In an interview with Collider, designer-turned-director Tom Ford has coyly discussed how an unnamed actor quietly abandoned the production of his stunning debut feature film, “A Single Man” on its first day — events which led to the inspired casting of young British actor Nicholas Hoult.
While it wasn’t the first time the issue was brought up, Ford continues to refuse to name the actor, presumably out of respect. Unfortunately for Ford, and the actor in question, early announcements of the film’s development and production reveal that the aforementioned actor was very likely fellow Brit, Jamie Bell.
“He didn’t show up the first day that he was due and he’s a well known actor,” Ford recounts. “I’m not going to say his name. He was attached for six months and we’d made his costumes. Yes. But again it was so lucky and I cannot imagine anyone else in that role but Nicholas Hoult. I had seen Nicholas’s tape a few weeks earlier and similar to running into Colin at that premiere in London I was kind of thinking to myself, I had a sick feeling inside that this guy was perfect for it and that I was working with another actor. It just came together.”
Hoult ended up giving a great performance, so the events that transpired probably turned out all the better for the parties involved, with Bell presumably dropping out of the acclaimed film to take on the motion-captured title role in Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s “The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn” (on which the actor himself was a replacement for Thomas Sangster).
Interestingly, Ford also addresses the rumor that Colin Firth, whose performance in “A Single Man” is rightfully garnering award season talk, was only cast after another unnamed and truly unknown actor dropped out. Ford swears Firth was his first choice, though recounted that he “jumped on a plane and flew from New Mexico where I was to London” for a “handshake deal” when the opportunity arose. Nevertheless, how Ford, Firth and Hoult must be counting their lucky stars now.