NicholasHoult Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Man, kids grow up right quick. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Ginnifer Goodwin (Big Love and He's Just Not That Into You) and Nicholas Hoult have joined the Isherwood adaptation A Single Man -- which I wrote about recently when Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, and Matthew Goode signed on. Goodwin will play a suburban mom who doesn't share her husband's dislike of Firth, their gay neighbor, while Hoult plays Kenny -- "a sexually ambiguous grad student who shows an unusual interest in the professor." Now, I didn't mention Hoult's credits yet because i was saving it for last -- this is the kid from About a Boy. Yes, that's his picture to the right. God, he's grown up!

In other news... It's a little hard to write about this 13... After I read Variety's quite-specitic casting piece, I read Christopher Campbell's review, which notes that some oft-mentioned plot points are pretty spoilerish. So here's what I will say: This is an English-language remake by Gela Babluani of his award-winning thriller 13 Tzameti. It's been cooking up since names like DiCaprio, Ledger, Phoenix, and Maguire were circling it. Sam Riley (Ian Curtis in Control) beat them to the gig, and then the likes of 50 Cent, Mickey Rourke, and Jason Statham were added. Now the above V piece says that Ray Winstone and Ray Liotta are entering the mix. If you don't care about possible spoilers, go there to learn the details of each cast member's role and what this twist is. If not: just know that it's oozing with machismo, and should make for one heck of a film.

If there is one underrated character actor in the world it is Richard E. Grant. Since his breakthrough role in Withnail and I, the actor has appeared in over 50 films and therefore has one of those faces that has audiences asking, "Where have I seen him before?" With a rubbery face and a remarkable skill with dialects, he seems comfortable with broad and dry comedy, serious drama and crazed villainy, all of which he's exhibited in films ranging from Spice World to The Age of Innocence. He has played the lead in quite a few movies, and carried them very well -- I especially like him in the little-seen A Merry War -- but he is most easily recognizable for supporting parts in which he tends to stand out. He was the one enjoyable part of Hudson Hawk (not that it was hard) and was a piece of the brilliant ensemble in Gosford Park.

After watching his directorial debut, Wah-Wah, I'd like Grant to stay in front of the camera. The film, which he also wrote, is not a wasted effort, but there is nothing about it that is evidence he should be making movies rather than stealing scenes in them. The only significance it holds is that it is based somewhat on his own coming of age in the South African country of Swaziland during its transition to independence from Great Britain. But that is only of significance to Grant, and not to viewers, who, if they are anything like me, could do just fine, thank you, without another cinematic memoir of alcoholic fathers and distant mothers and incoherent scenes that add up to a whole without a center.

About a Boy's Nicholas Hoult is growing up - literally. The child star is about a foot taller than when we last saw him onscreen with Hugh Grant, and, thankfully, he has lost the dreadful bowl haircut and bushy eyebrows that defined his character, Marcus, in the film. Now he's starring in a new film, Wah-Wah, an autobiographical film about the childhood in Swaziland of actor Richard E. Grant, who also stars in the film. Hoult plays Grant at age 15 in the film, which also stars Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson and Julie Walters.

The Telegraph has a great interview with Hoult (pictured in a shot from the article, above), who seems surprisingly well-grounded and articulate for a child star. No passing out drunk at premiere parties, no stints in rehab, no controversial sex tapes surfacing. No parents in a public, messy divorce battle. Could it be possible? A child star remarkably unaffected by his stardom? Wah-Wah  (which I really want to see now, only I'm nowhere near Scotland, darn it) premieres at the Edinburgh Film Festival, which opens tomorrow.