Toni Collette has admitted that the idea of reuniting with her former on-screen son Nicholas Hoult was a big part of what attracted her to her latest film role.
The Australian actor played Nicholas’ character’s mum in the drama About A Boy back in 2002, for which she was nominated for a Bafta.
More than 20 years later, the pair are now sharing the screen yet again, this time under very different circumstances.
Nicholas takes the lead in the new Clint Eastwood drama Juror #2, in which Toni plays a lawyer for the prosecution in the central case.
Speaking to Extra, she admitted that even if the script were “dog shit” she’d have still said yes to the project just to work with Clint – but there was apparently one other draw, too.
“I did know that Nick was doing it,” Toni admitted. “And we’d worked with each other, obviously, a couple of decades ago. To have the opportunity to work with him as a grown man now was really very special to me.”
The Muriel’s Wedding star continued: “Just watching him work and how he’s evolved as an actor really blew me away. I felt so proud and I felt like, ‘what an opportunity’. It’s kind of rare that you get to work with someone again, so to have this opportunity was just really special, I have to say.”
Nicholas agreed: “I was thrilled. Getting to work with Toni as a kid, when I was 11, she set such a wonderful example for me then, and took such great care of me.
“But in those intermittent years, I’ve just become such a fan of her as an artist.”
Turning to Toni, he told her: “I watch you in movies – even sometimes I’ll be scrolling through Twitter and stuff, and they’ll be like ‘great performances’, and there’ll be a clip of you from Hereditary.
“I’ll watch that clip and be like, ‘that is some acting! Go, go go!’. So it’s just so special, I feel like we’ve got a deep connection and bond from all those years ago.
“But then also, now as adults, getting to work together and just appreciate the light and joy she brings into the world, as well, because she’s such a wonderful person to be around.”
Toni also made similar comments during a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“It’s amazing to have worked with someone as a kid, and then, suddenly, there they are as a man,” she enthused. “It’s surreal because I feel like I’ve played a lot of mothers, and there is a certain maternal feeling that goes with it.”
She told her co-star: “I was so fond of you. And then to see you as this evolved human and being able to watch him going through [these scenes]. I could see everything in his mind. I could feel the energy of what his emotions were. I felt so proud of him. I was like, ‘My God, look how talented he is.’ It really blew me away.
“And then we got to hang out. We got to become friends properly, and it’s been a total gift. It’s a treat to come back together again.”
Juror #2 is in cinemas now.