X-Men: First Class kicked off the prequel trilogy about Marvel’s beloved mutants, and it came with plenty of fun behind-the-scenes trivia.
When James McAvoy landed the role of Charles Xavier, he assumed he’d need to match Patrick Stewart’s bald look. He went ahead and shaved his head, only to find out that Professor X still had a full head of hair at this point in the timeline. The mistake meant he had to wear extensions during filming.
Maybe that mix-up inspired the producers to bring an “X-Men specialist” on set, someone whose entire job was to help the actors better understand their mutant roles. Not a bad title to put on a résumé.
The one expert everyone would have loved to see, though, was Stan Lee. Known for his cameo appearances across nearly all Marvel movies, the comic legend couldn’t make it this time because filming was happening too far away.
Director Matthew Vaughn, who had already made a name for himself with Kick-Ass and would go on to direct Kingsman: The Secret Service, drew inspiration from Batman Begins, the 1960s Star Trek series, and even James Bond films from that same era.
Kevin Bacon stepped into the shoes of Sebastian Shaw, the film’s main villain. He admitted that his performance was influenced by larger-than-life figures, explaining that he looked at people like Hugh Hefner, Donald Trump, and Ted Turner, men who built empires and used charm to get what they wanted.
With a budget of $160 million, a big chunk went to the roughly 1,150 visual effects shots. The actors had to do a lot of pretending on green screen sets. Zoe Kravitz described the challenge as “multitasking,” saying it was about being technically aware while still tapping into childlike imagination. Bacon also pointed out how difficult it was to act when so much of what was happening wasn’t really there. McAvoy added that it often meant pretending everyday spaces were something else entirely, like imagining a sweet shop was a doctor’s office or that a plain office was CIA headquarters.
And if you needed a final bit of trivia: the movie also sparked some real-life romances. Nicholas Hoult and Jennifer Lawrence started dating after meeting on set, as did Michael Fassbender and Zoe Kravitz. Apparently, nothing sets the mood quite like teaming up to stop mutants from starting World War III.
