Fantastic Four: Billy Elliot’s Jamie Bell graduates from ballet

Jamie Bell plays ‘The Thing’ in his new movie Fantastic Four.

This photo provided by courtesy Twentieth Century Fox shows, The Thing, in a scene from the film, "Fantastic Four," releasing in U.S. theaters on Aug. 7, 2015. The Fox panel is on Saturday, July 11, 2015, at the San Diego Convention Center during the Comic-Con International, in San Diego. (Twentieth Century Fox via AP)

When moviegoers look at Jamie Bell and are still reminded of Billy Elliot, the inspiring young dancer he played in the eponymous 2000 film, the mild-mannered British actor doesn’t complain. He remains fond of the movie, though admits he no longer dances.

The impressions of audiences are likely be altered when his transformation into a 2m tall rock-covered superhero is revealed in the reboot of Fantastic Four, which is in cinemas this week.

Characteristically, Bell is not offended when asked about the physical contrast between him and the burly Michael Chiklis (The Shield, American Horror Story), his predecessor in the role of Ben Grimm (aka The Thing) in the 2005 film version and its 2007 sequel.

“I had the same reaction: ‘Me? You dialled the correct number, right?’ ” says the 29-year-old, who lives in Los Angeles.

“But part of my interest in this project was how the transformation would be so altering. (Director) Josh Trank’s vision was so fresh and unexpected, it wasn’t the kind of movie I had imagined they were going to make.”

Bell’s roles in the past 1½ decades have been eclectic, from Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac Vol II, to the lead role in the American Revolutionary War television series Turn: Washington’s Spies. He compares his career to a pinball machine. For this film, he spent the five-month shoot in Louisiana conquering motion-capture technology.

“It was a lot of fun, but physically very hard to do. I was on stilts most of the time for everyone else’s sight lines,” he says of his castmates, who include Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller and Kate Mara.

“I had 20-30 cameras filming me during every take of every scene. It was a bit like the acting Olympics,” Bell says.

“That said, from a performance perspective, it was actually harder to remember to go really small, since my character Ben Grimm is not really that big — he’s just a kid. I wanted to maintain a window into the interior of this young person’s eyes and life, and not fall into the trap of playing the huge monster all the time.”

Bell found inspiration in the performances of Andy Serkis, though he was keen to correct media reports that Serkis had been involved with the film.

“We worked together three or four times before (including King Kong and Stephen Spielberg’s 2011 animation, The Adventures of Tintin), and I’d seen how successful he’d been in using this technology for emotionally moving millions of people,” he says. “How could I not draw on Andy as inspiration? But no, he had no involvement in this project.”

Bell didn’t read Marvel comics growing up, though he says he did intensive research to familiarise himself with the fictional superhero team, which debuted in 1961. (He demurs, though, over whether his character will utter his catchphrase: “It’s clobbering time.”)

“Anyone who says it isn’t a bit daunting or intimidating is lying: it’s a beloved property and you have to respect it,” he says. “But equally, we are making something entirely new here — an original film — and hopefully bringing Fantastic Four into the 21st century, so you have to be able to leave preconceptions at the door.”

However, according to a Fox spokesman, there were some “bumps in the road” during production. Trank, 31, quit a ­prestigious stand-alone Star Wars project slated for release in 2019, telling the Los Angeles Times in June that the extensive public scrutiny of his work on Fantastic Four made him reluctant to move straight into another giant ­franchise.

But Bell is emphatic in defending his director. “Reshoots are done on every single movie ever made, period,” he says.

“I can only talk for myself, but my experience with Josh was great, he was very specific and he guided this massive ship of a movie in his direction, I admire that.

“Directors are supposed to be unwavering, there are always others trying to make you do something different, and to hold the line is an incredible achievement. I have nothing but fondness for him.”

In the immediate future, Bell’s biggest problem may be the lack of white space on his calendar.

He’s filming the action thriller 6 Days in New Zealand. The film is set during the 1980 hostage drama at the Iranian embassy in London, and his co-stars include Abbie Cornish and Mark Strong.

AMC recently announced that Turn: Washington’s Spies would return for a third season, and a sequel to Fantastic Four has been mooted.

“I’ve been very fortunate to be offered so many different kinds of work, with so many different tones and textures,” Bell says. “I can’t complain. My favourite part of this job is seeing what comes down the pipe next.”