‘X-Men’ star Nicholas Hoult graces AsiaPop Comicon

MANILA, Philippines – The other day, Nicholas Hoult, along with his non-mutant friend Joe Dempsie, went to Luneta Park to visit the Rizal Monument. To circle the area, they rode the kalesa.

In another world, this kalesa would be pulled by a heavily armored horse and Hoult would be standing on top of the carriage with his friend, yelling “Witness us!” over and over again as they hurl explosive spears at people. Behind them would be four men beating the drums of war, and a man in red playing heavy metal riffs on a customized Les Paul guitar that shoots flames.

However, this is Earth-616. Not Fury Road.

Hoult enjoyed the peace of the park and soaked in the history while listening to the gentle hums of jeepney engines and the mumbled conversations of picnickers.

His visit here in the Philippines is a business trip, but he does not want it to be just business where his explorations of the country are limited to his hotel room and the roads that lead to the SMX Convention Center.

“I plan on exploring more of the Philippines after this convention,” he said.

The ‘Beast’ is a geek

Much like Beast of the X-Men, Hoult is a renaissance man or at least aspires to be. Like the fans that flock to have a picture taken with him and/or to get his autograph, he is a geek.

“Geeks are people who are passionate about anything and have a thirst for knowledge of those things,” he said.

He loves to read, especially comics. When he was chosen to play Beast for X-Men: First Class, he became excited. He enjoyed the source material of that film as well as the comics of Days of Future Past and Apocalypse. He wishes to star in an X-Men film where he plays Dark Beast, the malevolent version of his current role in the franchise.

A fan described his face to be “angelic and gentle,” which the fan believes to be one of the factors as to why he was given the role of the blue-furred scientist.

Hoult heartily chuckled and talked about his acting career. Like geeks pushing themselves further by enriching their love and knowledge on particular things, Hoult pushes himself to take on roles that are different from his previous ones, refusing to be stereotyped because of his “gentle” demeanor. That is why he is hoping for a movie with Dark Beast, so that he could show that he can play evil as well.

While playing Nux in Mad Max: Fury Road, he has shown an antagonistic and adrenaline-fueled side but goes through a change of heart in the middle of the story, turning back on his army to support Max and Imperator Furiosa.

Becoming J.D. Salinger

He learns more and grows as an actor by taking on various roles, and that is what he loves most about his profession.

“I don’t have a [set] method for my roles,” said Hoult. He prefers to do extensive research for them, especially if they are based on characters from books or comics.

Hoult will star in a biopic of the acclaimed American writer J.D. Salinger, who is famous for writing Catcher in the Rye. The film is entitled Rebel in the Rye and is set to be released sometime in 2017.

“It is entitled Rebel in the Rye because it’s about Salinger’s early life. He was rebellious; he got kicked out of schools frequently and his writing was against the “phony-ness” of the literature being produced by his contemporaries,” explained Hoult.

He found the preparation to be challenging given that there are no videos or voice recordings of Salinger for him to study. Hoult only had Salinger’s books, which are believed to be semi-autobiographical, and biographies written by those who have worked with him or were friends with the enigmatic writer.

Salinger was a reclusive man and only a few people have gotten to know him. Hoult claimed that besides reading Salinger’s books, he cooped up in a room for days writing short stories to try and see if he could feel what the writer must have felt when he was still working on stories like “Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes,” “The Laughing Man” and his novel Catcher in the Rye.

What’s next for the Beast

Hoult is content with his life and feels lucky to have been a part of beloved film franchises such as the X-Men and Mad Max. He has come a long way, from playing an antisocial boy on British television to playing a beloved character in the Marvel Universe, to bringing back to life an acclaimed writer whose novel is considered to be one of the greatest books ever written.

What is next for Nicholas Hoult?

He wants to reprise his role as Beast and to work with his fellow X-Men cast members again. He also would not mind taking on a role for one of the upcoming Star Wars films.

All he knows that after the Asia Pop Comicon, he will go on exploring some islands in the Philippines, visit historical sites and learn more about Philippine culture through food.

He will start with eating balut, but first he must muster up the courage to eat it because “it looks disgusting.” Perhaps he should channel Nux again if only for a moment. Real or not, he did eat a creepy crawly without hesitation in Fury Road.