The full interview at Bleeding Cool is huge so I left a few bits n pieces out. Be sure to click the link back to them below to read the full thing, with updates on Mad Max: Fury Road and Jack The Giant Killer.
Anyway, here are the highlights..
On the character of Hank McCoy/Beast..
As a character, I find Beast is fantastic, he is my favourite in a way. There’s this inner tension, because he’s a scientist, and a careful man, and a worldly man, and he has this crazy exterior. He’s scary.
..I hope the fans will like this version as much (as the original).
..in this film it’s more, he’s a young scientist. He’s very intelligent, obviously, and creates great inventions. But there’s also this side of him where you have this conflict of wanting to be normal and wanting to fit in. That’s going on. And then there’s also the side, once he becomes the Beast. There’s a Jeckyll and Hyde aspect, where he’s scared of what he’s capable of.
When asked about the makeup and CGI needed for the role..
Before the transformation, when I’m just Hank, that’s me and there’s some CGI on the feet and toes. And then, once the transformation to Beast takes place, that’s four hours of make-up and prosthetics with a full mask and wigs and fur and a big rubber muscle suit. That’s quite a transformation.
On preparing for the role by watching Kelsey Grammer(Beast in
X-Men 3)..
I watched Frasier, I watched the X-Men films. And then training was physically, athletics. I gained a little bit of weight and still managed to fit into my muscle suit (laughs). We lifted weights, did some boxing. It was also in part so that we stayed energized. That worked out pretty well.
..it was so that I could get Kelsey Grammer’s accent correctly.
..I feel they were very different characters. In the other film, Beast was a politician, and he’s been in this place for a long time. In this one he’s young and he’s a scientist. And when he changes, that comes with quite a bit of anger and embarrassment.
You may remember Mathew Vaughn comparing
X-Men: First Class to James Bond. Hoult's response..
To me, personally, I really wonder why he said that. We were doing a scene of hanking and waving, and Luffy said, do it like James Bond, say the line like James Bond. Well, he actually said, do it like James Bond, and I said, I don’t know if that will come off as cheesy or Bond-like. And he said, do it, and then we’ll decide.
..It’s a film that has its background in the great era of the 1960s. There is drama, and there are thriller aspects. It’s character-driven by Magneto and Xavier, because it’s about their relationship. It’s epic, but told with the characters in mind.
On getting a handle on the character, before and after the transformation. Does Beast remain his happy go lucky, upbeat self?
Well, in this movie, the end of the world is coming, so there’s not that much to be upbeat about. Maybe, if we make another film, we can get into that contradiction, that someone who looks so scary is such a positive person. That’d be great. You know, the film isn’t out yet, and that’s stuff I’m not comfortable talking about at this time.
Finally Hoult speaks about the decision to go back to the comics for the blue and yellow costumes, and has a message for the fans..
I think they did a great job in designing the costumes. About why the colours are the way they are, you’ll have to see it in the film, but it’s a nice idea of why they are like that. Yeah, I liked the costumes and the reason behind them in this film. And I think they work, yeah.
I think the X-Men characters and their universe is very important to the people, to their fans. We just hope that you know that we’ve been respectful, that we’ve got something new and interesting to see, and hopefully tell a great story. That’s kind of the main thing.
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