Tom Hopper does double duty in new thriller 'Better'

What if you met someone who seemingly had it better than you in life? Kind of happens all the time. Hey, but what if that person, though, was a long lost twin brother? That's just the start of the new thriller Better, which is premiering this weekend at the Newport Beach Film Festival. In it, Tom Hopper plays both brothers, one who feels like his life is a joke and the brother whose life he wants to live at any cost. Alternate versions of me, the superior in every single way. Your life is perfect. My name is Patrick Williams. I'm joining us now. Good morning. Thanks for coming in. Good morning. Thanks for having me. What is the challenge of playing two twin brothers like this? Well, the biggest challenge as an actor is that you don't have anyone to react off. You're kind of reacting off a future performance or a previous performance that you've just done. You're like talking to yourself. Yeah, yeah. my wife Laura and uh she was she was doing the lines with me on and off camera so we we could rehearse it you know every night we go over the scenes for the next day and we sort of figure out what each side of the performance was going to be and then she'd be there to read in the lines off camera but i'm just looking at either like a stand-in or a microphone or something you know as an eye line right so it's yeah it's very tricky it was like a really big challenge for me as an actor for sure really got to kind of stretch your acting chops oh yeah but also i'm twin. You are? Yeah. Amazing. And we're the same but we're different. Yeah, exactly. You know what I mean? Yeah. Which is kind of like inherently when you're doing this role, you're yourself so you're the same but then you're different. Yeah. Right. So that also is kind of like stretching your acting chops. It is, yeah, completely because these two guys are fundamentally very different personalities but it's the nature-nurture thing. The different upbringings they have developed a different side of their personalities but But actually, we learn in the movie that fundamentally, they're very, very similar as people. They've just been brought up in different ways. So the way they approach the things they want is very different. So kind of seeing how that manifests itself in two completely different environments. Which twin do you identify with more as a person? Oh, my goodness. I would look horrendous as a person for one of them, I think. I'm probably right in between the two, actually. Yeah, there's two very specific sides to me, I think. I have a very vulnerable side, but then I also have, I'm, you know, I'm a fairly confident person as well, but there's more internally. I think I'm more Henry, the more vulnerable one. And on the outside, I might present more like Mike Patrick. Yeah. So you're super invested in this film because, uh, you're, you produce it, uh, you're acting in it. Also, you'd mentioned your, your wife, uh, is doing all these things at the same time. So what was that like? It was amazing. It was an incredible experience. We, we, uh, produced the movie with our producing partners, um, Daniel Sharpe and Anna O'Malley who are amazing friends and producing partners and they brought us the script so we started producing in like 2023 we started our production company so me and my wife wanted to build something together you know for our family that's more than just like our careers as actors and so yeah when we started building better together it was an amazing experience you know like and we just wanted to do it more and more so we got to act together we got to produce sit together. And yeah, it's just been a beautiful experience. What's been important to you about your production company in terms of what kinds of projects you choose to take on? A big thing for us is relatability. We want to find things that are giving people that escapism, but also things that people really relate to. So things like Better, the two twins, I want people to feel like, that's me. I understand that guy. Right, there's elements of, right, where you would envy somebody else's life. I mean, who hasn't experienced that at one point? Exactly, yeah, and I think that's very present now with social media and stuff, right? We see that all the time every day, and that's a big part of the movie, of what he perceives Patrick's life to be and how he wants it. But, you know, the reality might be something completely different. So we're always trying to look for projects that are something that we understand it as people in our everyday lives. Mm-hmm. Imagine this is a film that has a heck of a lot of twists because I just you could just tell by this by This trailer a lot of very unexpected things happen. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's taking you on a ride And it's very immersive from certainly from Henry's point of view you should really feel like you you're taking on this this journey with Henry and And how he kind of psychologically gets to where he gets to but it's yeah There's a lot of twists and turns and things that you won't expect on the journey for sure So your company is called Pine Tree, right? There's a special meaning even behind that. Yeah, I mean, Pine Tree, so we came up with the name for our company when we were sat in our garden back in the UK. And we have a big pine tree in our garden. And we were sat under there with the kids and we were talking about why we would want to start the company and the reason we're doing it. And it's for our family, you know, like it's about building something greater than what we had. Yeah, and then pine trees, you know, they continue to grow. Yeah. Yeah. And so that's where it stemmed from. That's great and you're also kind of a part of Hollywood and we could continue to try to keep the jobs here, the filmmaking here, all that done here. It's great that you're incubating this as well. So we have, you know, more opportunities. Absolutely. Yeah, I think so. And also, you know, like Newport Beach Film Festival, I hear maybe it's the first time I've been there. I think it's a great thing that they're doing and they're supporting independent film, which is really important at the moment. It's huge. ready are you for the world to see better? Oh, you know, we're super ready. We want to get this thing out there. You know, we worked so hard on it. We're really proud of it. For our first produced thing, because it's also Dash Productions, it's their first scripted piece as well. And Dan Sharp, who directed it, is a phenomenal director. It was his first time directing. And when he presented it to us and his vision for it, I just trusted the guy. He just had so much ability before we even stepped on the set. And I've worked with many directors, but he has something really special. So I'm so pleased that everyone's gonna get to see his work as well. So that festival, or your movie premiere, what is it? The 17th? Yeah, we premiere Newport Beach Film Festival on Saturday the 17th at 5 PM, yeah. The 17th, and then a couple of days later, you're on The Terminal List. That's correct, yeah, yeah. I mean, you got notes. Yeah, we're just here to do it all in one go, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, the new season of The Terminal List comes out on the 21st. We're super excited about that. It's a huge season of TV. I got to do things on that season of TV, which I just had to pinch myself on. You know, I'm so lucky to get to do that show. We're very fortunate with the people we have that make it. It's grounded in authenticity, and it's a lot for the SEAL community and these guys over here. So, yeah, I'm very proud to be a part of it. A lot of physicality in your roles. Yeah. What's the training like? How many hours in the gym? Yeah, well, I mean, fortunately, I enjoy that stuff anyway, so that's easy for me. But yeah, we do a lot of specific SEAL training, especially with the gun work and everything. The biggest thing for The Terminal List for me is the preparation, is the mental prep, is understanding these guys, what they go through, who they are as people, and the circumstances they get in, what that means to them as people. It's always about that relatability thing and grounding it in authenticity. So yeah, for me, it's about talking to those guys as much as I can and being a sponge, and absorbing everything that who they are as people have you spent a lot of time with them i mean did you go did you go through any of the training or watch their training because it's pretty darn intense it's intense yeah and it's mentally intense as well what they have to go through and yeah we're very fortunate on the show we're surrounded by a lot of vets a lot of seals who are part of the producing team our advisors are seals so i'm very fortunate i get to spend a lot of time with those guys and get to know them you know truly as people i've some of my best friends now are seals from that show yeah in that pipeline yeah i would throw up you know yeah you just have to throw up yeah it is intense yeah and it's funny it's interesting because i've i used to be in the navy also so i spent time down near where the seals are but like not all of them are like you're a big guy but not all of them are big guys like some of them are just like really like compact yeah oh they're dense yeah they're very dense dense yeah They're like stocky like dense dudes. Yeah, like some of them when you like you when you hug them And you're gonna give them a clasp when you hug them. I'm like that's like Yeah, they're just giant bulldogs. Yeah, that's all they are so so do you find these roles or Because of your physicality because you're you're a big guy as I said, yeah, do these roles find you? I mean a bit of both, you know, I mean these kind of roles you're presented with them, right? Your agents are working for you and they're finding these roles and then you get presented with them. And for me, it's never really about the physicality being an aspect of it. But I'm trying to find the reason, again, it goes back to the relatability thing is like, who's my version of this guy? If I read it off the page and I go, I know how to play that person. I want to bring that to life. In Umbrella Academy, I'll bring it up cuz I was a big fan of Umbrella Academy. but as number one, so you are the perfect, there you are. So did that, did they find you? Cause they're like, we need a six foot five guy here. We want still to see this picture, is everyone else just that small? No, yeah, everyone else is that much shorter than me. There is a low angle, so I look far worse. Right, it's like the hero's angle, right? Yeah, exactly, but I'm not that much. So I mean, it's because Elliot is in the front there. Oh yeah. Oh, that's right, yeah. He's a lot, a lot shorter than I am. It was hilarious doing scenes with Elliot because we would have to figure out the box situation because we couldn't do over shoulders at all. Otherwise, it's- It's got to be by far the role, though, that we walk around and people are like, oh, Umbrella Academy. Yeah, yeah. I mean, we were so fortunate with that show. It did really well. And I had a great time making it. We became like a little family on that show. We really became like siblings. We'd squabble like siblings. We'd laugh like siblings. So yeah, we had a really great time. It was like seven years of my life that was. So I was very lucky to be a part of it. Fans want a movie or something, you know? Yeah, yeah, there was a few people that were disappointed the show ended, you know, and- I think a lot of people were. Yeah, you know, and it was really fun. It was a great show to be a part of. Really quick, because we are running out of time. You split your time between the UK and here. Settle this debate for us. Are American accents- Come on, are they light? What do you guys think about American accents across the pond? Sexy, not sexy? Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, I think so. I mean, obviously, it's so varied, isn't it, in America? You have very different accents. This is true. So it's not just one. But you also have very different accents in the UK. Oh, yeah. I mean, over a much smaller kind of travel space as well. Yeah. You know, a few miles up the road, you're completely different. There's like the Queen's English and there's the Cockney accent. Yeah, you've got all... Yeah, and just in London alone, you've got multiple different accents. All right, most importantly, catch Tom Hopper's movie here. Both Tom Hoppers. Yes, it's better, and it premieres this Saturday at the Newport Beach Film Festival. Tom will also be there for Q&A. Afterwards, tickets are available. Go to newportbeachfilmfestival.com. Check it out. Thank you, Tom. Thank you. Thanks for having me, guys.