Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - NICHOLAS HOULT: Prepping for Lex Luthor, Contemplating Quitting & Career Gratitude

Episode Date: March 5, 2024

Lex Luthor meets the new Lex Luthor this week as we sit down with Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies, About a Boy) for a conversation about his prep for the role, super hero pressure in the age of social media, and the art of shaving your head. Nicholas shared his hesitancy of progressing as a child actor (up until About a Boy) and how a moment of losing anonymity almost lead to him quitting. We also talk about geeking out when Anthony Hopkins hissed, his appreciation for Clint Eastwood’s dark humor, and whether or not Nicholas Cage went to bat for him during their second film together. Thank you to our sponsors: 🚀 Rocket Money: https://rocketmoney.com/inside ❤️ Betterhelp: https://betterhelp.com/inside 🟠 Discover: https://discvr.co/3Cnb1V8 __________________________________________________ 💖 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/insideofyou 👕 Inside Of You Merch: https://store.insideofyoupodcast.com/ __________________________________________________ Watch or listen to more episodes! 📺 https://www.insideofyoupodcast.com/show __________________________________________________ Follow us online! 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/insideofyoupodcast/ 🤣 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@insideofyou_podcast 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/insideofyoupodcast/ 🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/insideofyoupod 🌐 Website: https://www.insideofyoupodcast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, thanks for coming back and making this podcast yours. I hope you are enjoying it. Look, if you're here for Nicholas Holt, if you like this, I'm just going to play a game with you here. If you like this interview, if you're like, wow, that was pretty good. Please subscribe, write a review, and check out our podcast more because I think you're going to learn a lot from people, even if you may not know the guests as well. We talk mental health. We talk life. We talk about real stuff. It's not just any other. interview i don't think i think that's why people do listen and uh i appreciate you so subscribe you could follow us at at inside of you podcast on facebook and instagram at inside of you pod on

twitter please write a review and uh get other people to listen to it um today's guest is fantastic uh for lack of a better word um great even fantastic is probably better than great this was the show he was on was called the great oh the great So between now and the time that we recorded it was about two weeks, I got through all 30 episodes of the great. You loved it. I had not seen it when he was here and I'm bummed that I hadn't seen it. Right. But like the second I got home, I was like, I think we got to watch this. He's so wonderful. It is fucking great. It's freaking great. It is. Listen, quickly, you can go to my Instagram at the Michael Rosenbaum. If you're not following me and follow me if you'd like. My link tree. I've got cameos. I do. cons i'm going to a lot of cons this year with tom willing um i have a cool puppy fresh breath rosy's puppy fresh breath on amazon if your dog's breath smells get it check it out it really works i use it on my dogs and uh so many other things the inside of you online store has tons of smallville merch um ship keys lexmus scripts blah blah blah some great new shirts um also have a listen

to the talkville pod we keep doing uh this it's a smallville rewatch podcast which ryan is a big part and so many other great things. And I really appreciate you. So that's all I have to say about that. Why don't we just do it? Why don't we get inside of Nicholas Holt? It's my point of view. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum.

Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum was not recorded in front of a live studio audience. The first thing you said when you sat down, you look behind me, and like, oh, shit, Gene Hackman. And then you see my small little character and you're like, this wasn't planned. I said, if you watch the show. We've got Smallville lunchboxes over here as well. Yeah, yeah. There's so many called them. Yeah.

This is like the podcast room, so it's a lot of little things. I'm so jealous. You've got the Dracula poster, the Exorcist. I mean, so many. Yeah, most of them are signed, too. They are. I'm a weirdo like that. No, no, no.

This is something that I've been thinking recently. I'm like, oh, I've got to get more like signed posters and the thing is because it's like those are, those become treasures. Well, you know, a lot of people sort of make fun of me. No, no, no. I think this is awesome. I'm, I'm jealous. My way if my perception is, usually you're going to work with somebody once, most likely.

Yeah. So who gives a shit at the end of the movie? You go, hey, could you sign this poster? Could you do this? Yeah. They don't care and then they forget about it. No, it's not an imposition. I love it.

And I tried to try to get things signed, but I just haven't. I grew up, I think my, the first ever Lex I saw was you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I grew up, like, Smallville was on. I can't remember if it was Channel 4 or Channel 5, but, like, growing up, what year did it start? 2001. Okay, 2001. So I was like 11, 12, I guess.

Yeah. And so that was like the show that I would watch and see my first iterations of Superman and Lex and all those stories. Really? So it's kind of bizarre to be sitting across. You were, yeah, yeah. And then since I've like seen, seen Richard Donner's movies and all the other ones and kind of seen some of the other performances. But you're like the one. So it's bizarre. Really? So you like my portrayal. I love it. Are you kidding? It's the best. Yeah. Dude. Well, thanks for. Which is also kind of, kind of when we got, we got connected by Cedric and I was like, I wanted to come on the show and and talk about things. And then also I was like, oh, as I said to you, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, weirdly very superstitious about stuff. And I was like, oh, no, is this bad juju to be? And I know, I was like, ah, because obviously, yeah,

started getting ready to play the same game. When do you start filming? In a couple of weeks, a few weeks, yeah. Wow, it's soon. Yeah, yeah. So you're shaving your head. Yeah. You've already shaved your head.

I haven't, yeah, this is a wig. No, I haven't done a year. I was thinking I was thinking I needed to do it soon. But I could shave it when you let me shave it. uh if well you know what yeah go on then um i was thinking of letting my boys my boys shave it for me and just giving them a pair of clippers but i think we're gonna i have another job after that and i think we're going to try and make a wig of my hair or something i don't know anyway really long story yeah well did you did you sun tan the top of your head no no they in the beginning

it took them like two two and a half hours to sort of master it they had to put like different shades of color so you didn't see a hair line by halfway through the day and at least they didn't have to shave it twice a day. But, you know, it was tough. So now, though, with effects and stuff, if something doesn't look right, they just clean it up and post. Right. So you don't have to worry about that. You shave your head. They put some, I don't, I don't know how long. You haven't done a makeup test yet. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like I'm still just in the mental preparation zone at the moment. But yeah, twice a day shaving. Well, like I said, I didn't have to do that. But by the end, I was just like, you know, I was a little prima don't.

told them, look, you guys got to make this faster. So they had two people working on me and it ended up being like an hour, maybe an hour and 20. And it helped because starting two and a half hours and makeup and then half hour to take it off and then work in 12 hours. And I was just like, guys, we got to figure this out. Yeah. We did tests to see if like, you know, if I didn't, how much, if I just need a little makeup.

And anyway, today is much different. The effects are different. Everything's different. It's going to look great. It's going to, you know, and you know, and you know what you look. like with a shaved head. There's no secret because you knucks from Mad Max. Fury Road. That was the last time I shaved my head. Yeah. But did you, I mean, we're not. No. Did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy playing him? What did you take away? What did you learn from him that

you're like, oh, I carry that with me now? Uh, I, there's a lot of things I related to the character. Mm-hmm. Because my childhood, you know, I had, you know, there, for whatever reason, I had a dysfunctional childhood. And I've talked about it ad nauseum. How. he was very sort of calm and collective and but when you crossed him when he got to a certain point there was just this intensity and i think in a way that's sort of me i'm very easy going and you know i think i'm likable and i just felt like every once in a while i something comes out and i'm like whoa wow where did that come from as the character or as just as you both my channeled that i channeled that okay and in a believable way and i and i had this overbearing father on

the show as you know and it helped having such a an amazing actor deliver me lines and just kept me on my toes and you know i talked about this with james i was just like you know i'm not saying i was the best lex luther by any means but i'm just saying you know my favorite's jean hackman who signed it to the second best lex luther but maybe things would change but i said to him he did actually sign it to second. Yeah, to the second best Lex. But I just said to him, you know, Lex needs to be, he's a cool guy. He's a cool character. He's complex. And he's like, and James knows this more than I do. But, you know, I just, you'll play him your own way and your own personality. And when I've seen you in roles, there hasn't been one movie you've done that I haven't liked. Thanks. You probably

haven't seen them all then. That's true. That's true. But, Like, everything from warm bodies, which I really liked. But stop for one second. But you did inhabit him with such depth and charm. And then, yeah, that ability to switch, which makes him dangerous and formidable and a great opponent. So, yeah, we can stop talking about him. I just loved what you did.

Thanks. And I just thought, you know, I know that James is such a great director and he's not going to be like, let's play it really over the top and big and goofy and ha. I mean, it was just that everyone knows that. So I shouldn't do that. I think, how was the audition process? Because it was, I know it was pretty, pretty. Those things are intimidating.

Yeah, it's like, it's a strange scenario to be putting yourselves into. And there's a lot of nerves, I suppose. Do you lose those nerves after a few takes or? It really depends on the atmosphere and how it goes, I find. I find that with, regardless of whether it's an audition or anything in life. If things are going well, it becomes easier. Right.

It's like playing, I don't know, if you play any sport, basketball or whatever it might be, make a couple of baskets, and then the next few are kind of get easier and easier. And then if you kind of flub something or aren't hitting an emotional beat or whatever it is and you get in your head, then it becomes, then you're like scrambling uphill

and it becomes a very different tale, I think. Yeah. Do you like auditioning? It depends on the auditioning. Does that make sense? Yes, because I would say sometimes I've had offers, and I go on set and they're like, oh, no, no, here's what we want you to do. But when you audition, if they like that, that's what you're doing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's easier. Well, some of my, my favorite experiences acting have been auditioning. For going back, you mentioned Mad Max when to shave my head and all that. That audition was like the second audition anyway with George Miller was like four or five hours of four or five hours. Yeah, but it wasn't like, we did a, we did a scene for like the last 30 minutes, but the other three and a half, four hours or whatever were, were like, playing.

playing observation games and like rhythm speech exercises and all these things that I hadn't really done before. So I was like, this is fun. And I walked out of there. And I was like, you know what? Even if I don't get that, it was a good experience. And I learned something. And I felt like I had my time to do something, I don't know, and to learn as opposed to those auditions where you walk in and they're like, say the words. And they're like, yeah, do it or whatever. And then you do it. And they're like, okay, bye. And that's it. And that's disheartening. But, you know, there's been moments where, you know, an audition went so well. And I always have this thing where at the end, I just take the audition sides, you know, the papers,

and I just throw them away, I'm my way out. Yeah, yeah. I do that. You do that? Well, yeah. Again, it's, I guess it's a superstitious thing where I'm like, if you keep them, you're holding on to something expectantly. Right.

Does that I mean? Whereas if they're gone, it's like, because that's also almost some of the, it's almost like a letting go process, I guess, of being like, it's out of your hands, which is a nice feeling at that point. You've like, you've done what you could. Yeah. Hopefully that was good enough. I don't know.

But then it's like, yeah, if you carry them around, they're like a little reminder. Even if you're not looking at them or seeing them every day, they're like a little reminder. Or worse, you find them like a year later when you didn't get it and you pull them out. And they're like, oh, that could have been. Do you memorize your lines for every audition or do you just kind of read, know them sort of? I memorize them. Always. Every time.

Yeah. You know what? Once I didn't. Did you get it? No, I got a note back saying, learn your lines. And that was the only time I did, you know what it was? I used to do a lot of videos, like tapings from England, just sending audition tapes in and whatever, just randomly like shots in the dark a lot of the time.

But it was like, I remember one time there was like, they called and they were like, okay, this, you need to get it on tape by tomorrow. I can't remember what it was for even. And I was like, okay, but like, this is going on. I haven't really got time to sit and learn like eight or ten pages or whatever. So I kind of just had them and would like glance and kind of read them or whatever. And I got a note back being like, this is terrible. don't do that and i was like okay you know nowadays they have these like little iPad teleprompter

thing so there was an audition and i and i haven't put myself on tape for a long time but i was like i'm not going to learn 10 pages of dialogue or pages of dialogue so i got my friend bill who's out there and we hooked up the iPad and he just kept scrolling as he's reading with me amazing and we did like three takes of each and i didn't have to learn anything and i almost got it really i mean it was it was really clear. And I was like, ah, I don't need to, I don't need to memorize lines anymore. Do you watch it? Well, this was a Brando thing, right? Sometimes he'd have a earwig. He would have a earwig. Right. I would learn the lines if I got the part. But also sometimes he would like just have them written on. Have you seen those pictures? Oh yeah. I haven't been a book.

I've done that before. Have you? Yeah, I've had something, even when I was playing Lex. I, I remember, you know, if there were moments where I'm like, I don't need to memorize this or, you know, this is, this is something that, you know, he could, you know, If the character reads it, of course, you read it. Right, right, right. But that's always something like a couple of days before. If it's something I'm meant to be reading, I go to the props guys. And I'm like, hey, we will have the actual thing that I can read, right?

Because sometimes I felt like I've presumed that would be the case and then turned up and it's been like just a random book or something that hasn't got the text in it. And I'm like, oh, I should have learned that. Or the director says, oh, no, we actually want you to say those lines out. Right, right, right, right. You're like, what? Yeah. Yeah. There's a great story.

I can't remember who the actor was. But there was like, it was on stage in the UK and he had this letter that he had to read every evening. And the young actor that had to run on stage with the letter, ran on one evening and playing a prank, he handed him a blank piece of paper instead of the words written down. Just to mess with this older actor and the actor looked at it, glanced back, looked at it again, and then said, I haven't got my glasses. Can you read it? And handed it straight back to the other actor. So just put the ball right back in his court, which was such fast thing. but also like what a great way to get out of the fact that you didn't know it yeah well there

you know there was a time know you started acting at a young age yeah i mean three uh yeah i did my first play at three yeah now your mom was a pianist uh she taught piano yeah yeah and you had an aunt or something who was a stage actor uh dame and an eagle yeah which i'm not entirely fully sure how we're connected but that is what i've been told but that's that's great great great aunt somehow removed somehow connected but not never met but it's in your blood i guess i don't know i don't know if it's in my blood do you feel like it's in in your blood i don't know as i didn't know what i wanted to do at a young age i didn't i didn't it wasn't until i finally did a play in high school that people started paying attention to me yeah and then i go wow this feels good yeah i don't get this at home you know so then

i started uh doing it i got more and more confidence doing that so i don't i don't think as a as a young kid i think i always wanted i was an entertainer i was always memorizing lines from like saturday night live and then doing all the impressions to my parents when they came home at night and i go oh you know tonight i'm the show bob and i would do all these impressions so i knew there was something maybe with acting but i didn't really think i got to be an actor right right but i you know i'm sure you've told the story but you're like five years old you're at your brother's play or audition and yeah what happens there was uh so yeah my older brother wanted wanted wanted to ask And so he did lots of theater.

My older sister did a lot of singing and dancing. And they were both very talented at both of those things. So it was kind of one of those things that I ended up, you know, when they would go to lessons or classes or whatever. I would just kind of be there as well because my mom would be like, well, what do I do with this other kid with my little sister as well? So we ended up at five roughly, maybe a little bit before that. My older sister won a singing contest, a singing and dance contest,

which was called like the All England. contest or something like that which like it was before like television televised kind of um competitive singing shows or whatever so it was it was a big deal and and her one of the other competitors was playing oliver in the west end production of it at the time and his mom turned to my mom and was like hey your daughter's really talented she should have an agent and gave her sylvia youngs um which is a children's theater agency in in london gave them their details and was like get in touch blah blah blah and so my my older sister went along to to meet them and My mom had me and my little sister with her as well.

And they were like, hey, well, yeah, we'll represent all your kids. So that was kind of it. And then that hobby became like going to auditions and, yeah, just turned into keeping doing it, I guess. But it's not something, like you even call it a hobby, right? It was a hobby back then. It wasn't really something that you were passionate about, something you really want to do. You just sort of liked. It was something I liked.

It wasn't something that I woke up one morning all on my own accord and went, I need to do this. I feel it inside of me. It was one of those where I was like, I was doing it and I enjoyed it and carried on. And then I was like, oh, okay. When did that happen? When did you feel that? I've got to do this. This is what I'm supposed to do.

I don't know. I think I had, I mean, you know what? It's quite a, it's quite a tricky business because I think even if that feeling was growing inside of me as a kid, there was also that slight hesitancy because you're aware even as a kid of the pitfalls of it and the chances of it being. something that can continue. So there was a part of me, I think, that always withheld it a little bit. Does that make sense? Yeah, no. Even after, say, so I was lucky and got cast in about a boy when I was 11, which was a big step up for me in terms of what I was doing.

Great movie. Yeah, I mean, I love that movie. Such a good movie. I saw the White's Brothers the other day. They're the best and Pew as well. And I just did another movie with Tony Collette. So I'm very happy that I got to spend some more time with her as an adult as well. But even then, it was one of those weird things where I was like, oh, okay, this is going

well, but you're still very aware of the fact that it's like, oh, this probably won't continue. So it's like- You knew that. You thought that in your head that this probably won't. I was very aware of that. Because as a kid also, everyone around you at that point, or like journalist, or whatever it might be, always being like, oh, so child actors, trouble, child actors, and your child actor being like, oh, I guess so, what do I do? And then you're like, oh, this could be peak in terms of acting career right now.

And that's a weird thing to take on, I guess, as a kid. So there's that thing of like, I love doing it. I would like to continue doing it, but also having a little bit of hesitancy of withholding something from it because it's like, oh, I don't know if this will work. That makes sense. But I still feel it in my, but I guess I feel it more in my, if we go, like it was that term of like, I feel in it in my blood.

I feel like the need or like that, like fire to do it more than ever, probably now, if that makes sense. Is it fun? Do you find it exciting and fun, every role? Every time you're on set, do you, do you, are you one of those actors who has to act now or, because it's like roll after roll after roll after roll. You don't take a break. Yeah. So I'm like, you know, some people like, what would they do if they stopped?

And I always think, well, some people can't. Yeah. I don't know what I would do with myself. Right. I think I could stop. I have a lot of hobbies and things I enjoy outside of them. What are your hobbies, Nicholas? Well, okay.

So I just played golf. day. Golf. Are you a good golfer? Not very good, no. It's okay. Neither am I, but I golf. But, um, oh yeah, where did you play it? Um, do you have a handicap? Many. Um, I, I haven't gotten that far in terms of, I don't know exactly what my handicap is. So I've only been playing for like a year and a half. Okay. So I go to these courses

with friends and I've got a good drive because I play ice hockey. Right. But, you know, it's the short game that's the most important. But go ahead. Yeah, yeah. Um, uh, uh, uh, I've quite active, I guess. I've been learning to, to race with Ferrari. So I've been doing a bit of that. Race. Car driving, go car. You race cars.

Yeah, I haven't actually been in a race yet. I've lapped. How fast are you going at top speed? The fastest I've gone in that. It's the 488 challenge car I've been learning in. And so far the fastest it was at a circuit of the America. I think we hit about 170 miles per an hour on the back straight there.

which yeah weirdly i mean i i was trying not to glance down because traveling at that speed you don't really want to glance down too long because you might might miss something yeah yeah um but weirdly that yeah going in the straight line fast isn't isn't the worrying bit it's going around the corners fast which is more scary because that's when things can go does the studio make you sign something that says when you're doing our movie or when you get cast you cannot do any of these things until it's over i've been given those yeah yeah you've been given those yeah do you hate that

Well, you know what? Sometimes I sign them. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I'm like, well, what's the risk here? You know, it's one of those things. I don't know. I try and wriggle my way around it. I probably shouldn't say that. But yeah, so I've been doing that. I did jiu-jitsu for a little while. I've just kind of starting to get back into that. Just like reading, cooking. I don't know. Anything that grabs my attention, I suppose. I don't know why I just thought this, but do you think Lex Luthor will have his shirt off in this movie? No. All right. I just was wondering. I don't think so. I was just wondering if you're working out, you know, because you look like you're a built human being. I have been working out.

A bilf. Built. Oh. Like you're very built. You're built well. I thought that was a new time. I hadn't heard before. Biltf.

That's got to be a love for something. Yeah, yeah. A bilf. No, you know what? There's that bit in All-Star Superman where he talks about his muscles being real and like hard work and all that. Yeah, yeah. I kind of took that as a little bit of like,

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of $500 million in canceled subscriptions, with members saving up to $740 a year when they use all of the app's premium features. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Download the Rocket Money app and enter my show name inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum in the survey so they know I sent you. Don't wait. Download the Rocket Money app today and tell them you heard about them from my show inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum. Rocket Money. Do you have a routine? Because I'm always like looking at, I do this for me, but, you know, when you wake up, is there a certain, I mean, like, are you healthy? Do you eat well? Do you, do you constantly working out? You're constantly taking care of yourself. Your mental well-being. What do you do? Because a lot of times in this podcast, we talk about mental health and all that stuff. Yeah. I do, I do try and exercise most days. What do you do? It just depends. Like, I was boxed for quite a few years. I haven't done that in a little while, but I want to get back into it. But whether it is it It also depends on what character or role I'm doing.

You know, like when we're doing Macs, I was just jumping rope a lot and not eating very much because I had to lose weight for that. Do you almost faint sometimes because you haven't eaten enough? No, but I would watch cooking shows whilst I'm doing it. I would watch Chopped, which looking back, in hindsight, was like a weird form of torture, I suppose. But I genuinely enjoyed the show, so it would be distracting from the skipping,

the jumping rope. Sounds weird when you say skipping in America, I think. Skipping rope. Because if they say jump rope, right? Jump rope. yeah which is i guess a clearer term skipping maybe painting that's more like me i would just fulicking around the room i wouldn't do it yeah skip it's a bit yeah skip rope um yeah so it just depends on what the role is and what's going on i guess in terms of it but i do find that you know

what it's kind of that thing i guess in terms of acting again it's like we have control other some things but a lot of things are out of our control so having that thing that you can be like all right i've done that today and it's something for you that you can be like all right that's something that is in your control it's like whether it's yeah doing a little bit of exercise that kind of calms my mind a little bit I guess have you always been like that have you always been disciplined or have you been in some ruts where you're

you know drinking a little too much getting a little too bad you know naughty yeah yeah I've gone through those phases yeah you have yeah and what gets you out of those phases uh jail focus on yeah I guess just focus on something a clear like goal a clear goal of something so I kind of actually stopped drinking for a while

because I was playing I had to lose weight for something again but then also I was playing characters who were what's the right term I've lost the term articulate who are just don't drink I don't know what the term is alcoholism yeah but they don't drink anymore

so I stopped for that they're on the wagon yeah on the wagon yeah that's what I'm on the wagon partly for work and then was like, oh, this feels quite good. Maybe I'll stay on the wagon. I'll have a drink occasionally, but most of the time. Is there something that calms your nerves when you're acting, when you take on a roll? Is there something you do that really helps you? Maybe it's learning all your lines just back and forth, inside out. What is it? Is there something that you do? Definitely knowing them

inside out and back and forth, because that's something that it's all well and good when you're walking around your bedroom doing them it's a different it becomes a different thing when you're on set and there's a thousand different other things going on and eyeballs watching or whatever so I feel like that added little layer you need to know them for me anyway personally I I feel like I want to be able to know them where they're just ingrained in you so well that it's like you're not even thinking about them you're doing everything else yeah um I guess it's just a little bit of I don't know diet exercise it's all it's all kind of yeah the way I describe bit is this isn't something that I can put into words maybe but it's like you this is so weird

I don't know how to describe my what goes on my brain but like if you're starting here and this is this is like day one on set or like the character the shoot whatever you start here and then just gradually everything just kind of goes into this focus point does that make sense whether it's yeah hyper focused exercise whatever learning the script reading the script living thinking like everything that you do just focusing in onto that moment in person and character does that Yeah, are you, yeah, no, I get that. Maybe a little bit ADD. I think I probably got something going on, which hasn't been diagnosed, but there's probably

something going on, which if a doctor spoke to me, would be like, e. Yeah, well, they do that, the E a lot to me. Right. That's something I hear quite often. But do you know that what I'm describing that? Do you have a process like that or something similar? Everything else around you stops. It's just that.

Right. It's this hyper focus. And it's the only way I really can be. It's hard. I don't really like doing like two jobs at the same time. Right, right. I like to just focus on this and then be done with that. Yeah.

If I have a lot of stuff on my plate, I get overwhelmed. And so, and I know when I get a part that that's going to be my world. Uh-huh. Yeah, which is fun. Yeah. But if you have a girlfriend or you're married or if you have kids or if you have all these things, can you sort of isolate yourself? And can you jump into a character and turn it off when they say, uh, cut?

Uh, Yes. Yeah. It's also that I found is how often, how frequently you're playing the character, how well you know it. Like at the start of something, it's probably less easy to do that. And then it becomes easier, like once you've played them for a while, maybe you'll have a little bit of time. But yeah, that balance is definitely something since, yeah, yeah, having a home life and not not destroying that because of work is definitely a balance thing. And I think I'm, I'm pretty good at being like, okay, switch off and then be like, okay, this is work time. This is, and that's something that I guess I've been working on and trying to learn better. Are you easily distracted or are you, like you said, when you hyperfocus? Because I'm sure, like, I'm a goofball. Like I couldn't play Lex, like, especially for seven years if I was always serious. I would have jumped off a cliff.

Right, right, right. So I would be, you know, joking, doing armpit farts, whatever it took. And then I'll send a rolling camera and I'm like, uh, okay, action, boom. And I'm, I'm, I, that's just the way my brain works. Yeah. Now, some people are like, fuck that, you know, that guy can do whatever he wants, but I'm going to, I need to focus here on the day. I'm in the zone. That's it. Which one are you? I go back and, I go back and forth on that as well. I go back and forth. Because like the great, I bet you're having fun off camera. Yeah, I'm having fun off camera. But there's also a moment where it's like, okay, hyperfocus. This is like,

there's a big speech or this is, yeah, we've got an. page scene the way every beat has to be on and you know from doing tv as well the speed you shoot at as well it's like so rapid there's not time to not be on it so it's like that i mean that cast and the writing and the experience of doing that show is the best and it is incredible fun but there's still times where you have to be like okay really focused yeah i don't yeah i don't know so i don't really have any set routine for anything i suppose it just depends on each circumstance but it is good to be able to play around and have fun and mess about because that's you being relaxed and being able to enjoy it. Normally, when you're having fun, is when you do your best work, I find.

Yeah. Well, the great is simply great. Obviously, all the nominations, all this stuff. Like, I didn't know at first that you were that guy. And I was like, the great. Oh, my guy. He's Peter. He's Peter the third. And I, I don't laugh much. Believe it or not, I don't watch things and go, wow, this is hilarious. Yeah. Your character is so genius in that show. Yeah. That if you haven't, have you seen it, Ryan?

No, it's something I should have seen. Yes. You should have seen it. I'm so sorry. Jesus, Ronald. I've seen everything else. Well, let me tell you something. It's just your timing and the stuff you did, I forgot there.

I remember one episode where you tickle the fat guy. You're like, I forgot what you say, you say, hey, you know, you just and you fuck off. and you do something you just you're one-liners and your delivery and your relationship with her it's just it's a joy it's just an absolute joy and it deserved all the nominations and the attention it's a lot of fun to play because also tony's writing i mean you know this when the writing's good like that it's so it makes it so easy for you yeah and then you are just like messing around having fun and being on okay there's there's the blueprint's there for you to kind of do whatever you want and it's very liberate and you got to improvise no no no

No. So even those little moments are not improvised. No, I mean, I guess the words are never improvised. I guess like the physicality and what you do. Sure, sure. But the framework is completely, yeah, I think there was one day on that show, maybe in season one where there was a scene where a couple of us were looking out of a window at something going on. And I think there was, we weren't sure if there was anything to say. And then the director was like, maybe we can improvise. So we tried a couple of things. And then they text home. McNamara, the creator and writer of the show, and they're like, Tony in there, and he was kind of like, I think he heard or listened to what we were improvising. He was like, no. And then within like 30 seconds had like written something back. There was like, this is the line. And of course it was, I can't remember what it was, but it was genius and perfect for the moment and on the money. And it was like there is something very specific in how he writes dialogue, which is just kind of it works. I don't know, the rhythm of it, however it is, where you, Which is also a really lovely feeling because then you go, okay, you have absolute confidence in what it is.

Yeah. So you can, so there's no doubt. Well, you know, like sometimes when you're on set and you're like, ooh, I'm reaching. I'm trying to find something and figure this out. There's not that. No, because you just trust. Yeah. And just innately, there's something inside you that goes, he knows what he's doing.

I believe in this. Whatever he wants, I'm going to get. Yeah, which I find the same in James's writing, I think, from watching his stuff and reading. I've been like, oh, there's something very similar. You don't need to do anything else. There's something very similar between. between those two. Wow.

Which I love as an actor. I'm like, great. You thought of quitting acting at one point in your life? Yeah. When was that? When you're making skins? Just after the skins, probably the first series came out where it was a, it was quite successful in England and it was a bit scary, I suppose.

Because it did feel like people were, like, it felt like life had shifted a little bit in an uncomfortable way. Because also, I guess it was all people in my age group that were watching it mainly. and it just felt like I remember sitting inside of a car outside Marillelebone tube station train station at one point and people like stood outside the car

watching me and I wasn't doing it I was just sitting in this car waiting and I remember just be like ah it was scary it was scary and I was like I don't know about this scary as in how not scary like oh I'm fearful for my life just fearful for like oh is this

am I always going to feel like watched and like I don't know yeah you are not watched on screen but watched in life and felt like like weird yeah yeah do you like when people come up to you and like your work and ask for an autograph uh yeah like sometimes it can be really lovely sometimes you know what there's lots of different interactions that right if you're having dinner with your girlfriend or whatever

and someone just interrupt you it's kind of like yeah can you know yeah not even if the it's also it's also how people behave in amongst that i think you see it is at times it's a very transactional interaction, I suppose, where people come up and they want the picture. Yeah. There's like, and sometimes that's fine. You can just do that quickly and whatever. And then there's other times where people can just be like, hey, like your work, have a good day or whatever.

There's different. Variations. It depends also how people come at it, if that makes sense. Yeah. Because you see a lot of different sides of people, I suppose, in that brief interaction. As long as people are humble and kind, because some people will be like, hey, come here for a second. Right, right, right. I want you to meet my girlfriend.

Come here. had that. I'm like, who are you? The best ones when they go, when they go, I don't know who you are, but can I get a picture with you? My mate says you're famous or something like that. And you're like, well, what are we doing here? Yeah. If you don't know who I am and you want to pick, what is the point? It's like, people enjoy the idea of being like, I think you're rubbish, but I still want to, but you still want to pitch you and you're like, well, what? This is uncomfortable for everybody. But you know what? I do, I do appreciate when people have seen, first of all, or

like something that that does mean a lot so that's good do you do impressions not really not no not no that was like a yes but no but impressions like uh any of any english actors like a laurence olivier uh no anthony hopkins no no but i worked with hopkins on a movie many years ago and and he did the the thing that oh agent sterling you think you can dissect me with your blow up little too it was yeah that's good no i can't do that but it was like it was like one of those things where I was I was stood there chatting with Felicity Jones and we were talking about psychopaths

because I think I just read like the psychopath test book or something so we were talking about psychopaths and then Sir Anthony like walked over and was like what are you guys talking about and I was like psychopaths and I was like well you can probably talk on this better than any of us

how did that how did that go how did you come about those ideas etc and he was like I remember and being like oh I just I just decided to be very still and not blink too much and then did the thing and then he was like and then you do a couple of strange things like that and that's it really and he made it so simple like that and then that was it and we were both just kind of in and then anything he turned and walked away and we were both just like giddy and in shock at the fact that he he did the thing I don't know what that thing is

called but he did it in front yeah what is that called I don't know is it a wine tasting thing I don't know a sensor once tried to test me what does he say I hate his liver or something yeah we know that some father beans and a nice candy man but he gave great advice right there in just one sentence where he said keep it simple yeah like that's that that's what i wanted to do i just didn't i wanted to just keep things very simple and be a normal human being yeah not normal but being a real being you know believable grounded in whatever world that is yeah and so it's the simplicity of it all is is the most important thing and then he nuanced his performance with the stillness with those little those little brilliant things that he did yeah yeah and makes

he makes it look easy he does it's not easy yeah um what do you think is the uh toughest period of your life i don't know my memory has probably blocked them out now um isn't that isn't that what your memory does to it does i've had that a lot where 20 years later i go oh my my gosh that happened yeah you know jesus yeah i don't i don't i don't i don't really know to be honest with you looking back if i could be like oh that's that's the toughest any loss yeah a couple a couple of losses but i still i'm so lucky i've still got both my parents um and you're close with them yeah yeah yeah they were just here a couple of weeks ago hanging out which is nice you know what i can you know what i can think what the scariest and toughest moment of my life was it was a horror

Well, yeah, but I don't want to go into it, actually. Really? Not because it's like some deep psychological. It's, yeah, yeah. It was just a dark time in your life. It was just a, yeah, a terrifying, scary time where I was like, oh, oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, we don't have to get that because you probably get emotional. Yeah.

Yeah, I can tell. I can tell you're like, if I go into this, I'll get emotional and I don't want to get emotional. Not right now. Not right now. You don't, and you don't have to. At some point, I'll be ready to maybe talk about it. But also, I feel like there's a great thing nowadays that everything. is spoken about and there are like and that is helpful for so many people but there's also a part

of me that like i like things to be private if that makes sense no there's a there's a there's a there's i love that people i love to sharing so much and everything but also i love being able to be like all right good do this do that and then also be like fom this is my world and there's like things that are mine i don't know yeah um good and bad no i i i like that and i think that look i think there's it's good in a way where people talk about mental health and talk about you know are open i think it's a great thing but i also think that some things um you work out on your own or you work out with your whoever and some things are private and you don't need to share those things with the world right you know um i think so either way yeah it's it's what's comfortable

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you promise to do that at some point like in the next year or so yeah i'll come back dude are you kidding me so and i think that would be a great follow-up to just talk about and be like oof really cocked that up then i'm like hey nicholas i don't have any time no no no i'm calling I'm like, please, can I come on the show? I can explain. You know, I can explain. I got to tell you, it was easier for me, too, because there wasn't really social media then when I was doing this.

I didn't have to deal with all the people and all the. Listen, you're always going to get haters. You're always going to say people, this person's better. This person's worse. This was crap. You know, James doesn't know what he's talking about. James is brilliant. It's all over.

And if you start to listen to all of it, it's just, it's just not healthy, right? We know that. We know that. You've read reviews. You've read things people can see. and people could be cruel. And so, you know, you know what you're doing. You're a super talented guy.

He knows what he's doing. It's just like, yeah, I have no worries at all. Thanks. Even sitting here with you and watching your work, like, you know, in Frank Miller's madmacks. George Miller. Huh? George Miller. Did I say Frank?

Frank Miller was the artist. Yeah. And director. Yeah. Sin City. I love the Sanseye. But George Miller was, I take it. This was the most, the scariest time in terms of being on a set with all that shit going on.

The stunts, you were doing a lot of your own stunts and the cars and all these things in the middle of nowhere. Was that terrifying? Do you know what? The stunt team on that were incredible. So it was like something where you always felt safe and within, you felt like you're in a good environment to be doing those things. So it was more excitement for me because that's the sort of stuff I love. like engines like i remember there'd be would all be lined up in our vehicles in the desert pointed and we'd do like long takes where you just drive for 20 minutes at times and you wouldn't

be able to hear anything and that and they'd just give the signal for like everyone to start their engines and you'd hear all these massive v8s and w12s and all these bikes and everything start up and the drum in of the war drums and all this sort of stuff and you'd sit down i just i could see and feel like the arms on my hair just stand up and then you know that dump of adrenaline which you get like even if you're doing a scene just like if you and I were just sitting here and we're about to do a scene we'd probably both have a little dump of adrenaline of yeah we're doing something yeah arms clammy or whatever it is like there's a little bit of excitement and and and that that comes with with any scene I suppose but like that environment with all that going on that was

just like the next level of and also just so immersive you're like well this is never going happen in real life right um i don't think yeah maybe we don't know maybe we'll see maybe 20 years yeah so it's like it's like in terms of yeah an environment to be and then and then yeah the all the stunt team is so incredible and we got to do some fun things um so there weren't really too many moments for me personally where i was like oh this is this is there was one where i remember there's a shot where i'm i'm in the back of the um the war horse kind of truck um and there's a shot that's out the back of it um where what i think it's the mega horse is this big kind of monster truck is going to kind of jump off this ledge and then hit into the

the ravine wall and then flip on the other side right and they're like right we've really got like one one go at this like the stunt driver's going to going to do that he's going to drive into war and flip in that massive truck and then and then we're going to pull back to see your reaction sort of thing sitting there and that's like that that yeah that's more scary than yeah than the stunt stuff because you're like while they're doing the actual difficult hard work yeah out there I just don't want to be the one at the end shitty reaction at the end of a shot it's always funny that the end of a shot where like loads of stuff's happened and then you just have to be like ooh it's the worst or like say one line at the end of a scene yeah it's like oh that's I know because

you're thinking about it. The pressure is weird. He's thinking about the fucking thing. You don't want to think about it. That character is unhinged. Yeah. I have a feeling you improvise some of those things where he was just like, go off. Where you're looking at the car and you're doing all these things.

And I'm like, it's just so raw and just full of all this life. And when you jump on the car and you kamikaze style, I mean, it was just, it's a great role. Did you have fun doing it? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I had a lot of fun doing it. Was stuff improvised? I don't think there was like dialogue improvised again particularly. But it's just things that come from being in that environment.

It's kind of that thing that we've figured, you know, quite early on because of the noise, obviously you're going to be loud and hyped up. And this is, you know, for all those war boys, this is their, this is the pinnacle of their lives, this war in these days. But then they can't hear each other. So they're banging on car roofs to communicate and like all these things are just, yeah it's things that come from the environment i suppose and then and then being amped up and there's not really too big you can go in that world and that character so all right it's cold

plunge all right so we both have a cold plunge yes we have the renew cold plunge and um and i've had a lot of surgeries and things so everybody says this is really great for um swelling or inflammation and you know a lot of things um i just got it and i'm a bit of a puss right Right. How long have you had it? I've had it for about three or four weeks. Okay. I've gotten in like four or five times, and I got up to a minute now. Okay.

That's pretty good. The first time was 15 seconds. Right. It was like me in bed. Yeah. It wasn't great. Well, I saw a coaster the other day. I said golf and sex.

The only two things you don't have to be good at to enjoy. That's awesome. Yeah, I don't know why that came up. You mentioned sex. Yeah. And we mentioned a golf earlier. About the, how long can you last in the cold plunge? I've got up to about two and a half minutes now.

Really? It's breathing, isn't it? It is. You know what? Do your legs get like burning? No. Shit. Sometimes, sometimes when they, when I get out, I like try and pat down and I can't feel them.

Yeah. And I'm like, ooh. So that's normal. I guess. I don't know. No one, I haven't really read about what it should feel like. I mean, I know it's the, yeah, the breathing thing is a big thing. And I guess one of the big differences is, do you put your hands in? No. Right. Okay. Well, that, that is a game changer, by the way. You shouldn't, right? No, you should in theory. Why? If you do want to, if you want to, if you want to, so the, the idea is to bring the body temperature down. Yeah. So I listened to that. Did you listen to that Hubberman podcast? no about this so he goes into like it's three hours long and you should listen to that not me about about cold pledging I don't listen to anything who anybody who talks for three hours certified doctor and I can tell you doctor who supposedly yeah where you lose the most

heat is the palms of your feet your cheeks tops of your cheeks and the palms of your hand so like I I most of the time do keep my hands out because it's like a big difference in terms of the temperature but when put your hands in and you'll notice a big like drop in how cold it feels. Oh. It makes it way more, it made more difficult to endure. But I kind of, I guess I'm a bit sadistic because I kind of enjoy the thing of like, I don't know. Do you do it every day?

I try most days, yeah. You wake up and do it. No, no. Normally if I've like gone, if I've gone through it, worked out. And that's kind of a little trick that I think helps me. If like, I want to be hot before I get in there. You mean hot. Like, I want to look great.

I don't want to look great before I get it. No, like, I want to be like, I want to have just gone for a run and then be like, I'm uncomfortably hot. I would like to be cooled down. I think it will be better for me when it's hot in the summer. Yeah. And I'll want to get in more because right now it's cold and rainy and it's like the last thing you want to do is go out there. But what helps me is when I have friends that want to do it too. Right.

I'm like, oh, my God, you go first. All right, well, I'll do it. And then we go to the jacuzzi after. It's good to go to the jacuzzi after. I don't know. Yeah. First world problems. I guess it's good to go hot and cold.

the thing that the Hibbon app was saying, that's like the thing that triggers whatever good stuff it does. I'm going to try and do it at least every other day. Yeah. And you'll, you'll work up. But again, it's one of those things where I think honestly, you'll find that you can report back to me, but the first minute is the toughest because that's when your body is like, first of all, shot. And then like, well, but then once you, almost once you go past the minute, once you're frozen, you're kind of almost in a way, yeah, a little bit numb to it, I guess, where you're kind of like, wow, this is... And you see the benefits?

I don't know. I've had mine maybe like, I don't know, since the end of last year. I've had it maybe a month or too longer than you. So I don't know, yeah, if I feel... It definitely, in terms of like, I guess, releasing adrenaline and being like... I feel great after. I feel like I'm alive. Yeah.

Mentally, I feel like this kind of like sharpness and clarity and all that sort of thing. And that's meant to be good for... Isn't that the thing that in Finland, the depression rates are really? really low even though they um because there's only 10 people there yeah because there's only 10 but also because they are like doing i guess jumping in frozen lakes the whole time and it's and living in a colder climate probably yeah but even though they don't have like sunlight for hours of the day yeah sort of stuff so it's um mentally i think i think it helps but also it's just good to have like i guess i don't know if it would be mental fortitude or something but that idea

like little things to over yeah you can get through it yeah accomplishment and then i set a time and I'm like, you will make it to two minutes 30 or whatever. And it's like, all right, it's just sit there and I watch the clock. There was one day when I got in and I was like, I got in and I was like, da-da-da, sitting there, and I was like, glanced at the clock, sat there a bit longer than glanced again. And I realized that it was like jammed. The second hand was just like twitching where it was. And I was like, well, now I've got no idea how long I've been in here.

I know it hasn't been long, so I shouldn't get out. But I also don't know, I can't tell how long it should go on for. Right. So that was painful. Oh, my God. I got to ask you. I have a theory. I know you work with Nicholas Cage twice.

Yeah. I have a feeling the second time he wanted you for that role. For Renfield? Redfield. I hope he wanted to do it. Because he did Weatherman, you did together. We did the Weatherman, yeah. And he liked you, obviously.

You got along. Yeah. So I assume when you were up for this, they're like, hey, Nick wants you in this movie. Well, I mean, it was actually. So Chris McKay, the director, I'd met him previously over at, warners and we had chatted about wanting to do something together i i mean i just loved lego batman um and and then so we we had chatted and then this came about renfield came about and we spoke so it was actually i kind of got cast i guess before nick um and then the idea that nick of nick playing dracula was

just a genius one i think because it was one of those where i mean he's just so good in the movie he won he won the uh he won the saturn award for it really the other night can you do a good nick cage I developed one that was okay, perhaps. What if you just say a line? If you don't like it, we'll cut it. No. No, I can't bring myself to do it? Well, can you tell me how to do it?

Well, like, I just don't. You were starting. I do more of an Owen Wilson. Oh, this is great. That is a very good. And then you say, wow, right? Oh, wow. Yeah.

Yeah, my, my, I never did it to him either. And it's not really a full-on impression. Oh, okay. But I love him. He's so, yeah. Is that it? It took me right back. It was not it.

He's just the best. He cares so much and brings such great energy. And it's just, I could not, like, speak higher of him in terms of, like, his preparation, what he brings on set, the energy he brings. And just what a joy it is to be in scenes with him. It really is, like, it's so fun. And then also to add to the fun of that is, like, you're sitting there and then you see him in full Dracula makeup and go. than it's just even more like bizarre in a way but also just genius and you sit there

and I love them, yeah, I just had the best time. What's your favorite Nick Cage movie? Ooh, ooh, favorite Nick Cage movie. Raising Arizona? I do love Raising Arizona, but you know, adaptation was one that I watched a lot. Actually after, I think it was, what year did that come out? I can't know if it was before the weatherman.

No, early. I think it was before that. So I watched that film a lot before going to do The Weatherman with him. him. Yeah. And then watched it again many times before, well, many times, once, before doing Renford with him again. I was like, I love this movie so much. You're going to be the voice in the animated movie, Garfield movie. Yeah. Have you already recorded? We have. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it comes out in May. Was it fun? Yeah, I like doing animated stuff. Have you done a lot of animation stuff? Yeah.

Do you enjoy it? I love it. It's easy. You don't have to shave. You don't have to, you just walk in, have a soda. I thought that was the case. I find it more difficult than acting acting at times. It's more energy consuming. It is. It's exhausting. Four hour session will put lay you out. Because there's no, there's no like, on filming there's like, all right, go in, do this shot. All right, we're going to give you 10 minutes. Yeah, we're going to turn around. This is going to, and then you go again. Whereas an animation, it's like, right, you're just boom, boom, boom. And it takes, I find for my voice to sound anything, but just. completely boring and monotonous. I have to put so much energy in behind it.

They're like in the in in this particular movie in animation voicey stuff I don't know because when you then when you're just focusing on just the voice you get more of an energy I get like I'm jumping around and going crazy and then it's like because otherwise I'll listen to it and I'll be like it sounds a bit flat you know you don't like your own voice no I don't hate my own voice I think you have a great voice thanks uh you're gonna play nasferatu written and directed by Robert Eggers which is he's a genius yeah oh he's an incredible one are you doing that no we've we finished filming we finished filming we finished it we shot it in Prague at the beginning of last year um are you excited yeah i saw i did some media after it the it looks good uh yeah i mean all of

did you watch all the max shrek and all that stuff yeah yeah of course went back and and re-read dracula as well and watched all the originals and then and then also funnly funnly um william defoe was in in the movie and he obviously played a version of Warlock as well in, oh, I forgot the name of the movie. It was called Shadow of a Vampire. Yes, yes, yes, which is genius. So there's so many fun things to, like, watch and draw from and, like, fall into that world. But Robert really has this love of Soviet-era kind of cinema, and so he was sending a lot of, a lot of those movies to watch.

I mean, I know you did the Clint Eastwood movie with our good friend, Cedric, who I adore, love him. He did a legist game with him on Thursday. Wait, I might be going to that game. Oh, cool. We'll hang out. Nuggets. Yeah. Yeah, we'll go.

Yeah. We'll go. But Clint East would, I mean, look, he's 92. I worked with him when he was in his 60s. And this might be his very last movie that you did because he, I mean, he's 92. So it could be his last movie that he directs. Yeah. I mean, was it, I know you become a little close with him.

Yeah, I think he's 93 now. 93. I love Clinton. I mean, you know from. Love him. from working with him. He is the calmest, kindest, he's got such a glint and his eye. We went up to see him this last weekend, and he's just got such a warmth. He has like, I noticed he has like a smile built into his face. Does that make sense in a way? And I guess people,

he's got, and he's got such a sharp, like, filthy sense of humor, which means we get along pretty well, I think, in terms of just like, we're never, we don't shy away from, from, from, from that um from from from the gags in that in that regard so yeah and also again in terms of like learning from someone but we're going back to um anthony hopkins earlier it's like that thing of like speaking to clinton and being around him he just that ability to keep it simple and not overthinking yeah i don't remember any direction the only direction he said was maybe acknowledge the jury a little right that was it so did he give you a lot of direction uh not not tons again it was um and you know the thing if he doesn't really say action or cut it's just like yeah

whenever you're ready and then uh and then that's enough of that that that's great at the end of it that's enough of that um but yeah so you know there would be tried a little faster is there anything else you want to try you know he but he's very calm relaxed and it's like it's it's honestly for me it was a it was a strange mental like gymnastics because i went from doing Robert Eggers' film to do in a film with Justin Kuzel who's a fantastic director and then doing Clint's movie and

they're all directed such different ways and it's so like how specific they can be or how you know the physical notes or how precise you have to be on certain things whereas and then going to Clinton who's just kind of do your thing you know

he hired you for a reason hired you for a reason out there you go and it's also an interesting thing because occasionally you're just doing a scene and and Clint will come and sit by the camera sometimes. And that's like, I don't know if he ever did that to you, but it's such a crazy feeling. Because obviously, like, you're in the scene,

but your peripheral brain and everything else going on and eyesight, it's still existent. And you can still see when it's Clint Eastwood kind of just mooching along and then sitting down in a chair in the corner to watch. And that's a very bizarre feeling. That's great when he's happy. That's great.

You're living the dream, man. You're working with the great. greats people like working with you um i'm very lucky at the moment and i'm appreciative of it as well it took me a second because you know there's always that thing in life of like oh you're aiming for things you're going blah blah and and all this and a couple of actors and a couple of actors and maybe we've always said like through your 20s you're learning and you're figuring stuff out and then 30s for an actor is hopefully when the roles get really good and interesting and whatever and at the end of last year working with those three directors i was like okay

i'm gonna take a second and just appreciate that i've kind of i'm at a spot that i would have love to have been at if I could look if I could go back 10 years and and look now to this I'd be thrilled so I had to like yeah because I'm not I'm not one to often do that I suppose yeah it's kind of the next thing and whatever so I did take a second and just be like hey appreciate be great but look from the outside in and say hey you're doing hey this is good yeah yeah just enjoy it it's something I've been trying to get to work on a little bit even when we were finishing up doing the playing that character on the great it was something that I enjoyed so much and and and just had the best time doing and already knew I was going

i was going to miss playing that character so it was like a weird thing where did you get emotional at the end yeah very emotional you cried yeah yeah there was the last day of shooting um we're doing kind of those last scenes um i mean spoiler alert i guess if people haven't seen it it's and my character dies but i falls through the ice on a horse and there was one of those things that the buildup scenes to that were yeah very emotional and i think el fanning who's incredible in the show and such a wonder to do scenes with and be around was like one of those things where both of us we were looking I think at the beginning of the day we're beginning to rehearse and I started I couldn't get the words out because I was already beginning to cry because it just meant them and it does um which sounds

that's a beautiful thing I mean it's just this this is family yeah I mean these people your family yeah so it's not your life yeah I mean you're spending more time with these people than you are your family spend a lot of time yeah at times reading playing learning Stellist lenses do more than just correct your child's vision. They slow down the progression of myopia. So your child can continue to discover all the world has to offer through their own eyes. Light the path to a brighter future with stellar lenses for myopia control. Learn more at SLR.com.

And ask your family eye care professional for SLOR Stellist lenses at your child's next visit. Also, you are attached to produce and star in the one. and then this movie Superman Legacy that I just heard about Lex Luther there we go I mean you don't have to tell me

but like do you have prep is there prep besides learning it besides doing it your own way did you kind of watch everything just to get like just see all the angles and all the iterations or whatever yeah I try and I try and get

a viewpoint on everything it depends the prep like i said earlier it's like the prep always changes depending and it can go off on weird tangents and then it can occasionally which can sometimes be fruitful and sometimes not and sometimes you sit there and you go oh this has helped me another times you go i don't know if i'm really going to use that but the the exercise of doing it was actually the help if that makes sense yeah so it's kind of that thing where you go all right i'm not that is never going to be on screen the fact that i've read like this random quote or listen to this song or or sat here for 10 minutes thinking about that but it does in a weird way you go that was probably not tangibly helpful but there's

something about it that down the road it helps you feel prepared or whatever it might be that you go okay that makes me feel ready I don't know it's yeah I mean I could picture you doing something like this watching and going rubbish I might use a little bit that rubbish over the top there's no there's never there's never like watching and being like oh consciously steal things or use things

no of course not I mean there's definitely things where you go I like that that and I like that but then also like hopefully and this is the experience I had working with James that got me particularly excited doing our audition process was like his ability to

to keep things fun and alive and try things in the moment and be like just shouting out from the monitors say this line do this do that and that's something that I really enjoy because it takes away there can be this thing where you kind of have

sometimes the scene and play these beats and get to them and whatever it might be and suddenly when you put the cat amongst the pigeons whatever then it kind of flips it and changes it and you're trying things

and it opens up new things and then that I guess is the whole process of prep for me as like be prepared as possible so that when you get there you can throw that all away and do whatever you want in the moment hopefully

without thinking about it I don't know who is the one act that you when you were young you were sort of like that's my idol as an actor oh mine was Gary Oldman is Gary oldman Gary would definitely be up there um Christian Bales definitely he's fantastic way up there and then I was lucky you know I guess when we were doing X-Men I was early 20s when I started and I was watching and looking up to James McAvoy and Michael Fasbender and they were two of my idols at that point and still are so it's like

watching those guys being on set with them is like oh great well listen man this has been an absolute treat dude thank you so much for i let me come by yeah let's go jump in the plunge we should imagine we go in the plunge the next time we'll do the whole podcast from the plunge that's what you should do is like the last the rapid the rapid fire you know the rapid fire section should be people have to do it in the plunge while they're answering the question yes yes I would and they can only get out once they've finished all the it'd be like a reverse hot ones oh they would they would love that my guests would love that I'll do it All right.

Next time, if there's rapid fire, I'll get in there and answer. All right. I don't know why I've just put myself into that. You did say that. But I did say that. And I was, uh, unsolicited. I wish you the absolute best on Superman. Thank you.

I know you're going to be wonderful. Do what you do best, which is you're always great. And whatever I've seen you in. And, uh, you're in great hands. And I, and I hope it's a smash. I hope it just kills. Any last words of wisdom on it? What was a little key that you're like, oh, this is gone,

Give me a sequence. Just one little nugget that you're like, huh, this really, this really helped me. Go with your gut. Even if it just seems out of, like, not out of place, but just seems a little crazy or seems a little bit out there. Just try everything. Try. Listen to James. And then if he gives you one that you want to just fuck around with, really fuck around.

Yeah. I love being able to just have a freedom of being unhinged some. times or or or saying just trusting myself and not just like i have to do it this way i have to do it this way i i i just you know be free you're you're so you're so talented you have such great um you know your your gut your instincts trust your instincts just and have have a blast it's going to be great i will i will do my best i'll be the first one to buy a ticket i better be invited to the fucking premiere yeah man of course jesus thank you for that i appreciate it thanks for taking the time yeah

awesome. I couldn't believe how I'm going to say the word that comes to mind when I think of Nicholas Holt is refreshing. He's like, you know, he's a star. He's, he's a great actor and he's a great guy. He came here and he made everybody feel really comfortable in the studio. He was open as much as he could be. We talked about Lex. He was humble. He was sweet. We started texting. Um, I just really like him. I like being around him. I think he's got a great energy and he's a great dude. So thanks, Nick.

Can I call you Nick? Huzzah. Huh? Huzzah. What's his ah? Sorry, I just watched all 30 episodes. Oh,

I haven't gotten that far. Literally just coming off of it. Oh, but no, he just, Ryan's really excited about the great. I wish I had seen. But how about all that great stuff we talk about.

Oh my God, everything else. But everything else. But everything else. I was honored that he was like, you know, When he came here, I was a big fan, and I watched it, and I was like, holy crap, man, thank you. Yeah, that was really cool.

And he's about to go film, so I wish him the best of luck. I know he's going to be great. You really wanted to get into your process, and you really had to dig deep and find your process. Yeah, I mean, I just said, trust your gut. You're a great actor. And also, if you feel like doing something out of the ordinary and it just comes to you, just fuck it, do it, man.

Just do it. that's so i hope he does that i hope he goes a lot of times you know um you know you'll have an idea and the director will have an idea but it doesn't mean on take four or take five you can't when you when you know you have it every all the other takes were working good for certain things mix it up give them choices and you know nicholas obviously can do that but that's all i try to do is give them choices so they can you know they're like oh he was too big in every take but he wasn't too big on this take but he wasn't too big on this take He was a little more subtle on this line.

He was a little bigger on this line. So I like to do that. I like to play. But he needs no advice. He's got, you know, James Gunn behind him and James knows what he wants. And that's 95% of it when the director knows what he wants. And he auditioned. So he knows what James wants.

So it's pretty self-explanatory. That's it, really. If you guys like this podcast, just please subscribe. And listen. And that's really it. Again, Instagram at the Michael Rosenbaum. The link tree has everything to support me, support patron. Patreon.com slash Insidi, if you want to support the podcast, give back and keep this thing going because it's patrons that keep it going.

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