Austin Abrams has been jogging in his underwear with George Clooney and Brad Pitt

Running down the street in your underwear isn’t for the faint of heart, even when you’re acting in a film. First of all, there’s the running part – a challenge in itself, let alone when you have to rinse and repeat for the camera. But it becomes even more difficult when you’re being chased by George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

This is what was required of Austin Abrams when filming the opening scene in Wolfs, Jon Watts’ new crime caper. Austin plays Kid, a sweet, if slightly chaotic, er, kid, who finds himself in the centre of what we’ll call a Very Messy Situation. As a result, he’s forced to join forces with Jack (Clooney) and Nick (Pitt), two professional, rival fixers who’ve been tasked to clear up after a supposed murder. Manslaughter. Accident. Whatever you want to call it.

“It was a surprisingly traditional audition process,” Austin says, half-laughing, calling in from a comfy looking armchair in Los Angeles. A 2001: A Space Odyssey poster hangs above his head. ​“Jon and I knew each other a little bit; I think he trusted me. I laid down a couple tapes, which was super daunting after I’d seen everyone’s names on the sheet. I wanted to do some kind of chemistry [read] to see if I had it in me.”

Reader, Austin did have it in him. To be fair, the 28-year-old is a pretty seasoned actor. Growing up in Sarasota, Florida (“an artistic part of the state, for some reason”), his love of movies soon led him into theatre (“I got paid in tickets, which I pawned for lollipops”), then film roles. Over the years, he’s bagged some good ones, namely in Euphoria as Ethan Daley (Kat’s too-nice-for-his-own-good boyfriend), followed by the popular high school rich-kid Max in 2022 comedy Do Revenge, alongside Maya Hawke.

So, he’s come a long way from being paid in theatre tickets and, by proxy, lollipops. But he’s still feels a buzz when he steps on set. ​“There’s a different type of excitement now,” he says. ​“Working with a director who’s inspiring, a character who’s inspiring… It’s fun waiting for what’s going to pop up next.

“It’s a little like gambling, these things coming out of the ether. You’re living your life and, suddenly, you’re doing this new thing that feels amazing and you feel so lucky.”

Hey, Austin. You seem like a calm and collected person. But how did you feel on your first day of shooting Wolfs with George Clooney and Brad Pitt?

It was crazy. I was like ​“uh, uh!” – I mean, I was incredibly nervous. Like, maybe that’s what they mean by ​“starstruck”. My heart was racing, I didn’t even know what to talk about. And I felt that way for so long. I was like, when is this gonna end?

Did you end up settling into the dynamic?

Yeah, like two months later. It took a while, honestly. It was a slow burn. You see these people’s faces and voices for so many years. You have this idea of them and so being in their presence is affecting. It’s a bit of a mystery to me, still, why a person can have that effect.

Do you think George and Brad have a sense of their own stature?

Yeah, they must have done, because they were doing the best they could to make me feel comfortable. I probably wasn’t hiding anything, as much as I’d have liked to. They’re aware of that energy because they’ve felt it so many times. They were really talking to me like I was a friend of theirs, and I’d just met them. They didn’t need to be so thoughtful or nice. They could have let me squirm, but they put an effort in.

Were you given any useful advice?

There are some things you learn by watching. Brad was talking about choosing projects that he loves and inspire him rather than what the audience wants to see, which a lot of actors end up doing, getting lost in the shuffle. But I feel like maybe I haven’t quite processed the amount of influence the whole thing had on me just yet.

What’s your top tip for getting into character?

Listening to your body, putting in work that’s actually helpful rather than what you think you’re supposed to do. Sometimes it’s a bit frightening to be like, who the hell am I? How the hell do you do this thing again? Which kind of happens every time, but then you slowly find your way into it. But so much of that has to do with understanding the character in the first place.

Sounds like a recipe for an existential crisis.

It can be. That’s not always a bad thing, though. It tests you and pushes you, which is better than being stagnant. It’s a strange job!

How far into shooting Wolfs did you have to strip down to your underwear?

That was right off the bat, pretty much. And we did that for three weeks straight.

Was that tough?

It was challenging, yeah. But there’s a purpose and a drive to it. You’re not just doing it on a Sunday, going for a jog in your underwear. It was January, as well.

So it was… fun?

Let’s go with liberating.

What was running through your mind at the time?

“Fuck, I hope I can keep this up.”

What was your favourite part of working on the project?

Getting to work with all these guys was a huge element. Then the character – he’s very innocent, childlike, which was very freeing to play. You’re not thinking about any bullshit or trying to be cool. The crew was great. But you know, getting to come into work every day, be with George and Brad – they’re great storytellers. That’s why we love to watch them.

What’s next for Austin, then?

I’ve just finished a film called Weapons, which I’m really excited about. Zach Cregger, who did Barbarian, wrote and directed it. I loved that movie. Some people who were working on-set purposefully didn’t read the script because they didn’t want to know what happens, they just wanted to watch it unfold. How cool is it to be part of something like that?

Wolfs will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on September 27.