Ruaridh Mollica Can’t Believe What He’s Seeing

11 min readRUARIDH MOLLICA WALKS through the front door of the Hearst Tower wide-eyed and wearing all black. His mood, however, is as bright as the building’s lobby, where the morning sun shines through the skyscraper’s oversized windows. For the 26-year-old Scottish actor, it seems like everything is exciting. He marvels at the waterfalls that frame the escalators. The weather outside is perfect. How long has he been in New York? Maybe he got here yesterday, he wonders out loud. Maybe it was the day before… He’s never been to Central Park, just a few blocks away, and he’s eager to see what it’s all about. Mollica has a busy day ahead of him, he says, but it’ll end with a jolt—New York Comic Con. He’s excited to see all the costumes.Mollica plays Tommy Shepherd—the mysterious, immaculately conceived, and quick (both literally as his superpower and in terms of his wits) son of Wanda Maximoff and Vision on the Disney+ series VisionQuest. At 26, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has basically been around his entire life. Iron Man came out when he was just 8 years old.And in an industry where getting a foot in the door without a famous or fame-adjacent parent feels more impossible than ever, Mollica seems to have found a way. He worked on a TV show as a child actor and loved it, but studied computer science in college, appearing in a short film in his final year.Disney+Mollica plays the son of Vision (Paul Bettany) in VisionQuest. “I didn't really think about acting,” he says. “Even if I'd gotten a job when I was at uni, I probably wouldn’t have done it because I wanted to finish.” Even then, he continued on to grad school, where he studied social security. Eventually, though, the acting bug reactivated. He still had the same agent from years back—and that led directly to VisionQuest.While in Los Angeles visiting friends, Mollica filmed a self-taped audition for what he knew of only as an untitled Marvel show, with lines stuck on the wall in front of him. “It just comes through your email,” he says. “and it's like ‘Untitled Marvel show character is cheeky, witty.’ That was kind of it. You don't know who it is. You don't know what that show's about. The scenes you get are all fake.” He says he didn’t think he would actually get the role. “The pool is going to be so big. You never feel like you're going to get that job, so you just go, all right, I'm just going to have fun with this.”After sending off the self-tape, he was asked to send another about a month later. He says he did the same thing he did last time. “I still didn't know anything about the character, but the writing was good, even if it was fake,” he says. A month after that, he was invited to meet with the show’s casting directors in person in the U.K. “At that point, I was like, ‘Okay, oh my God, I should probably start taking this seriously.’”As VisionQuest continues its run on Disney+, Mollica spoke with Men's Health about growing up with the MCU, his surprising inspiration for bringing Tommy to life, and how he’d like to see his burgeoning career go from here.Florence SullivanMEN’S HEALTH: Were you a fan of Marvel before joining VisionQuest? RUARIDH MOLLICA: Oh, totally. I've grown up watching everything Marvel my whole life. I dressed up as the Hulk when I was five years old for Halloween, and I had figurines. Marvel’s around you, everywhere, and it's always been a part of my life. I'd also watched WandaVision, and then I'd watched Agatha All Along. I can't believe I've stepped into it.MH: It must feel surreal that you're a part of it now. RM: Completely surreal. It still doesn't feel real even being here right now. I watched the whole show, and I'm like, No, that didn't happen. Today we're going to Comic Con, and I think that's when it will feel like Wow, we're here. I get to see the fans, and I'm so excited.MH: What drew you to the character even without knowing who he really was?RM: What Marvel does so well, and what I realized through the audition process and through the shooting process, was that yes, it’s sci-fi, and we were created because my mother was a witch and she made a hex and all that stuff. But at the core of it are real feelings and real emotions of grief and love and what it means to be human. And that's what you feel in the writing and what you focus on. If you talk to Paul, he never plays a robot. You play a human and you let the world do the rest of the telling.MH: Is there anything about Tommy that surprised you once you actually started playing him? RM: I just started to be more and more myself, my own personality. And that started to creep in the more I understood the character. It was hard at the start. We shot in chronological order, so I'm first tackling the character as this orphan boy in London. At the end of episode 1, he's grifting and hustling on the street, but he's got these nightmares and visions of a father who's a robot and a mother who's a witch. How could that possibly be true? It's this real conflicted split in him. That's what I came in with—this rejection of my identity. But the whole show is about how the biggest superpower is accepting who you are. As the episodes went on and my character started to do that, and Paul's character started to do that, it just became more free and more organic, and I got to be Scottish in it. I couldn't believe it. It was amazing.Suddenly you're there and you're with Paul Bettany and you're like, "Did they pick the right guy? Are you sure they meant me?"MH: Is that something you talked about?RM: It was actually because I prepped all the lines with a really English accent like that [speaks in English accent]. And we tried an American accent as well. We were in the screen test and Paul was just like, "Why don't you try your own accent?" Because they just wanted it to be truthful and [for me to] not have an extra thing to think about. They were like, "I just want to feel what’s real and what’s raw from you and in your own accent, that would be better." We did that in the audition and then I got the job, but I still didn't know if I was meant to do my own accent or not. So it was the first day and I'm like, "So am I doing my own accent or am I going to be English?" And [showrunner Terry Matalas] was just like, "Do your own accent."MH: Your personality really comes through. How did you feel when you found out what this project was—and your role in it? RM: Every emotion ever, all coming at you at once. No pressure. I think more imposter syndrome that comes with stepping into something so beloved and a part of my life for so long. Suddenly you're there and you're with Paul Bettany and you're like, "Did they pick the right guy? Are you sure they meant me?" And then you settle into it. I mean, I'm still pinching myself at every single moment and I still am anxious in anticipation and excitement for it. All I want is for the fans to watch it and think I've done an okay job.Disney+Mollica in VisionQuest as Tommy Shepherd.MH: How did you prepare physically? Did you do a lot of training?RM: Terry wanted to keep the show really human and very real. He has this thought that if everyone's really buff all the time, it actually makes people less relatable, which I think is true. But I wanted to be in good shape for stunts and that kind of thing. So I did. I had a little personal trainer who I still see whenever I get a job. We work together now, and that’s really nice. It just gets you prepared and in a routine and ready.MH: Did you look at the performances of Evan Peters and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who both played Quicksilver?RM: I mean, I don't actually do that much running in it. To make me super speed, you have a flickering light at different frame rates. You shoot at different frame rates. So it creates this fizzy movement, and then you run out of frame and then you run in frame, and then they stitch it together. There's also a scene later on the show where I do some running that I won't talk about, but there's a really funny scene in the last episode.MH: They definitely won't let us talk about that. So you didn't actually do that much running for playing a character with super-speed?RM: No.MH: That's funny.RM: Exactly.MH: I feel like that's kind of emblematic of this human approach to the story. RM: Totally. And also my character is finding his powers for the first time. So the speed manifests in his hands and in picking locks and that kind of thing earlier on.Florence SullivanMH: I'm guessing this is the biggest production you've worked on in your career. What was that like?RM: I keep reminding myself how big a production it is. But it was amazing because with something like Marvel, they're able to pay people really well—all the crew was very happy. Everyone was happy. It was the first time where every single person was happy in their departments and everyone loved what they were doing. I remember getting a tour of everything from the set designers, and seeing all the little Easter eggs they put in the set.MH: The house is so cool.RM: So cool. And they're able to just imagine anything and build it. That, to me, is the most incredible thing about these series—they built everything practically. You'd walk onto these sets, and they're massive, and your brain suddenly thinks you're in a different city or something. It's incredible.MH: Does that benefit your performance?RM: Yeah, totally. I think that's what all the producers wanted to do to make it easier for everyone. If you're just in a green room talking to a tennis ball, you hope you're good at your job and you'll still be able to get there. But when you can lose yourself and immerse yourself in an environment, it’s incredible. The best acting is when you don't really have to act at all—you just feel it and you're there.Growing up with these characters and superheroes, it's an identity thing. I had that growing up, and I still do. We're on a journey of figuring out who we are, and that's what the whole show's about. Who am I? Will I accept myself and will they accept me?MH: Was there a moment where you really felt the size of the production? RM: The first time seeing Paul in his full Vision makeup and suit—that was pretty cool.MH: Did you get any advice from Paul, aside from the advice to use your natural accent? RM: He told me what the MCU is, about how we’re talking about real things. We're all the weird kids from school, right? We’re creating something where you get to feel seen. That's the most important thing about the MCU. And I completely agree. Growing up with these characters and superheroes, it's an identity thing. I had that growing up, and I still do. We're on a journey of figuring out who we are, and that's what the whole show's about. Who am I? Will I accept myself and will they accept me?MH: Kids watching that might look up to him. What do you hope they see in your character?RM: That as soon as you accept yourself for who you are, life gets easier.MH: Did you start acting when you were young?RM: I actually was the luckiest person ever, and I was going to an acting workshop called Strange Town in Leith in Edinburgh. It was my first day. My friends were already going to this class, and I was 12, and I went with my mom. There was a casting director there. I was literally going to sign up for the class, and this casting director asked if I wanted to audition for a TV show. It was just to play the son of these two actors for one episode. I ended up getting the part, and I had never acted before. I don't know, right place, right time—I must have looked like the parents. But I remember being like, "What do you mean? What's an audition? What are you talking about?" No one told me it could be a job, though. It was just this crazy, busy place that I suddenly was, and there was a man telling me what to say. It was actually with Jason Isaacs, and he taught me how to—Florence SullivanFlorence SullivanMH: Who I have also interviewed for Men's Health.RM: Really? Yeah. Oh, he's amazing. He really taught me what acting was and how to learn lines and all that… and then I didn't really do much else. I went to university and did computer science, and I still had this agent from when I was a kid, but I was never going to drop out of uni. I don't know. I wanted to go to uni. I wanted to get a job and grow up. But I didn't really think about acting. Even if I'd gotten a job at uni, I probably would've not done it, because I wanted to finish my course. And then in the final year, I got a part in a short film and it was only a few days. So I just went, "Fuck it." I did it, and I realized that I loved acting so much more than computer science, and it shifted my whole life.MH: And you just started working pretty consistently from there?RM: Well, actually, I ended up ignoring that thought and applying to do a master's in social security. Fear always gets the best of me.MH: You also have some cool projects upcoming. Are you going to try to prioritize doing smaller independent projects that scratch a different itch than Marvel? RM: Regardless of the size, if it's good writing and there's good people, I'm there. I'm all about people. I love a job because I get to know incredible people and work with other artists and creatives and have fun, like we're at nursery again or something. But I do love independent film. I mean, I think VisionQuest was able to be a really beautiful story, but I do think sometimes small-budget stuff is just all about the heart and the truth in someone's story. I love having to roll your sleeves up and help carry that thing or move it over here and you're sleeping in such strange places in Norway. There's something exciting and raw about independent filmmaking.MH: What are some films or performances that inspire you?RM: I actually didn't grow up watching that many films. I was sitting and playing with Legos and all that stuff. Actually the first film I ever saw that I cried at as a kid was a film called August Rush.MH: I know that one.RM: Really? No one knows that film.MH: Keri Russell is in it!RM: Yes! And then Good Will Hunting also.MH: Classic.RM: The way those characters are portrayed is the essence of a lot of male characters that are portrayed in this industry. Someone who's tough on the outside, but really they’re a scared young child on the inside. I always go back to Matt Damon’s performance for my character [in VisionQuest] as well. I was very inspired by Will Hunting's kind of thing. Another one of my favorite films is Magnolia, by Paul Thomas Anderson. I love Paul Thomas Anderson. I love Philip Seymour Hoffman. And that film for me is a complete and utter masterpiece.Frances McDormand is also one of my favorite actors—she's phenomenal. How she's able to portray such emotion with so little is mind-boggling. And Willem Dafoe is just a legend. I'd love to meet him one day.This interview has been edited for length and clarity.Watch VisionQuest HerePhotographs: Florence SullivanGrooming: Brady LeaVisual Director: Sally BermanCarrie is a Brooklyn-based entertainment journalist and critic with bylines in GQ, The Ringer, Vulture, The Cut, and more. She tweets way too much @carriesnotscary.