Why Mads Mikkelsen walked out of his 'f*cking mad' Fantastic Four audition

He said it made him feel like an idiot

(AFP/Getty)

The auditioning process for a superhero movie is something I’d never really thought about, and how kind of absurd it must be delivering the often limited and simplistic dialogue without any costume or CGI or scoring to make it impactful.

The auditioning process for the infamously production troubled and critically panned Fantastic Four was particularly silly it seems, with Mads Mikkelsen actually stopping his audition for it short.

“I think I walked out on the Fantastic Four one,” he told Shortlist. “I think I actually said, “I can’t do it. It’s not about you, I’m sorry, this is wrong.””

Pressed as to why, he explained:

“I’ve had tons of them. We’ve all been there. We all show up and it’s a little office room with a desk and some books and they want you to do a scene where you have two lines – maybe not even two lines – maybe just “Bleurgh!” or “Get back!” And you’re hiding behind a palm tree that’s not there. It’s like, “Guys, couldn’t you have picked a different kind of scene to this? This is fucking mad.” You feel like an idiot.”

I’m quite fascinated by this idea of making award winning actors shout “Bleurgh!” for their audition, and how it lays bare that they’ve not exactly chosen the role for its dazzling dialogue.

If only Vin Diesel’s Groot audition tape would leak.