The Big Picture

• Xelia Mendes-Jones felt empowered on the set of Havoc, saying Tom Hardy fosters a collaborative work environment.
• The movie also stars Forrest Whittaker, Luis Guzman, and Timothy Olyphant.
• Havoc, an action thriller directed by Gareth Evans, is set to premiere on Netflix.

According to Fallout star, Xelia Mendes-Jones, Tom Hardy knows how to create a safe and communicative work environment, where everyone has a say. Quite frankly, we’d expect nothing less from the man who gleefully stepped up to claim his old MySpace photos that sent the internet into a frenzy just a few years ago. The Venom and Peaky Blinders star seems like a great guy and we’re happy to hear from someone close to him that this is precisely the case. During a Collider Forces Interview with Perri Nemiroff — during which Mendes-Jones discussed the breadth of his career, including his latest television roles in Prime Video’s Fallout and The Wheel of Time — the actor also opened up about his time on the set of Gareth Evans’ latest feature, Havoc. While technically his first professional project, the long-delayed film has yet to actually come out. While the audience waits it out, Mendes-Jones is peeling back the curtain a bit on the highly-anticipated project.

Mendes-Jones said Hardy made him feel like he had a real say in the creative process. Recalling the first time the doors were open for him to really lean into his character, Mendes-Jones said,

“It was Havoc. It was the first day on set because, the way Tom works, he likes to discuss the scene with all the other actors before we start shooting on set. So, he will kind of lay out his character’s motivations and his drive in the scene and then opens up the space for everyone else to speak up for their character in defense of their character and their space in that scene — why they’re there, what space they’re taking up, why they should influence his motivations, and stuff like that — which was so interesting as a first job experience.

And yeah, literally the first day I had to sit there in that circle with big actors and defend my character’s right to be in that scene and explain my character’s reasons for being there and the motivations and the connections to the other characters. That was where it felt really like, ‘Oh, yeah, I have a role in this scene. I have influence on Tom’s character’s decision-making and Luis’ character’s decision-making, and Justin and Quelin. I have a role in this.’”

What’s ‘Havoc’ About?

Billed as an action thriller, Havoc will plunge Mendes-Jones, Hardy, and the rest of the star-studded cast into a story of crime, deception, and rescue after a detective finds himself at the center of a political scandal. A drug deal gone wrong has landed the officer in the stickiest situation of his life as he’s tasked with the search and rescue of a politician’s son. All the while, a conspiracy unfolds that links prominent members of the city to a deeper underbelly of corruption. Filling out the rest of the cast will be Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Timothy Olyphant (Justified), Luis Guzmán (Wednesday), Justin Cornwall (Jingle Jangle), and Jessica Mei Li (Shadow and Bone).

Xelia Mendes-Jones' First Day on Set for 'Havoc' Was "Terrifying"

Stars — they’re just like us. Mendes-Jones said that during the first few days on the set of Havoc, he felt the weight of Guzmán's filmography. The actor reveals that he was “straight out of training” and about only “six months” had passed before he was on set with the film’s A-list stars. Along with Hardy’s helpful pre-scene discourse, Mendes-Jones says that the rest of the cast and crew were also an integral part of helping him feel like he belonged:

“My first day on set was a scene with Quelin [Sepulvida] and Justin [Cornwell], who are the two leads with Tom Hardy and Luis Guzmán. I was stood next to Luis, and I feel the weight of all of his films next to me. [Laughs] That was my first-ever day on a professional set was that experience, and that was terrifying. I was just like, ‘I’m just some guy. I shouldn’t be here.’ Like, ‘I shouldn’t be in this room, let alone next to them on camera. It’s wrong.’ But on that job that whole team, both behind the camera and in front of it, were so supportive and really generous, not just in their work when we were shooting but off-set, as well, to really kind of take me under their wing. A lot of them took me under their wing and kind of went, ‘We’re all in this together and we’re gonna give you the leg-up that I wish I’d had on my first set.’”

‘Havoc’ Allowed Xelia Mendes-Jones To Embrace His Identity

Along with being an up-and-coming star, Mendes-Jones is also a proud advocate for the trans community. While over the last few years, better-written trans and non-binary roles have come into play, that hasn’t always been the case. But with Havoc and Fallout, Mendes-Jones was given a solid opportunity to represent his community in a positive way, through well-rounded characters. Referring to his audition process as a “high” in his career, the actor explained the importance of playing someone with an identity so close to his.

“I think, because I’d come out as trans a couple months before and it was my first audition for, like, an actual trans role, like a non-binary, masc role. Having that come across my desk already was like, ’Cool, I’m not just like, ‘I’m non-binary in my life and then playing different roles on camera.‘’ It was like actually getting to audition as myself. It was a long process. I had in-person stunt tests and stuff, but booking that was definitely a big high. That whole process of getting called back for it and stuff. It was a really cool project. I mean, Gareth is a legend of action films. So, to have all of that happening and it also be a role that felt like me was such a privilege. Big, big, big high for an audition.”

Havoc does not yet have a release date but will stream on Netflix. Stay tuned to Collider for more information, and watch the full interview below: