(Photo: Sony Pictures)
Stars crossing between superhero franchises at different points in their careers is hardly unusual anymore. Christopher Abbott, who recently joined Marvel’s "X-Men" reboot as the new Professor X, appeared just two years earlier as the assassin villain the Foreigner in "Kraven the Hunter," part of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Abbott is well aware of the criticism surrounding "Kraven the Hunter" — and he is not afraid to poke fun at his own performance.
Abbott had previously worked with "Kraven the Hunter" director J.C. Chandor on "A Most Violent Year." That connection prompted "Happy Sad Confused" host Josh Horowitz to ask whether Abbott took the "Kraven" role because Chandor owed him a favor — or because Abbott owed Chandor one. Abbott jokingly agreed it was the latter.
"He owes me a huge favor," Abbott said with a laugh. "I think I can safely make fun of myself now. I genuinely had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t even understand the character’s powers. I was completely lost. I kept thinking, ‘So what happens? How do I use my powers every time I take off my glasses?’ I don’t think anyone on the entire production could give me a good answer. I didn’t know what my costume was supposed to do, either. I had no clue. But I enjoyed the experience. I love Aaron [Taylor-Johnson, who played Kraven], and Alessandro Nivola [who played the Rhino] is one of my good friends. I loved working with those guys. It was a learning experience. They’re wonderful people, and they’re great in the movie — but I had no idea what I was doing."
(Photo: Sony Pictures)
Abbott also admitted he suspected the movie was in trouble while they were still filming. "Even as we were shooting it, I was thinking, ‘This doesn’t look good.’ But JC asked me to do it, and I’d never made that kind of movie before. Sometimes I don’t choose scripts purely from an actor’s perspective. Sometimes I just want to see how a certain kind of production works. I’d never done a superhero project, so I wanted to see how one was made. I thought it would be interesting. But I promise you, the new ‘X-Men’ will be a lot better than this — at least from my perspective, you know."