The folks over at
IGN have unveiled their interview with actor Lucas Till, conducted during their visit to the set of Fox & Matthew Vaughn's
X-Men: First Class prequel. The actor discussing his 'Havok' role, his power, and more, check out the interview below.
Well I never read any of the comics but I grew up on the animated series when I was a little kid - I guess it came out in 1992. So I've always been an X-Men fan.
Can you tell us a little about who you play in the movie?
Alex Summers, and his superhero name I guess is Havok. I'm Cyclops' younger brother so I can shoot plasma beams out of my entire body instead of just optic beams.
So is Alex in control of his power?
Just like Scott can't control his power without glasses or a visor on, historically Alex has never been able to control his power either, so it's always been outbursts with a lack of control. In the comics he has a suit that absorbs excess energy but it was more like a meter that would tell him how much power he has, whereas in this one I have something that channels it because I can't control it myself. So I have a chest-piece that focuses the ray so I don't blow my team-mates up.
Does your power preclude you from having to do any fighting?
Exactly, yeah. They gave us a lot of comics for research and there's actually one comic where Alex is talking about being nothing without his power, because once he drains the power, it's gone, that's it.
So it's finite?
I could give you the statistic, but it takes like half a day to recharge if he drains it all.
Do you get a uniform?
Yup. I don't know how much I can say about it, but it's cool, a lot of time and effort has been put into making them and testing them. Three months of testing these things out and it's pretty awesome.
How has it been working on a film of this scale?
It's been incredible - there's so much money in this, but what I like about it is that you can tell that it's expensive. That's sounds wrong as you should appreciate cinema for what it should be, for the art, but screw that dude - I love watching Chris Nolan movies and James Cameron movies, first of all because I like them, and second of all because they look expensive and like they've really put something into it. And this is one of those movies. This looks like one of those movies that I'd want to be in when I was a little kid.
Does director Matthew Vaughn bring a British sensibility to the project?
He's definitely got a different style. He surrounds himself with people who know exactly what they are doing. And it's awesome to work with a cool team of people who are going to make it look good. And I find myself telling him things that we can't do in the movie with a PG-13-rating, to which he says [adopts English accent] 'Ah that's weird, stupid American films.'
So do you get much action in the movie?
Every one of us has a good piece of action in the film. All the mutants.
Did you have to do any specific training for your action?
For me, no. I just had to make sure I look good with my shirt off [laughs]. Look like an athlete, because historically Alex has always been a football star, a basketball star, a baseball star, so I had to look athletic - that was the training I had to do.
Does Havok have a dark side?
Definitely. When Havok first discovers his power in this one it's because his foster sister has been kidnapped by a bully and who is threatening her with death and all of a sudden he comes out and kills this guy. He's a guy who likes a fight, but also, he doesn't want that much of a fight. He doesn't want to accidentally kill people, and that's something he's always got to deal with. He likes the power but he doesn't like the lack of control he has over his ability.
How aware are you of the audience expectation for a new X-Men movie?
Very dude - I'm part of that audience. This is the first movie that I've told my friend I'm in and they've been like 'Dude - you're going to be in that movie?' It's the first time I've actually got credit for any project that I've worked on, so yeah, I'm very aware.
So have you met any of those fans?
It's funny, me and Caleb [Landry Jones], who plays Banshee, have been trying to pick up girls using the X-Men line, and they say [adopts English accent again] 'What is X-Men?'
Haven't you got the Hannah Montana thing going on?
Yeah, but not in big cities, only in middle America.
But it's got to be cool to actually become one of the X-Men.
You have no idea! It's pretty incredible. We just got to see some footage and it's really coming together. I'm so proud and so happy to be a part of it. I remember when I was first auditioning to be a part of it, I thought it would be way to cool and there was no way it would actually happen, so I still can't believe I'm in the X-Men and I'm Havok.
X-Men: First Class charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events. Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men. Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, and January Jones, the film releases June 12!