7 Strangest Things Actors Had To Do To Win Movie Roles
5. Nicholas Hoult Had To Imagine That He Was Surrounded By Force Fields (The Favourite)
Anyone who's seen The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer or The Favourite will be able to tell you that Yorgos Lanthimos films are downright weird.
And as it turns out, so are the methods he uses to select his actors.
Just ask Nicholas Hoult, who played Leader of the Opposition Robert Harley in the director's most recent work, the Oscar-winning period dramedy The Favourite.
While he was up for the role, Hoult said that Lanthimos (via USA Today) had some bizarre and completely unexpected requests for him to act out, such as humming during a scene, and even pretending that the room was filled with force fields:
"Yorgos asked me to hum while the person I was with said their lines, and then I had to imagine force fields around the room and sculpt them into things. There were lots of games like that throughout rehearsal as well. I’m not sure how it affects the performance.”
Now, The Favourite is set in 18th century England, so we have no idea why force fields are even remotely connected to Hoult's role. Even if the movie was set in the present day, force fields would still have nothing to do with it. Bonkers.
We suppose that Lanthimos just likes things to be weird. Hell, Hoult wasn't even the only actor in this movie who had to do something strange before appearing in it...