BRIT actor Nicholas Hoult got his big break in the film About A Boy when he was just 13 years old and went on to star in Hollywood movies including Clash of the Titans. Now he’s back on the big screen in X-Men: First Class, which charts the beginning of the X-Men saga, as Hank McCoy, a shy scientist who transforms into a mutant called Beast. 

In X Men: First Class you play a younger version of Hank McCoy/Beast, who we first saw in X-Men: Last Stand. Is your Beast different to that one?

There are two different aspects to Hank. In this film he’s more the young scientist who’s a bit nervous. He’s very clever, obviously, and he’s come up with great inventions, but he still hasn’t found his place. By the third X-Men film, Kelsey Grammer was playing him as a politician and he was very different. And he obviously hasn’t become the actual blue Beast, which happens in this film.

What did you know about the character beforehand?

I grew up reading a couple of the comics, but actually really watching the cartoons, funnily enough. That was my main point of reference, but when I found out I’d got the role, I started reading a lot of the comics. I watched Kelsey’s stuff too. 

What did you like about the Hank/Beast?

He’s interesting in the way he’s not comfortable in his own skin but he’s this really clever man. When he becomes the Beast it’s the  contrast between this very clever man of science and the world, who understands everything and is very witty, and this exterior that just doesn’t mirror the inside at all. That’s the great thing about him.

How long did it take to get into the full Beast make-up?

It was a bit of an ordeal. It was about a four-hour process to get it on. It was a foam mask, wigs; the whole thing. And then big rubber arms, legs, suit. The guys who made it were fantastic and they looked after me when I was in it, because it can be quite restrictive. Once it’s on there’s not a part of you that’s open to the world, basically. There’s no breathing room, you know, so it gets pretty hot.

We bet it was tricky trying to go to the bathroom in your costume…

Going to the bathroom was interesting… The legs had zips on them, so you’d take the zips off. It took a bit of time, but it was possible. I’ve heard of people that have had prosthetics make-up so restrictive that they couldn’t actually go to the toilet on their own, so they had to do it with other people helping them. Or, apparently, sometimes they had to build colostomy bags into the suits, which is just silly. The people that designed this one made it so that I could get out of it and cool down occasionally, which was nice.

Does the suit make you feel like a mutant, too?

It’s odd; when you’re in it people don’t really communicate with you as well, because you’ve got this face that looks quite menacing. They can’t read your emotions through it very well. So people keep out of your way a little bit, and they don’t know how to react around you sometimes. But as an aid to the character it’s fantastic. It makes you huge! It’s odd; you kind of sit there in front of the mirror trying to figure out how the mask works, to act with it. It’s like learning how to act with a new face. But it’s cool.

 Do you get to do a lot of action scenes in the movie?

There’s hopefully a good fight with Azazel, played by Jason Flemyng, and some cool stunts. It’ll be nice to see the Beast get involved a bit more when he’s younger and throw his weight around. He’s agile, he’s fast, he’s got strength – he’s quite something. We did it with wirework, winches and pulleys. It’s incredible how the stunt boys got it to look like it ended up on screen. When you see it, it looks really cool.

You’ve been in quite a few big films now, does that give you the opportunity to choose your roles more carefully?

No. I think jobs kind of pick you. I see myself as a jobbing actor and it’s a treat to have grown up in England and been able to work both in Hollywood and there, and to do a variety of things. But I’m definitely not sitting at home by the fire reading through scripts and telling the butler, “No! Bring me the next!” My life is not like that! I still audition for roles. It’s kind of a hard thing, because I hate auditioning. At the same time, it’s a nice feeling when you audition for stuff and it works out. 

How hard was that process on this film?

It was a very short process. I was in Australia starting a little work on Mad Max, but when that got delayed I told my agent I needed another job so they told me to get on tape for X-Men. So I did, and then got a phone call at four o’clock in the morning Australian time the next day, saying: “You need to be on a plane right away.” I got home, slept, did the screen test the next day and then jumped on a plane back to Australia. The screen test was really brief and I remember thinking I hadn’t got it and being mad because I’d flown all that way. But it worked out!

X-Men: First Class is in cinemas now. Check out the trailer below…