Jonathan Majors Rejected His Drama School Teachings – By Working Out
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star Jonathan Majors reveals he snubbed the advice of his drama school teachers by deciding to work out.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star Jonathan Majors revealed that during his time in drama school, he was advised not to work out — but chose not to listen.
The actor, who plays Kang the Conqueror in the upcoming Ant-Man film, was asked by Vanity Fair how changing his body for a role affects him. Majors admitted it helps bring him “closer to the character” he is playing, adding, “In my drama school, something they really pushed on us was, ‘Don’t lift weights, don’t work out.’ They were adamant, especially with the fellas, about not getting too big, primarily because it changes your joints — changes what we call the breathing costume.”
He added, “I always had an issue with that because I grew up playing sports at a very competitive level in Texas, so I came as strong as an 18-year-old kid can be. To answer the question, what it does for me is it brings you closer to the character. I’ve had this debate with my current mentors and old acting teachers where I go, ‘This is actually part of the craft of acting.’ It brings you close to the characters and it gets quite spiritual. It is as little acting as possible, which is my biggest thing: Don’t lie. Tell the truth.”
Jonathan Majors’ MCU Casting Was a Long Time Coming
Majors will feature heavily in Quantumania and beyond, with the actor set to emerge as the next big supervillain in Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, it almost didn’t end up that way, with Majors admitting he nearly walked out of his initial meeting with Marvel Studios after they left him waiting. The actor eventually spoke to casting director Sarah Finn and stated that there were no worries about him taking the role when “he realized who the character was and the potential for the character,” adding that he and Finn had a “great conversation” when he did stay.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will kick off the next phase of the MCU and will see Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly reprise their roles of Ant-Man/Scott Lang and the Wasp/Hope van Dyne alongside Majors. The film is once more directed by Peyton Reed and produced by Kevin Feige, although Rudd — who had writing credits on the previous two films — will not get one for this latest effort. Quantumania has received mixed reviews from critics, with the movie sitting at just 51% among critics on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its release.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters on Feb. 17.
Source: Vanity Fair