If you were looking to swoon over the loveable Nicholas Hoult in “Young Ones,” you might find yourself a little disappointed. In the film, from director Jake Paltrow, it’s actually quite difficult to like Hoult’s character, Flem Lever. He’s a ruthless man who manipulates those closest to him — including characters played by Elle Fanning and Kodi-Smit McPhee — in order to survive in an otherwise hopeless, post-apocalyptic world where water is the most precious commodity.

“It was 115 degrees, just baking hot, people passing out from heat exhaustion. There wasn’t a whole lot of having to act that side of the story,” Hoult told HuffPost Entertainment of the film’s shoot, which took place in Springbok, South Africa, over a five-week period.

The brutal conditions on the film might help explain why, when we asked if he had to choose one person to survive in a post-apocalyptic setting with, Hoult had a strategy all planned out.

“I’d pick Bear Grylls. I like watching those shows, and I do watch them with the idea of like, ‘If this happens I have to remember this stuff if I’m stranded,'” Hoult said. “Watching Bear Grylls climb inside a camel carcass in the desert to survive, I’m like, ‘All right, if I’m ever stuck in the desert…'”

But his list of three essential items he’d bring is a little less practical.

“I’d need some sort of music player. I love anything from hip hop to old soul … kind of an eclectic mix. I’d bring a book, too … I’m currently reading J.D. Salinger’s ‘Nine Stories.’ And a toothbrush,” he said. “I’d definitely bring a toothbrush.”

“Young Ones” is out in limited release on Oct. 17.