Maleficent’s Sharlto Copley sounds off on big name co-stars Angelina Jolie and Hugh Jackman

MALEFICENT actor Sharlto Copley compares himself to Angelina Jolie and explains why we’ve yet to see the very best of Hugh Jackman.

SOUTH African Sharlto Copley — best known for his sci-fi films with Neill Blomkamp, District 9 and last year’s Elysium — has more in common with Angelina Jolie than you might think.

The pair star together in Disney’s twisted fairytale Maleficent; Jolie as the titular dark fairy, Copley as King Stefan, who at first loves her, then doublecrosses her.

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King Stefan, played by Sharlto Copley, in <i>Maleficent</i>.

Copley fought hard to get his audition tape to Jolie. Having met her a few of years earlier, he thought they’d mesh on screen.

“We’re both interesting actors from a point of view of how we can mess with audiences liking or not liking us,” Copley says.

“In Maleficent, I’m doing the reverse of what I did on District 9. I’m a guy who starts good and is just kind of …” He tilts his arm, signifying that it’s all downhill from there.

As for Jolie: “In this role, where she will say, ‘I hate you’ to a baby, very few movie stars that are loved by millions will do that,” he says.

The<i> Maleficent</i> cast: Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Angelina Jolie, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning and Sam Riley.

“That made the experience quite interesting because we both had a lot more we had to achieve in the arcs of these characters.”

Copley calls the doublecross his “first Shakespearean attempt. To me, Stefan loves her the whole way through — it’s the guilt that drives him crazy, which is very Shakespearean.”

Maleficent and the King work out their differences in an epic final smackdown.

“Somebody said to me, ‘It’s a cautionary tale about a p***ed off ex-girlfriend.’ I didn’t see it that way, but I suppose you could.”

While his roles for Blomkamp are much loved, Copley hasn’t had a Hollywood career handed to him. His attitude is it takes time to “get a reputation for being a good character actor”, and he’s in it for the long haul.

Sharlto Copley, Mandla Gaduka and Kenneth Nkosi in Neill Blomkamp’s <i>District 9</i>.

The 40-year-old won’t bide his time, planning to write and direct. He’s spoken about it a lot with co-stars who have done it (Jolie) or plan to (Matt Damon).

“Normal people would think we’re crazy, like, ‘They just talk about film all the time. Talk about anything other than structure of a screenplay’,” he laughs. “But we’re film geeks in our own way.”

Blomkamp won’t let Copley disappear off screen completely. His next film, Chappie, is released next March and stars Copley as a “childlike robot”.

Sharlto Copley, right, starred with Matt Damon in Elysium.

“That’s where, having the relationship with Neill, he sees the potential with me other people wouldn’t,” Copley says.

“He was looking through the monitor and giggling now and then, ‘You never really think of Sharl as cute, do you guys? But Sharl, you’re really cute!’ ”

Among Copley’s co-stars in the film is one Hugh Jackman.

“He really is the nicest man in the world, isn’t he?” Copley marvels. “I kept looking for some sort of crack and I couldn’t find a single one.

“I can say, my favourite all-time Jackman performance is in Chappie, without a shadow of a doubt. His character is so geniusly done. It’s priceless.”

■ Maleficent is now showing

Sharlto Copley and girlfriend Tanit Phoenix at the world premiere of Disney's <i>Maleficent</i>.

Originally published as Maleficent’s Sharlto Copley sounds off on big name co-stars Angelina Jolie and Hugh Jackman