Events: Nicholas Hoult Is A Big Fan of Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown

Nicholas Hoult and Millie Bobby Brown during AsiaPOP Comicon. 

Manila - August 2016. During the recently concluded AsisPOP Comicon British actor Nicholas Hoult gushed about being a fan of the twelve year old actress who took the world by storm in the Netflix series "Stranger Things" since its release last July.

"I haven't met her (Millie Bobby Brown) yet-" the twenty six year old actor said, blue eyes sparkling as he met with the local press for APCC. "She gave a wonderful performance (in "Stranger Things") "and I'm kind of  fanboy-ing over meeting her. I'm looking forward to that and I think I'll be line for her autograph as well 'coz she's fantastic in that show and I loved watching her so-yeah that's what I've been geeking out over recently. 

And Nicholas Hoult would know a thing or two about child actors, as he himself was one. He started acting at the age of seven and played the role of Marcus Brewer in the 2002 romantic comedy "About A Boy" alongside Hugh Grant.

In a separate event during APCC, which was open to the public, Hoult sat across radio personality Chico Garcia went to the topic of child actors by asking Nicholas. "(Nicholas) You started very early in your career. From "About A Boy" How has it been? A lot of child actors, they struggle a little with the transition but in your case it was relatively painless. How did you do it? For others, they really struggled a lot." 

Nicholas Hoult in "About A Boy" 

"Yeah, teenage years, are a pain for most people-"  Hoult responded. "I was lucky, whereby I stayed in school until I was 17 , so normal school, normal friends. I had a pretty normal life outside of work. And I got very lucky being cast in "Skins" the TV show. The crowd goes wild at this.

"A lot of 'Skins' fans-" Chico acknowledges, which is met by more screaming.

"Wasn't it a shock for a lot of people? Because you were this adorable kid in "About a Boy" and "Skins"" was a little edgier-a little scary. 

"Yeah-that's what I liked about it. You know, whenever reading a script or looking at some potential work., I like to do something that people don't really expect, or to do something different. I haven't done before." 

This was also tackled in the press junket when Hoult was asked: "Is it a conscious decision to take on unusual roles?" to which Hoult responded.

"Outside of working with great people and telling a good story, the aim for me is to play as much varied characters and styles of film, the stories that I tell - that's what my aim is. I would get bored if I played the same characters again and again. As much as you can transform physically and emotionally for whatever it is then  that makes a big difference." 

Nicholas Hoult in various roles. From L to R. The zombie "R" in "Warm Bodies". Beast/ Hank McCoy. The War Boy "Nux" in Mad Max: Fury Road.: 

Hoult talks about his upcoming work in "The Rebel in the Rye" when he was asked- 

"(So) You're playing J.D. Salinger for "A Rebel in the Rye" Why is entitled that-and what processes did you go through to prepare for the role since J.D. Salinger is described to be very reclusive." 

It's called "The Rebel in the Rye" (since) it's a play off his most famous novel, "Catcher in the Rye" but also he was a very rebellious character. He got kicked out of quiet a lot of schools-his writing was very much against the phoniness of the world he saw around him and that's what lit the fire within him for him to go out and write about what he felt would prove his depictions of the world and the characters he saw around him. That's why its called "Rebel in the Rye"  in terms of preparation it's difficult because there;s no video or audio of him that exist that we could find. 

Nicholas Hoult and Kevin Space on the set of "Rebel in the Rye" 

So it was a lot of reading biographies about him, reading his novels alongside those biographies. A lot of his work is quiet autobiographical, his writing even though they are fictional, they kind of stem back to his life and then basing the decision (on how) to play him around that. Luckily, Danny (Strong) -the writer wrote a brilliant script that was very tight and I have wonderful actors to work with, so that obviously makes it a lot easier, aside from that in an emotional level I would like to sit at home on a typewriter writing stories, just to try and understand what that felt like as well. 

During the convention, Hoult met with his fans in autograph, photograph and meet and greet sessions. He even ended his "In Conversation" session with an epic Mexian wave. He will be staying in the country after APCC to check out the beaches in Palawan with his "Skins"co-star and friend Joe Dempsie, who is also a guest for AsiaPop Comicon. 

Click here for more photos of Nicholas Hoult during APCC. 

Click here for more posts on AsiaPOP Comicon on the blog. 

Events: APCC Day 2 Goes Geek Crazy! Day 2 + Photos

Excited friends just got their Day 2 passes. 

As I am writing this, the sun is slowly making its way up the Manila skies. In a few hours the last day of the biggest pop culture event in Manila is about to conclude. Pardon the lack of literary eloquence in this post as time is always against me and we would seen be preparing to check out of the hotel and make our way for Day 3 of Asia Pop Comicon. 

With most of the guests arriving at Day 2 the crowd was noticeably larger and all the booths and exhibits were in full swing. Now, the thing about these kind of conventions is that you don't get to go to all of the events happening, since they are all happening at the same time. So it would be presumptuous to write about a "highlights of Day 2" features. What I will be writing about are my experiences around the convention.

First up was the sit down of celebrity guest and Hollywood headliner Nicholas Hoult with the local press. Nick Hoult has been acting for a long time, you may not remember him as the adorable Marcus in "About A Boy" but he was literally just a boy when he starred across Hugh Grant on the 2002 romantic comedy and has since played a variety of characters, from a zombie, a giant slayer, a mutant and the war boy, "Nux" in Mad Max: Fury Road. 

When asked if this is a conscious decision, Hoult replied: "Outside of working with great people and telling a good story, the aim for me is to play as much varied characters ion  and the stories that I play. I would be bored if the I played the same characters again and again." Will be posting a separate post on the sit down soon! You ca catch him at the Main Stage at 4:00 PM on Sunday. 

Right after the sit down we had to rush to the Main Stage for Millie Bobby Brown's first appearance at APCC. As expected, the hall was filled to the brim with fans eager to see the twelve year old actress, who took the world by storm with the fan favorite and critically acclaimed Nextflix series "Stranger Things" which, since it's debut in July has become a big hit. Brown plays the mysterious and telekinetic "Eleven" and has become a fan favorite. 

Millie spotted local cosplayer Spider-Dan in an Eleven Cosplay in the crowd and took photos. Talk about highlight of his year right!

A fan asked if Millie could pretend that she was breaking everyone's neck with her "Eleven stare".

To which, the surprised actress asked "You want me to pretend to hurt you guys?" and the crowd responded with a resounding "YES!". That's such a weird request, host Delamar Arias said but Millie gladly obliged to the crowd's delight.


Will be posting more on the "Conversation with Millie Brown" on the blog soon. 

We rested for a bit and went around the convention floor to take photos, I was really happy to run into friends from work and in the music scene around the con, some members of my family will be coming on the last day. 

The last media time for the day was with "Game of Thrones'" Joe Dempsie and I was really excited to see him, being a big Game of Thrones fan and all.

When asked if there was a superhero he could play, Joe said he always wanted to be the Red Power Ranger. He went on to say that when he was five years old, he had a falling out with a friend because they both wanted to be the Red Power Ranger. Full post on Joe Dempsie on the blog soon. You can catch him at the Main Stage at 11:30 AM. 

Our last stop was Hiroshi Kitadani's live performance and it was as energetic as we expected as he sang songs from "One Piece" and "Yugi Oh". You can catch another performance later at 6:00 PM. 

I hope you guys come back when I do another write up for my overall APCC 2016 experience, which would probably be the case, we just want to get these photos out, we're just excited to share them with you :)

For our Day 1 highlights you can click here - it has photos too! 

Click here for more photos from Day 2.

#apccph2016 #asiapopcomicon 

Events: Nicholas Hoult No Longer About A Boy But A Man of His Own

(L) Nicholas Hoult in "About A Boy" in 2002. 

When the news broke that Nicholas Hoult would be headlining this year's Asia Pop Comic Con, articles online began recalling his past roles, mostly in his recent works as Hank McCoy/ Beast in the X-Men movies, the War Boy in the critically acclaimed "Mad Max: Fury Road", and as the zombie "R" in the young adult book to movie adaptation "Warm Bodies" to which he received three Teen Choice Award Nominations and won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout Performance.. He also received acclaim for his performance as Tony Stonem is "Skins".

What most people may have forgotten is that Nicholas Hoult started acting at the age of seven and played the cute Marcus Brewer in "About a Boy" in 2002 and starred across Hugh Grant in the comedy drama. Hoult was nominated as Critic's Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer. 

I honestly feel "old" since I remember the movie and I think I watched it a couple of times back then. This was when Hugh Grant was starring in romantic comedies and well, Hoult was just a kid and now look at him!

Aside from starring in pop culture hits, Hoult has done voice work in video games. He voiced "Elliot" in the video game, "Fable III". Hoult has 'model' on his list of work, as he was the face of Tom Ford eyewear Spring Collection in 2010.

Nicholas Hoult for Tom Ford Eyewear in 2010. 

Aside form his multi media performances, Hoult is currently working with Christian Aid, which is the official relief and development agency of 41 British and Irish churches. 

Hoult also works closely with the Teenage Cancer Trust. He has also been known to support the "Enough Food IF campaign", which aims to end global hunger. 

There is much buzz that this Hollywood headliner is on his way to our shores for Asia Pop Comicon. It just goes to show how much of the convention circuit has grown in the Philippines. 

We're excited to see Nicholas Hoult this weekend! Do you have any questions for him? Send them over and we just might get the chance to ask them for you! 

#apccph2016