X-Men: First Class’ Caleb Landry Jones talks Banshee.

IGN Movies UK interviewed Caleb Landry Jones, who plays Banshee in the upcoming Summer blockbuster X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. The actor talks about getting the role, his character’s unique mutant power, his connection to the comics, and much more.

IGN: How did you get the role of Banshee?

Caleb Landry Jones: All I knew was that it was the X-Men. I thought, ‘What the hell are they doing auditioning a redhead? OK, I’ll do my best.’ I got the part and it’s been brilliant. I’ve never been overseas – I’ve never been to Europe – and so that’s amazing by itself. To be on a movie with such magnitude as this one is just absolutely amazing. I’m getting a chance I’ve never had before in my life. I’m getting to fly, which I’ve always wanted to do. I’m playing a superhero, which I’ve always wanted to do. Don’t look like Spider-Man, don’t look like Batman, so it’s fantastic that there’s one that I do look like, kind of.

IGN: What does he do with his scream?

Jones: What’s the technical way of saying it? I’m trying to think of Hank [McCoy]’s line when he explains it to me. He causes the sound waves… something about vibrations… I don’t know the science behind it, but he can blow sh*t up and cause skulls to crack.

IGN: Are you getting into the comics then?

Jones: Very much so, yeah. When I got it, it was scary actually. In the comics it seems like they reinvent him over and over again. The question was, which one to do. He always has an Irish accent, but in the movie he doesn’t. How much to take from each reinvention, how much to put in, that was the question.

IGN: Did you end up coming up with your own version?

Jones: Yeah. He’s always pretty smart, it seems like. He’s mostly good. The script definitely defines him more so than the comics do, because I’ve got to do what the script says. I try to add as much as possible. I know there’s a love connection in the comics with Moira [MacTaggert – played by Rose Byrne in the movie], so I try to look at her just a little bit differently, you know, when I can. I know Mystique cuts my vocal chords later on – I don’t know if they’re going to do that in the movies, but therefore I make it a little bit so that if that does happen later on, for any of the fans watching, they can notice that. There’s so much to take from the comics.

Read the full interview here.