the likes of Halle Berry and Angelica Houston and Lawrence Fishburn. It's become quite the ensemble. Not to mention the small, smallish kind of film has now spawned a big summer movie.

You know, it's being opened in the heat of summer. So if you like John Wick stylized action, you'll definitely enjoy John Wick Chapter 3. So look out for my conversation with those guys this week. Beyond that, I hope you guys are enjoying the beginnings of summer. And I hope you guys enjoy this conversation with the great Nicholas Holt. Remember to review rate and subscribe to happy, say, infused, spread. the good word. Here he is.

Nick Holt. Here we go. Let's talk about season and some sandwiches. We're back. Welcome to volume three of seasoning sandwiches. You're in the three timers club, Nick.

This is rare. This is rare. This is it. Okay. This is it. All right. Hello. He's getting his podcast voice on.

I'm very happy that I've made the hat trick. I'm surprised, to be honest. I'm surprised you've had me back again because I don't feel like I'm was the most gripping of guests. I'm surprised you would come back again, so if the feeling is mutual. We're both just surprised us at me. We're both disappointing each other constantly.

No, you never disappoint me. I just feel like I let you down. You don't. This time I'm going to be really interesting. No, don't be. I want the inanity. I want the mundanity. I want all the annities.

All right, cool. I'm ready. I feel like you keep coming back here because you're friendly. That too. You're dead inside. nothing going on. No, you're prepping for your own podcast, obviously. You want to be a podcaster.

I would like to do a podcast. I'm very into podcasts. I use podcasts a fair bit for, like, research as well when possible. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you listen to a lot of happy, say, confused to get in the mind for Tolkien? No, you know what?

I listen to my own ones repeatedly. And then, no, you know what, I'd listen to Dan Carlin's hardcore history. Okay. Do you ever listen to those? No. They are pretty hardcore. actual educational stuff and I'm not into that. It's really good though, I'm into it where he did one on World War I was like, you know what,

better learn, let brush up on my World War I knowledge. And it's about 25 hours worth, I think. Each episode's about four or five hours. And there's like five or six episodes or something, but really good. So where are you, in what capacity, when are you listening to the podcast? Are you working out? Are you walking the streets of London? Are you just staring at the space in your home?

I'm like driving or I'm like at home or I'm like just, yeah, whenever, yeah, getting on the tube, whatever it is, I don't know. there's like, yeah, the first time I ever listened to one of his, I had to go on a five-hour drive and someone recommended it to I, so I learned like five hours worth of knowledge on like the Munster Revolution in like 1535 or something. And for a week, that's all I could speak about. Yeah, everyone's like, we get it, Nick. I'd go for dinner and I'd be like, yeah, but you guys don't know what happened in Munster. Could we order some apps? Because this guy just will not stop. I'd go off. And I'd like, and you can still see the cages outside the church to this day. Here's an image. So what's your expertise? What if you were starting a podcast? What would the Nick Holt's podcast be about? Ooh.

And you can't say seasoning your sandwiches. Seasoning your sandwiches. That's not a 10-part series. Snacks for different types of day and adventure and mood. What's your mood? Have you snack recently? Yes. I went to the bakery not long ago and got a cupcake.

And I'm also, I'm going, like some friends are getting married today. So I'm going to, I got some cupcakes to take to their wedding. Okay. So was it? So was really the operation about getting them a present, or was it about getting you a cupcake? It was more about it. You're not on the window.

I can neither deny or confirm the allegations. It was to get them primarily, but then I was like, well, I might as well get myself a little treat while so, hey, I've got to fill the box. What flavor a cupcake did you get? It was double chocolate. The icing was absolutely delightful. Yeah, what's the icing ratio that you like on a cupcake?

This was quite a lot. I would say If the icing wasn't as good as it was And light Then it would have been sickly But it was still no sprinkles At a good level Because sometimes it could be like a sugar bomb

And that's just It's fine But like you know in 10 minutes You're gonna feel like shit Yeah yeah I'm not feeling great right now You don't look well Is I look little pale

I feel like I've got like that clammy Wet Fever look going on Yeah we'll wipe you down Don't worry Thanks have you been dude what's been going on i feel i get a lot of my movie news from you so it's always excited to come in well find out what you're excited about what am i excited about what's coming up

that i should watch well like everybody you know we're swallowed up into the avengers right now as we tape this i've seen that i enjoyed that good you know it's summer movie season that's why i'm excited that you've you've brought us a a counter programming a moose bouch of uh not really the appropriate thing i don't say at all did you call me sorry i mean i didn't mean it but you're yeah You're like the new Will Smith. You're the king of summer. You've got two movies coming out this summer. Well, yeah, I have two movies coming out, yeah.

I don't know if that. That makes you the new Will Smith? I'm the new Will Smith. Have you ever met Will Smith? You know what? I have, actually. Yeah. He was very nice.

And I was with my mom. She was, we were at the, I think it was the Golden Globes for about a boy. So I was like 12. Oh, that's perfect time. And I was like, this is awesome, fresh prints. Yeah. And he was, the memory I have that he was very charming and friendly to my mom. Nice guy.

Have you met Vin Diesel? Have not met Vin Diesel? Have you met the rock? Yes, met the rock. What's the cinema thing that happens in Vegas? Oh yeah, cinema con. Cinema con. I should have remember that.

What's the cinema thing in Las Vegas? Cinema con. It's like a convention and it's about cinema. That one. I met him there. He was like, we were doing promo for Mad Max and he was there doing promo for, I forget what. But he was on the red carpet and I was like, oh, that's the rock. that's the way you said it

I mean in my head that's what I said like yeah I didn't say that out loud to him and then we shook hands and I was like he's bigger than I expected I mean I expected pretty big but I was like oh he's very friendly again good guy if you've worked with I'm just going down the icons now you've worked with

Nick Cage way back when yeah if you came into contact with Nick Cage would he remember you think have you guys I doubt it you're a different human being now I mean yeah I played his son when I was 14 so what 15 years ago so I doubt I doubt he'd remember

it was that uh was that a big moment being around the the craziness the beautiful artistry that is nick cage i mean yeah he gave him that was for the weatherman i thought his performance and that was brilliant the writing in that film that gore the director i thought it was like a really well-made and i loved watching him in those scenes i was like i'm a fan of his i'm a big fan of everything he too i just finally just caught up with mandy i haven't seen that you should see that you heard about this one i've heard about it yeah yeah as they say it's the full nick cage experience. That's all I need. Raging Cajun. Is that what they called?

I mean, that's why I don't know. That's what I've been calling it. Okay. All right. So let's talk, let's spread the good word about Tolkien. Yes. Very good film. Congratulations, ma'am. Thank you very much. I looked you in the eye to express my legit feeling. Really? Great film.

I stare off in the space. No, it really is. This is, what's the, what's the shorthand for this? What's the, it's, it's The Breakdown, the Short Breakdown? It's Dead Poet Society meets Order of the rings? What is the... Ooh, that's not a bad shout. Dead Poets Society is certainly a reference point that we had throughout. Yeah, it's his formative

years. It's the story behind the story, his inspirations for his books and the relationships that, you know, he lost his parents at a young age. He was an orphan, so he kind of found love and fellowship, friendship from there. And also it was World War I experiences. It's all

these things I knew very little about before reading the script. And I liked the books. I liked the films. I was a fan, but I had no idea. where it all came from so it's it's pretty remarkable to see that what was your so yeah the book the the film does capture um a lot of the this what's that T uh what's the acronym it's like an origin story Tolkien origins it's absolutely yeah you really should have called it talking it's a new it's a new it's a new cinematic universe it's author origins colon Tolkien yeah yeah nice like the X-Men origins

kind of thing that never took off okay I like this and the next one could well you already did the Salinger so you could yeah yeah You've got your own cinematic universe going. That's band his whole life, though. Well, not his whole life, but a larger majority of that time. This is true. This is true. It is ironic that you keep playing these iconic authors, considering you can't read or write.

All these geniuses. It is weird, isn't it? It is strange. People are like, I'm like, why are people keep in casting me in these things? You just project brilliance. I don't. I'm not very bright. You can wear glasses and look like they fit?

Yeah. if wardrobe and props department are good they will they will look like it takes a team to like fit it to his my instant flashback on that is when we did like the first x-men movie and as i transform into beast and there was this debate on set about whether whether i should have the glasses still oh as beast yeah and so like there's a scene where i i don't know if you remember it but like where i walk back out and see the rest of the crew for the first time and they're like whoa he's changed and that was like a version of it where I didn't have glasses on when I came out but then I have to put glasses on

but obviously that makeup my ears are like up here top of my head and I'm covered in fur and they've got these larger versions of the normal glasses made and I've also got claws on so I can't I can't put glasses on and then not look like I'm Picasso they're like going on wonky every time and watching the playback back they're like

Nick you just got to get them centred on your face I'm like I can't I need help I cannot do that not very good glass glass is actor apparently Yeah, well, that's something you can work on. Jack Nicholson, great glasses actor. You remember that little bit in... Oh, which? You know that bit where he wiggles his forehead and they fall down?

No, but it sounds like a Nicholson move. Well, maybe in the next space of your career. You can master the... I'm going to start doing more tricks like that. Yeah. If you want to borrow mine, feel free. Do you wear contacts? No.

Well, I wore them for the Sandinger movie because he had brown eye, so I wore them for that. That was a whole kerfuffle because... That's distracting. I find it quite difficult to put contact lenses in. Yeah, me too. And I'm like, Nick, are you ready? And I'm like, well, I might be ready in two minutes. I might be ready in 10.

It just depends how long it takes me to get these things in my eyeballs. Yeah, I try. I actually shot a little thing recently where I had to wear contacts and it was a nightmare for me. Yeah, they're not fine. My eyes were going to fall out.

Lasic, dude. Yeah, I'm scared of that too. Look at me. I'm just a big chicken. I'll do it for you. Wait, you do amateur wasaic? Yeah, I'll give it, gosh. Give me a scalpel.

What's the worst that can happen? Has anything ever bad happened with an amateur surges? I think about that sometimes. I'm like, if you came up, too or woke up and you stood there and someone said we need you you're in the middle of like operating in doing surgery and someone would you be able to like fake it enough to complete the surgery with a little bit of help you can ask them like questions you can be like so should I make the incision here and they're like no no no more colder or yeah good testing like it's like you're

like right let's hope it never comes to that I love you but I don't trust you with a scalpel on my body Yeah, I probably shouldn't. What was your friend group growing up? Did you hang out with mostly guys? Were you more comfortable around ladies growing up? Like, what was your... A mix. I mean, I grew up with two sisters, but, like, at school, mainly probably,

it just happened that it's like you mainly separate into, like, boys and girls. And you're like, yeah, we're going to play football, we're going to play sports and whatever. So I didn't have, like, the secret artistic fellowship like this. I mean, I had, like, artistic friends who, like, do school plays and like outside of it go to work and watch people and be like wow okay these are creative people um and all my friends that are creative in no matter what line of work they're in sure they got like that creative imagination and whatever um but i didn't have this

like society that Tolkien he had a few of them through his life actually um but this one's obviously very important because as I say becoming an orphan and finding that safe place to yeah to create and be inspired by and share his work you know so this is uh because I remember even in a past uh conversation we had you talked about you you legitimately loved this material anyway I'm not talking about the script and talking about like War of the Rings and the Hobbit and all that stuff like you grew up with this stuff yeah completely I played the card game after school it's the card game there's a Lord of the Rings card game it was kind of like it was kind of like when I out with the Pokemon card game and I was like I got to find something more mature and I found the Lord of the Rings one

got it you got like burdens and you have to get the ring and like blah blah so this is a glorified excuse just to go back to the books and like just I should give it another read you know what it was It was like one of those things where suddenly going back and learning about his love of language and his life and then going back and reading his work again. I was like, it gave me a whole new appreciation of it. I'm sure. Oh, my lord. Oh, it's, it's, he

was, I mean, yeah, of course. I knew it was good. But damn. Who was your favorite character in the Lord of the Rings saga? In the films? Oh, yeah, let's go film. Let's go film. I mean... I just had Elijah here last week, actually. Oh, yeah? How'd it go? Not well. We came to blows. No, he's great.

what do you expect he's like the nicest guy yeah yeah um from the films i mean i liked gimley a lot i mean obviously hobbits in terms of like when i was like thinking about tolkien and like myself personally i'm closest to a hobbit i like this idea of eating seven times a day two breakfasts or levenses all that sort of stuff i'm like i'm in on that totally um but also i mean vigo morton so obviously is eric want and you can't say that's your favorite character because i'm like oh yeah you want to be the hero like blah blah blah But it's like, he was damn cool. Yeah, I was talking to a lot.

I'm like, I don't know if you remember this. Yeah, there's a lot. How's your Gallum? Do you do a good? I don't. I tried to do it the other day. Someone was like, can you do a Golm impression in an interview? And you know what it sounded like?

It sounded like in Monty Python, you know, when they're like, he's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy. It came out exactly like that. And then this reporter proceeded to do that it was obviously just a set up for them to do their impression, which was pretty bang on. But also, also for the environment, overly committed, in my opinion. It was like, it was bordering on the ridiculous where I was like, have we fallen into a parallel universe? That's like me, what did I, uh, every Star Wars actor

I always bring up like, what are your thoughts on Jar Jor Binks? That's just so I can do my Jar Jor Binks right, right, right, yeah. It's very pathetic. Go on. No, I'm not doing it free time. Come on. You put it up.

This are Jar Jax! Moose is there, okay? It's very good. It's really sad that my only good impression is of the world's most reviled character. So, yeah, so, I mean, there's a lot to dig into on Tolkien. So this guy literally created his own languages. I mean, unbelievable. Do you speak any other languages? Not real ones. You know what? We did, we did, there was a language at

school that was called like Avagov, Havagov or something. Do you know this language? Where you essentially take like the first, the first vowel of a word and then you switch it. It's kind of like a code way of talking. Yep, yep, yep. Like if you were going to say, I don't know, you would say of a guy never go never go do you know this yes like that brings like one of those where I moved to a new school and everyone was talking it and I couldn't understand it and I was like what is this what is this code is unbreakable code and then I learned it and I was like oh this is a way of communicating with that no one I mean it's pretty easy to figure out once you know right um but uh for this we had to learn language I mean we we worked with the professor at Oxford in terms of like

taking old Finnish and Anglo-Saxon and all these influences and creating like precursors to elven languages that's talking about would create and then I would have to learn them like phonetic basically I'd write they would send me them written down and I'd look at them and I'd go okay and then I'd listen to a recording and I'd be like well that doesn't sound anything like what's on the page here so then I have to write them out again phonetically and be like all right that's what it actually right sounds like I'll learn it like that and then I'll figure out again what it means it's always it's like I don't know why this reminds me of this but like when Antonio Oender started to do like

English language like he didn't speak the language and literally like in Philadelphia like his first English language film, I think he's just speaking phonetic, like he doesn't know what he's saying and he's still delivering a very good performance. Yeah, hang on. So, Tony Van deris was put some boots, right? Yes. So he, I auditioned for

that Prince Caspian movie. Yeah. And so I got to the audition. I can't remember, I was pretty young, and I had asked, I was like, and I don't have to do any accent, right? And they're like, no, they said, don't worry about the accent. Like, if you get further in the process, then we can worry about all that sort of stuff. And I was like, great. So I got there, and I'm all ready to go in

and they're like, and if you could do the accent, that would be great and I'm like the accent and they're like yeah no we do need you to do it and I'm like okay and I'm like what and in my head I'm like I can't really do Spanish accent like off the cuff hadn't practiced and they were like you know and I was thinking

they're like I'm kind of Antonio Banderas and I think I'd seen Shrek recently so all I can remember was him saying like poots in boots and I sat there that's like that was wasn't it that was a little vampire that was bats

I don't know well you can see what I didn't get it, essentially, because I was like, I was, I was in there in my head going, and then saying whatever line I had to say. What happens in the middle of an audition when you know, like... When you know it's really bad? Yeah. Do you commit, or do you just say, like, thanks, I'm just going to back out of here. I don't want to waste your time.

I don't know. It's pretty shocking. And you know what? It's all moving so fast at that point. It's difficult to make any conscious good decisions. So you kind of just, it's kind of, you just want to get out there as fast as possible is normally what happens to anyway it was interesting the last time i was listening to our last time we were joking you went back and listened to it i did i do semi research well i just want to make sure that we're covering new

brilliant territory we talked a little bit about our mutual love of tom cruise yes and we i was joking i was like oh you're gonna you should play um you should be in top gun too and then that almost happened nick i mean i was yeah i got to i got to read with him for top gun too was it was it pretty cool yeah it was amazing by the way it's everything you hope for with reading with tom cruise and i was like this is exactly what I hope and he's so enthusiastic and supportive and like gives you ideas and he's like let's try this and blah blah and you're like wow it's just being around him and I was like I felt like I was full of energy and like uplifted that's amazing so cool so maybe at least this has this has set the set up for a future role mission impossible 12 your

Ethan Hunt's nephew yeah perfect I'm in let's do it I like to cast you in really get shitty idea. It's on Cruz rolls. Just trying to like, you know, secret something into the universe. So yes, as I said, this is your Will Smith summer because you not only have Tolkien,

but Dark Phoenix is coming. Dark Phoenix is coming. The whole gang is back again. Does this feel, does this feel like a goodbye though? Because, like... Everyone's kind of treating it as though it is and everyone keeps on asking that.

And it's weird because, like, going into it was I fully like, oh, this is goodbye, probably not. Yeah. But then I think with the Disney thing and all that, there's a lot of uncertainty around what's going to happen. So it's kind of become a farewell, I guess, which is something that I was thinking about,

someone asked me the other day, they were like, if this is your last, do you feel happy about it? And I'm like, in many ways, yes, because Simon Kimber, writer and director of this one, has given new territory for me to go to with Hank a Beast. If I felt like I was rehashing, like, the previous movie, then I'd be like, oh, that's a shame.

I didn't get to, like, at least try something different before I went out. Um, so, uh, so yeah, it feels like I did get to, to do that. Yeah, yeah, which is what makes it fun. Yeah, it's kind of odd to think that like the, the character you've come back to the most is a, a blue furry scientist, a genius. Like, that's the, that's, that's, like, that's, like, I'm going to keep going back to that one. And this business is crazy. Yeah, it's very weird.

Adjub's very weird. And on this one, it was very weird because I was prepping for Tolkien. So I was, like, doing, I was doing, like, watercolors of Tolkien's work in the Beast tent. like prepping for that but then also like walking out onto this set of like carnage and action and like terror and everyone like screaming and maybe like in beast mode

and then and then back into my tent to finish off my watercolor did they ever did they ever crack the makeup to the point where like okay we got this down to like 20 minutes or was it still like no you know what those guys are real quick they can get the makeup on in like an hour

and a half and then like once you get like the suit and the gear and costume on it's like two hours all in Which is pretty damn good. You spent a lot of time over those films, probably most primarily with McAvoy. What have you learned the most from Crazy James McAvoy over the years? What have I learned the most? Just in life, he's someone who's very vivacious and, like, just fun.

He's always fun and enjoying things and, like, making them... But in work, he's very committed, and his performances are always very truthful, I think. Yeah. He goes for broke no matter what. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's perfect. So, okay. So to talk to me a little bit about,

you've got like four or five projects coming up. Have you shot all of these that I just saw in the IMDB? Like the, Captain the Great. That's a TV project. Yeah, that's his thing, Tony McNamara, the writer of the favorite, has written it's a series. So it's El Fanning playing Catherine the Great, and I'm playing Peter the Great,

who they kind of have this arranged marriage, and she turns up very naively thinking that it's going to be a wonderful romance, and he's off his rocker when she arrives and the kingdoms and disarray. So it's kind of, yeah, that history, told with Tony's kind of take on it, so a similar turn to the favorite.

Yeah. I haven't not shot all of it. Shot the pilot, but not the rest of it yet. There's a word that you might be part of this Taylor Sheridan project. Yes, those who wish me dead. I love his work. I'm very excited about that. Win River was pretty remarkable.

Win River was amazing, Sicario, Hello High Water, all, like, great movies. So I'm excited to see. I haven't started that yet. I start pretty soon, actually. He's an intellect. He's an intense dude. I don't know if you spent some time with him yet.

Oh, you just spoken? and I haven't spent time with him, but I love the stories and ideas and where he's formulating things from. And it's just one of those where it's like, oh, that's a different, you know, going from the favorite, big wigs, high heels. That's your dayday wife anyway.

That's, you know, Mondays. And then so I was like, oh, this one is just like a very different role and world to step into from that, so I'm excited. If and when one day you become James Bond, can we still be friends? No. That's where I'm cutting off. I just want to cover all my bases.

I made that promise to myself. That was the one thing I said, look, please Lord, if I get to be James Bond, I will cut ties with Josh. Just be clear, I say that to every podcast. I said it to Elijah Wood, too. He's like, if you're Bond. A very rare, strange opportunity that Olazra Witt becomes.

If you say it to everyone, then eventually you're going to be right. This is right. I think arguably you have better shot than Elijah. I don't know. Does every kid back home grow up? dreaming about being James Bond, especially if you're a young actor? I mean, they're hugely influential in terms of, like, when you grow up, you watch them, they're like, they're like on TV all the time growing up.

They play reruns of them, and obviously, I love them growing up. But then I feel like it's one of those things that when you get, like, to being an older actor, and they start to like constantly be like, is this person going to be blonde? This person's like, and then you kind of get a little bit like, ugh. It's constant. Do you know what I mean? It's kind of one of those things. They've been, like, writing Daniel Craig out of this role for the last, like, three films.

And it's like, he's arguably the best Bond, maybe. ever. Yeah, he's a great bond. So let's just let him have his run and then we'll figure it out. Let's also all chill on it because it's like, it's just this revolving constant story of like, this bond, this bond. And it's like, let's just calm down everybody. Let's just enjoy the movies when they come out. That being said, it'd be nice if my friend Nicholas Holt became James Bond. Would be great. You're like, yes, yes. But then our friendship is over. So no, I will sacrifice the friendship. I'll come in extra. How about that? Okay, fair enough. In a tuxedo with a martini shake and nuts third.

always um will madmax always be kind of like one of like those high water marks in a career like do you romanticize that that extreme kind of bizarre experience like yeah of course but i mean partly i try not to ever judge things on the the result but the combination of the experience and the results were both incredible and then and then the results amazing and i know what interestingly i do quite Tolkien to be quite similar to to george to george i just think that the way they work, their imagination. The way they are as gentlemen. They have very similar qualities to them, I think. Um, so yeah. Um, but yeah, of course that's going to be a high watermark when I think of like what I've done. That's definitely like, I was like, oh yeah, pretty happy. Like,

and also in terms of the performance, I'm like, normally I don't leave something and I'm like, oh, that was good. But like that one's one. I'm like, yeah, I think you did all right. I think you did too. Um, according to IMDB, I want some new things about you today. Oh, apparently your trademark is Vulcan eyebrows. Yeah, people, yeah. Someone asked me about this the other time, they were like, what even are Vulcan eyebrows? And I'm like, I guess it's a Star Trek-y thing. I do have pointy eyebrows.

They're always described in interviews. They're like, sinister, vulcan eyebrows and all those things all the time. And I'm like, ah, I don't know. That's just my face. That's just your, you apparently also used to play the trombone. I did. How was that? Why trombone of all instruments? I don't know. I think I just saw it when I was a kid, and I was like,

I liked the slide thing. I was like, that's cool. that's how you control it rather than like other brass instruments you're like pushing levers or buttons or I don't know what you call them technically but that I was like you just get a big old lever

to like who is that the sound that came out of it is exactly the sound I feel like you and I differ on one thing you clearly got something out of going to Coachella

that seems like the worst possible place in the world for me I can see why it would it was my first experience of Coachella and I love music festivals you know what it was actually quite a nice experience

because I'm used to go I've been going to music festivals back home since I was 15 and like sleeping in tents, not showering, trying not to use a toilet. Right. Like waking up, gasping, baking hot at 6 o'clock after 20 minutes sleep and having no food or water around. Sounds great. Do you know what I mean?

That was like, that was festival. So now like that Coachella, it's like, it's like, it's cushy. I was like getting to stay in a house and there's like a swimming pool. And then I just like walked into the festival and watched the music that I like. And then I went back to the house and ate pizza. And I was like, well, this is very comfortable. Maybe that's just me getting old. I'm like, hmm, yum.

Sounds like you might do well at Burning Man, maybe back in the day. I thought about a Burning Man trip. I know a few people who do it. Yeah, I don't know. Well, you were at Fire Festival. You loved going to that one. Fire Festival was a life-changing experience. Honestly.

I don't know why people say all these shitty things about it. It was amazing. You know what? I do have one friend who went and, like, he ended up, I can't remember the exact story, but he was there and they ended up in a house and met a load of people. and like they kind of just had a nice holiday weekend instead and they did have the most of it yeah yeah that was quite a nice story did you watch those docks do the docks so good it's like that one story is where he's like I brushed my teeth had a shower and I went over there fully ready

I'm like whoa that took a turn what are you why are you telling us this so matter of fact like this documentary is going to be everywhere yeah I watched both of them and I was like this is an instance where I could watch 10 more hours yeah it's a pretty it's a pretty incredible story maybe you should play uh billy was that his name uh yeah i'm pretty sure that is his name um you're you're mr big time model guy that you know that you're yeah you're mr big time model guy tell me what have you you you've walked a runway in your time have you have you done the one way you have you never no i don't know where this is stemming from mr big time model no but you're you're i see you in the ads and you're gazing off into distances wearing beautiful clothes and stuff no that's like that's like

when i'm doing like the things for the magazines to promote the movies it's not like i don't know That's a big-time model guy. I'm getting paid for that. Models get paid, right? Normally, it's for doing that. That's like me, them being like, right, you've got to promote this movie.

I see. So it's always no service of that. You're not, okay. I mean, don't get me wrong. I would. If someone wants, I have no morals in this sense. Like, if someone wants to pay me to model, then great. There's always like that weird thing where I, like,

like, I had like this, I don't know. You don't want to be known for doing those things, but if they service, in a way that you can do the projects that you then really like to do then it's kind of like perfect what have you learned about fashion in the last five ten years since you've been fashion yes give me a fashion tip from nicholas oh boy i don't know there's no there's no there's no fashion i know there's no fashion i know there's no fashion i know what's the do and i know i'm not to talk about that fashion i know i'm not to talk about that movie and i looked on i'm of course yeah but then that just shows like i when i've met him for the first time i didn't know i didn't know he was from the fashion world i mean to talk about that movie and i looked on i mdb and i saw like that he was in zoolander himself and i was like oh cool he's now gone and written this script and he's getting this movie made with a really good actor so i was like that's interesting i sat down with it and i was like so how did you get into directing he kind of told me very humbly about his fashion past and i was like oh okay went home googled again and like the first thing that pops up is like him on the

front of vanity fair or some magazine with like scottottie hanson and kira nightly that thing and i'm like well hang on a minute this doesn't usually happen to the bitcoin or zoo end and then i'm like well hang on no start research i'm like oh this guy's a really big big deal on the fashion work. It's a big year. You're turning 30 this year. I am. Yeah. Fund's over. Dirty 30. It's all over. It's getting real. What do you want to know? As a 75-year-old man,

what do you want to know about your fourth decade in the planet? Do you want to know about the pains that go with, that your body's going to start to fall apart? How can I impart wisdom to you? I don't think I want to know about the pains. Tell me the good stuff. Let's be positive. Tell me like the things that, like, the best thing

about being, I feel as though hopefully, I'm going to find this spot of feeling very comfortable in my own skin. Have you found that? No. Okay, good. But that's, I'm a different. I will never. I'm going to be on my deathbed at 89.

You know that thing of like, eventually you've got to not care what people think, right? You hear that, but I think that's just more of a temperament thing and that age thing. Do you feel that now? Are you self-conscious? Are you always, like, wondering what people think when you walk into a room? No, you're not that guy. Really?

Yeah. Yeah. But also, that's a brilliant thing. I read this quite the other day of like when you're, I can't paraphrasing big time, But basically the outcome of it is like when you're 20 walking to a room, you think everyone's looking at you. And there's another age that blah, blah, blah, blah. And then by the time you're 60, you walk into a room,

you realize that no one gives a beep. Right, right. So maybe that's the thing. Maybe that's the thing you just realize when you go older, no one cares. Everyone's doing their own thing. That's true. That's true.

That's true. So you were saying, do you have a busy summer coming up? You're doing the press for this one, a tiny bit for Dark Phoenix. For Dark Phoenix, we shoot the Taylor Sheridan movie, and then I have some time off, chill, and then we go into production on the great TV series. Do you watch a lot of TV? Not really, no. What's the last TV show you?

Do you watch Game of Thrones? No. Finally. I'm like the last one, but apparently you're the last one because I just caught up. You've caught up? Yeah. Yeah, I feel I watched the first series and I fell off, and then now I'm so far behind that I'm like, well, I'm not going to catch up with this moment, which is a shame because it's a real. excitement and frenzy around it which i'm like i'd kind of like to be a part of that but then also

i feel like at some point i'm going to end up like i know as you say going into my 30s my body's falling apart i'll probably be bedridden in not too long so then i'll sit there and catch up with all of game of thrones and it'll be a nice treat for me then i'll be glad that i've done that this is why you and i get along that is literally what i say to people or i used to say about game of thrones or i say about other shows is like my my leg will break at some point i'll be laid up and then then i'll get all this stuff that exactly it's perfect except in this case but yeah but yeah My whole motivation was not to watch a great piece of content. It was just to be part of a pop culture conversation for six weeks.

I was like, oh, I want to be, that would be fun. Yeah. Well, and I guess it's also kind of your job, right? Nick, we're still trying to figure out what my job is. It's unclear at the start. Right? You have to watch a lot of stuff. You know what I've watched recently that I liked was I started watching Barry.

I really like that. I'm watching like those 20, 30 minute comedies. I'm watching that, and I was watching this time, the New Alan Partridge show. Oh. It's kind of like, you know Alan Partridge? and he comes in as like a guest host on something similar to the one show and I find it hilarious.

You're doing, you know, I'm always trying to enlist you in comedy and it's going to happen one of these days, but I did read, you're doing some kind of like a stop motion comedy series? Oh, yeah, yeah, crossing swords. What's that of that? I think it's pretty funny. It sounds pretty great.

It's brilliant. It's kind of like a really twisted, messed up version of Game of Thrones, actually. In terms of you have these little, like, I don't know, Fisher Pricey sort of peg dolls. Uh-huh. And I play a character called Patrick who's this young kid who wants to become a knight of the kingdom

and then kind of manages to become a squire but also realizes gradually that the kingdom's just absolutely insane and it's bizarre and funny and dark and it's that adult humor. It sounds right at my alley, right on my alley. I think you like it, but it's shot in a very cinematic way. It's all stop motion but in a very cinematic, it's cool. Cool, cool. So you've seen some of the finish product?

I've seen little clips that still fairly early in it, but yeah. So we did cover the cupcake stuff, but I do feel like we need to cover a little more food things because we always talk about different sandwiches and whatever. So ideal pizza topping? What do you think? Oh, ideal pizza topping.

Ooh, see, this is going to be very controversial because I quite like a barbecue base. I like a good barbecue chicken. Yeah, yeah, yeah, lovely. A bit chicken, maybe some red onion, some green peppers, obviously cheese. That's kind of a Texasy barbecue, I suppose, is what you'd call it. You really acclimated to our strange foreign land. Because cupcakes aren't even a big, like British thing, are they?

No, not so much. We'd call them fairy cakes, I think. Is that true? Yeah. I had no idea. Nice a name, really, in some ways, isn't it? Fairy cakes as opposed to cupcakes. It kind of feels more in keeping with the Tolkien fantasy aspect.

Yeah. Well done. You're always on brand. You're always on message. Always on brand. I already got you the James Bond roll. You're welcome. Thank you.

Star Wars or Space Jam 2. Space Jam 2. That's what I thought. I thought you would say. Yeah, I do. Space Jam, too. How cool would that be? I'd like to be one of the monsters.

Motion capture monsters. Ooh. You've never done mocap, right? No. We need to get you in a weird leotard and the balls all over you. I love seeing the clips of like mocap before the change or like before the effects. It's so good. I would watch an entire, I don't know.

I would watch all of the apes with the mocap. You know what, actually, I have done a little bit of mocap for Jack, the Giants Slayer. We did like a week or so, which I wasn't mocap. but we like worked in like I can't remember what they call it the void felt like a void the volume they called the volume yeah this is the void where you are right now the volume no you go in the volume and you're to I don't know run around and whatever amazing would you rather gain 50 pounds for a roll or be nude the entire time nude the entire time I think that you're giving this serious thought I appreciate that it's not an actual offer just you know gain 50 pounds and then be nude the entire time Show off what you've done to your body.

Enjoy every nook and cranny. You're like, look at this performance. Look how dedicated I am. I take back my offer of James Bond. It's going to be a horrible, you're going to be an overweight, gross James. We haven't seen that version. We've seen, like, cool, handsome James Bond running around saving the world. Let's see, washed up James Bond hasn't worked out so well.

He's just let himself go. But then he has to, like, come back. Oh, yeah. It's going to be that castaway, where you shoot it in different parts. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's, yeah, and it's more comedic. Look, it's time for a change. They've done these quality films.

Let's try something really bad. I think that's why I won't get the role. Unlike his an idea. 50 pounds heather. It's funny. Let me do my accent for you. He's undercover. The name is born.

The James is born. On that note, my friend, it's always good to catch up. Welcome to the Three Timers Club. Thank you very much. much um i don't think there's a four-timer yet so i'm i'm aiming for it okay you're welcome back anytime um have a good summer buddy you too 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 i'm a big podcast person i'm daisy riddley and i definitely wasn't pressure to do this by

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