If anyone in Hollywood has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the last couple of years, then it’s Jonathan Majors. The actor has emerged as one of the most exciting talents of his generation, knocking out of the park with a string of acclaimed performances in a variety of genres.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is something else entirely, though, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania marking his debut as new big bad Kang the Conqueror. Any sense of anonymity has gone right out of the window, which is bad news for Majors when he admitted to Vanity Fair that the inner workings of the movie business isn’t something that interests him at all.
“I think people treat you the way you let them treat you. I am a private individual. I just keep my head down. It’s about the work, how you do your work. I don’t bother nobody. I have no interest in the fuckery of the industry. I’m in bed by 12 o’clock.”
On the plus side, he is cognizant enough to know that the MCU is something that shines a bright spotlight on every facet of his existence, and it’s something he’s willing to embrace.
“It’s funny. Again, there were these debates in drama school. They would always be like, “Is that acting? Is that real acting?” I watched all the [Marvel] films and I never thought I would be picked to do it. You know what I mean? They’ve not asked me to change my approach to acting, which was my biggest fear. I mean, [seeing the poster] was probably one of the few moments where I’m like, Holy fuck. This can’t be real. I’m pretty cool. I’m pretty slow to excitement, but I was like, Oh, it’s on.”
Quantumania might be taking a pounding from critics, but Majors has emerged from the wreckage unscathed, so we can look forward to the acclaimed thespian tearing up the rulebook many more times over as he reemerges as multiple different variants of Kang as the Multiverse Saga progresses.