Plus, why he hopes the moment comes across as similar to Succession season 4’s big death.
Warning: This article contains spoilers fromThe Greatseason 3.
Was he going to take back what he said?
Velementov (Douglas Hodge), Peter (Nicholas Hoult) and King Hugo (Freddie Fox), shown in season 3 of ‘The Great.'.Christopher Raphael/Hulu
Below, Hoult breaks it all down.
That feels pretty prophetic did you know everything then?
NICHOLAS HOULT:I mean, that does sum it up.
I don’t think I completely knew then.
But perhaps [showrunner]Tony [McNamara]and I had spoken about it briefly.
Because it’s something that’s really pretty messy.
And that’s the truth of it, I guess.
And that’s what’s funny and bizarre and also heartbreaking about it, I think.
So when you did find out all the gory details, what was your reaction?
Honestly, I heard a couple of murmurs.
And life can be simple and happiness can be simple.
And you think maybe he’s just figured that out.
Then boom, nature gets in the way, and fate changes the course of that.
So my first reaction reading was that it was perfectly timed, and beautifully written.
I was upset by it, to be honest with you.
It’s very strange, because it’s a character that I loved playing.
And it felt like I was saying goodbye to him.
I was sitting there as a fan, and I was like, this is great.
So then I was just excited about the prospect of it.
Yeah, emotionally I think that [he was coming back to her].
So that was perhaps what was going on in his brain at that point.
That kind of made me feel like I was still part of the family.
Elle told me she really doesn’t like Pugachev, that she prefers it when you play Peter.
What was it like for you balancing those two characters?
Elle doesn’t like Pugachev.
That’s really funny.
So that was kind of a really fine line to straddle, I think.
So it was a little bit of gymnastics in my brain.
It’s the inception of Peter.
Peter within a Peter within a Peter.
Pugachev dies also, at the end.
It was very fun doing all the attempted deaths or murders of Pugachev.
People constantly trying to stop him and then kind of being indestructible was great.
I’m assuming filming Pugachev’s death was not as emotional for you?
I wasn’t actually there when you see it confirmed that he is definitely dead.
I would like to get that head.
I’d like to keep that as a little memento.
Where would you put it?
Are you open to coming back as a constant stream of lookalikes, or as a Peter ghost?
I think the lookalike thing is probably done now.
The ghost thing is interesting because obviously it’s something we’ve explored in the show before.
Now that that’s not a problem, will you be able to watch the show as a fan?
Yeah, I look forward to that.
I enjoyed being a part of it.
Each time we got a script was kind of like being a fan of it, in a way.
It was laced with the anticipation of, “Oh, I get to do this.
This is going to be really fun.”
But then also just enjoying what it is and the characters.
So now I’m looking forward to being able to watch that on the screen.
I’m very excited about that.
Are you anxious about how people will receive the news or will you not be paying attention to that?
So it’ll be fun to see how that goes over.
So he certainly wasn’t all good.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
