With comic-book superhero villains getting their own starring vehicles in Hollywood (Venom, Joker, Harley Quinn), it seems “the bad guy” is ever a tempting role to tackle. Outside the cape-donning realm, villains are perhaps equally fun to play for action films in general. This extends to a new Jason Statham offering from director David Ayer, though Statham is very much “the good guy” in The Beekeeper.

Statham’s up against a criminal scamming organization led by one Derek Danforth (the alliteration perhaps reminding us of those superhero characters), and he’s played with ultimate sleaze by Josh Hutcherson. We recently caught up with the versatile actor about his latest film, the highly anticipated Five Nights at Freddy’s sequel…and playing Fortnite.

‘The Bad Guy’s Fun’
The Beekeeper Release Date January 12, 2024 Rating R

Just one look at Hutcherson’s double-D character, and you know he means trouble. They say “looks can be deceiving,” but not with this guy, as we watch him drink, snort and complain his way through The Beekeeper while Statham’s Adam Clay tries to take down Derek’s empire.

“I mean, the bad guy’s fun, a lot of fun,” Hutcherson told us. “And in The Beekeeper, Derek is pretty bad, a pretty unlikable guy. And that was really fun, to just build out his psyche. And he was so unhinged and living in such a distorted reality that he created that I had absolute freedom to say whatever, do whatever, once I was living as him. David Ayer gave me a lot of space as well to improv, and movement was free and whatever just kind of came to me came to me. So that was a lot of fun. I like both, but I don’t know. Playing the bad guy has got its fun parts.”

Related: The Beekeeper Review | Jason Statham Smacks Down in a Formulaic Way to ‘Protect the Hive’

In one of the first scenes in the film, you’ll most likely get Jordan Belfort vibes from one of Derek’s scammers, played by David Witts, as he guides a helpless woman through “fixing” her home computer — whereas he’s actually hacking into it and emptying her bank accounts. For Derek, we had to ask Hutcherson if any other public figure came to mind in terms of playing the part:

I didn’t think about somebody specifically for him. It was kind of just like, ‘What would happen if you had a crypto bro who had unlimited funds, his mom is who his mom is in this movie, and he has extreme privilege and is on a lot of drugs and drinking all day…what would that look like? How would he dress? And then that kind of really got us going and creating Derek.

As Derek’s evil empire slowly crumbles during The Beekeeper, it’s a hoot to watch Hutcherson as his drug-addled troublemaker literally cries to his mommy — who happens to the President of the United States here. We were curious if any of Derek’s meltdown scenes stood out to Hutcherson as he was filming. “Sort of the big climax of the movie, when I’m with my mom and everything’s going to hell, that sequence just was so much fun to shoot,” he said, adding:

“We did it like 20 different ways, and the takes were like 12 minutes long. So we’re just exhausted emotionally, physically. But it’s just one of those things when you’re at the stage where you’ve done like three takes in a row without really cutting, you start to lose your mind a bit. And for me, playing Derek, that was helpful because it made me even more just out of it and psycho. So that was a really fun moment to shoot.”

‘Next-Level’ Jeremy Irons and Five Nights Sequel
Universal Pictures

In addition to the household name of Jason Statham, Hutcherson brushes shoulders with other big names in Hollywood during the film. That includes Oscar winner Jeremy Irons, playing the head of security for Derek’s operation. “Jeremy is next-level,” said Hutcherson. “He’s so talented and intimidating, but such a sweet, nice guy, and hilarious.”

Related: Josh Hutcherson’s Best Performances, Ranked

Looking ahead, let’s not forget Hutcherson is fresh off his hit film for Universal Pictures, and we simply cannot wait for a Five Nights at Freddy’s sequel. “They haven’t made an official announcement or anything, but they’ve got a lot to figure out as far as where they want to take it because the game lore is so deep,” Hutcherson told us, continuing:

There are so many iterations of the game and stuff that I think they really kind of want to nail down and make a great movie and do it justice again. But I’m super proud of [the first] movie. I think it’s really fun. I think that it’s a joy to watch. It’s a great intro-horror film in many ways. The fans of the game also were happy with it, so it’s great to be a part of it.

And with awards season upon us, we had to ask if Hutcherson had a favorite film from the past year. “I’m really behind on so many movies. I need to watch so many,” he said. “I just finally watched Fallen Leaves, which I thought was really good. I haven’t seen Oppenheimer. I haven’t seen Killers of the Flower Moon. I’m so far behind. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do… also started playing Fortnite recently, and that’s just not helpful in my career because I should be watching movies instead.”

Movies like The Beekeeper, for instance, which is now in theaters from MGM. Check out the trailer below: