Lewis Pullman Shares Dad Bill Pullman’s Frank Reaction To Thunderbolts Role

Lewis Pullman leans on the experience of his father, Bill Pullman, for acting advice, especially for a big commitment like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The 32-year-old plays Bob Reynolds, a.k.a. Sentry in Thunderbolts*, which hits theaters on Friday. At a recent press event promoting his MCU debut, Lewis revealed to PEOPLE that he asked for his father’s input on the role from early on, and he got some sage advice. Despite the massive scale of the franchise and the promises of tie-ins with other movies, the elder Pullman advised his son to take it one step at a time fleshing out this character for the story at hand.

“He always goes story first, and writing first, and character first,” explained Lewis. “I was waiting to get the full script so I could send it to him so we could talk about it. Once he read the script, he was like, ‘There’s a lot to do here. Yeah. I think there’s a lot to be done.’”

Lewis even did a little impression of his father here, to the amusement of the reporters present. Now 71 years old, Bill Pullman is a Hollywood legend, but according to Lewis, he didn’t immerse his family in that world. “We didn’t grow up watching TV and we were allowed like a movie or two a weekend,” he said. “We watched a lot of what my parents grew up watching, and so there was a lot of older stuff. I was the youngest child, so my vote for movies always got pushed to the last.”

[RELATED: Comics Starter Pack: A Beginner’s Guide to the MCU’s Thunderbolts*]

Lewis admitted that his family hadn’t kept up with the rise of the MCU over the last decade and a half, but that’s all about to change now, as he hopes they’ll all sit down and watch Thunderbolts* with him. Lewis is the third child of Bill and dancer Tamara Hurwitz. His older sister Maesa is a singer-songwriter, while his older brother Jack is a puppet-maker.

Focusing on the movie at hand is probably more difficult at this stage in the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, with a big Avengers crossover event close at hand. Lewis has already been announced for the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, but we don’t know anything yet about his character’s role in the story. Early reviews for Thunderbolts* are generally positive, and audiences won’t have to wait in suspense much longer. The movie officially hits theaters on Friday, May 2nd, with early showings beginning at many cinemas tonight.