2013 is turning out to be a huge year for Nicholas Hoult. Shortly following the February 2013 release of the zombie rom-com 'Warm Bodies,' Nicholas has returned to the big screen to win his way back into our hearts in 'Jack the Giant Slayer.' Coming to theaters today, March 1, the movie takes a stab at the classic fairytale, 'Jack and the Beanstalk,' and takes viewers on a fresh, new adventure. Nicholas takes the lead as Jack in climbing the beanstalk to rescue Princess Isabelle played by Eleanor Tomlinson. We were so excited to get a chance to talk to Nicholas about everything from twists on the classic story to his own dreamland above a magical beanstalk.
J-14: How did you prepare for the role of Jack?
Nicholas Hoult: I did some climbing for a bit. They built massive chunks of beanstalks in the film studios and I had to do a lot of climbing. Often when I was being pegged by water pellets, the passage could become quite tricky, so there was a bit of climbing training. Apart from that, it was going over the script and working on that. Before we actually started printing and photography, we did a week of motion capture stuff where they give the giants' performance. So we kind of had to ease into the shooting with that and we could get a grip on what the film was about.
J-14: What are some new elements that are brought to this classic old tale?
Nicholas: The thing that I really enjoyed about the script is, even though it's based on the fairytale, it's been developed into its own story. In the original story, they have one giant. In this story, there's lots of giants. Fee, Fye, Foe, and Fum are all kind of generals within the army of giant ranks and they've all got individual personalities and characters. It's going to be very different from what people have seen before and have real character.
J-14: Have you ever done anything romantic for a girl, like your character does for the princess?
Nicholas: It's quite extreme what he does. I don't think I've ever had an opportunity to do anything quite to that scale. Obviously, if anything like that could happen in my everyday life, then I'd do my best.
J-14: If you had access to a magical beanstalk like Jack, what would you hope to find at the top?
Nicholas: I'd like the island to be made out of marshmallows. I think, if it looked like the island they created here, but less dangerous and more edible, I think that would be a pretty good place to start.
J-14: You play Jack now, but if you could play another fairytale character, who would it be and why?
Nicholas: I'd like to play the dragon. You know the dragon that defends the castle that Sleeping Beauty falls asleep in? I'd like to play that, but if it's got to be a human character, I don't know. A bad guy. Or a wizard.
How excited are you to see Nicholas Hoult in 'Jack the Giant Slayer?'