HARDY: How old are you now?

SCHOENAERTS: Thirty-seven. I’m an old fart.

HARDY: You’re the same age as me. I’m September 15. You’re December 8, right? So you’re a little bit younger. In my experience, we’re always playing a little bit younger than we actually are, which is kind of cool. Sometimes we get to play up.

SCHOENAERTS: It’s like we get the chance to fuck over time. By doing film, we get the chance to stab it in the back.

HARDY: You get that “hindsight is 20/20” thing. But there are stages for guys, I think. There’s the warrior stage. Then there’s a certain, what I’d call a “sad monk” stage, where you’re physically past your 22, 25 prime and you’re growing into an older man. Ultimately you move on from there. Our work coincides with our experiences—for me, anyway. What I’m interested in is reflected in my work. What stage are you at in your life right now, as a man? What’s important now that’s passing into your work at the moment, compared to where you were at Bullhead? Are you in your blue period or your pink one?

SCHOENAERTS: [laughs] Well, I’m in my green one. I think we’re always in a state of transition. But I’m in a very conscious state of transition, rediscovering who I am and who I want to become. That’s a very interesting period. Like, “Okay, what type of person do you want to be? How do you want to deal with life?”

HARDY: What do you want right now with your work? Do you have a purpose?

SCHOENAERTS: I hope it doesn’t sound melodramatic. We get the chance to speak to a thousand people in the theater, or 200, or 20, or millions of people. So what I always think is important is, “Okay, what do you share?” We’re in the position where people are willing to come and see what we share. I don’t mean that in a moralistic or preachy way, but I think there is a level of responsibility that comes with what we do. I think what you’re trying to say should be something that you feel from the heart because you believe in it. Eventually that will transport itself towards the audience. Are there directors I want to work with? Yeah, probably. That’s not where my ambition is. I want to share stuff that means something. I don’t like vulgarity. I don’t like first-degree stupidity. I don’t want to sound like a pretentious art-house fucker; I’m not making the distinction between that and popular films, not at all. I just want to be blown away by something that ignites my imagination, ignites my heart, ignites my soul.

HARDY: You can find that in any project, though. What you’re saying to me is that there’s an integrity and an authenticity to you. I know you’re a massive team player. You’re not there to showboat. How do you keep it real on the floor, bro? To me, you’re a proper actor’s actor. What’s your bullshit monitor, to know when it’s about you and loving yourself and when it’s about part of the team?