Lately, things have been increasingly weird for Nicholas Hoult. Then again, his characters have always been kind of weird. When we first met him in About A Boy 23 years ago, he played a socially awkward kid determined to secure himself a stepdad in the event his mother (Toni Collette) killed herself. Then in Skins, the TV show that made him far more famous than he was comfortable with, he played the manipulative, morally dubious Tony Stonem. In the closest thing he’s made to a romantic comedy, 2013’s Warm Bodies, he’s a zombie with a literally dead heart. Even Hoult thinks he’s at his best when he’s having the most fun, doing weird shit like getting pissed off with a duck and threatening to eat its liver with a cornichon in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite, or in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, where he played Nux, a sickly War Boy desperate to explode himself into Valhalla.
Last year saw the release of three Hoult movies, which were all shot one after the other, with only a couple of days’ break in-between. He went from having his life destroyed by Count Orlok in Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, to playing real-life neo-Nazi Bob Mathews in Justin Kurzel’s The Order, to portraying a possibly guilty man in Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2, with a screentest pitstop between the last two for James Gunn’s Superman. Which may be one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, but with Hoult playing Lex Luthor, Superman’s nemesis this time around is bound to be a more off-kilter megalomaniac.
For a nice young man who says a cheery hello to Empire’s cat when said feline jumps up and fills the Zoom screen with his furry body, it’s notable that Hoult rarely seems to play the nice young man. He was in Dublin for a friend’s stag do when we called him, way too early in the morning, to ask about his whole deal.
EMPIRE: Your work is becoming increasingly… strange. That’s a compliment, by the way.
Nicholas Hoult: (Laughs) Oh good!
Is that deliberate? Is the morally complicated-grey-area stuff what you’re personally interested in?
Yeah, definitely. That’s what I find interesting to explore just in terms of how humans function: the weird things. The ways we behave, how people condone their behaviour, or explain it, or don’t explain it to themselves. But from an outsider’s point of view, going in there and being like, “How can I try and figure out what’s going on there?” It’s like being a little detective. It’s just exploring different realms of what it is to be human. Also, I think that’s more frequently than not the sort of film I like. I can’t exactly describe what itch it scratches for me. [Films where] there’s more going on under the surface than I can fully understand, or I’ve learned something, or I’ve got a different perspective. That’s probably it.
Do you ever audition for, like, the fluffy romantic lead? And then someone says, “No, Nicholas, you’re the weird guy”?
People tell me I’m the weird guy, but it’s not always work-related. (Laughs) I don’t know. I think there’s an element of choosing it. And then there’s also an element of people being like, “I don’t really know where to put him.” Because I don’t think I’m necessarily quite the conventional anything. That’s probably a good thing. In terms of the actors that I adore watching, they don’t do things predictably.
What kind of actors are you talking about?
The first person I think of is Willem Dafoe. I love Willem. I think he’s so brilliant, and I love watching him.
Dafoe is another actor who’s not going to be the normal guy in any movie — he’s going to be the other guy.
Yeah. That’s not to say that I don’t want to do some romcoms and those sorts of things. But when I look at the page and people describe a character as “charming”, I’m like, “Well, how do you… I don’t… My brain doesn’t understand that.” (Laughs) That’s probably where the weirdness comes from. These other characters, there’s stuff where it’s… something. There’s more for my brain to be busy doing than just trying to be charming.
Having a weird-shaped head wasn’t something that I was particularly worried about.
You auditioned for the role of Superman, but you were cast as Lex Luthor instead. How does that feel, to try for the (relatively) more normal guy, and then get the weird- guy role again?
I remember reading the script for the first time and there was a tiny little piece of my instinct that was like, “You might be a good Lex,” or, “You might have fun playing this character.” Probably going back to what we were speaking about — those moral grey areas, and people being interesting to me. But I brushed it aside. I wasn’t listening to my instincts, which I guess is not a good thing. So I went and did the test and enjoyed that, but then when James [Gunn] called me [and told me he wanted me for Lex Luthor], I didn’t say anything at first — I just cackled! Because there was an instant flash in my brain where I went, “Oh, you knew this would be best.” So there was a moment of excitement, joy, thrill, and then also I’d say relief or something, where I was like, “Oh, this has ended up how it should have done if I had kind of listened to my gut early on.”
What else did you like about Lex?
There was something about Lex where I looked at it and [thought that]… Mishmashing all these things that I’ve been doing recently together, or I feel like I’ve learned as an actor, and grown into in these last few years — all of these things combined and put into this could be a good flavour.
Did you look to Gene Hackman’s take on him, and other screen iterations?
Yeah, Gene’s one of my all-time faves, just as an actor in general. I went back and watched Gene. And Michael Rosenbaum, who was the first Lex I saw, growing up watching Smallville [on TV]. It’s interesting when you play a character that’s been played before — you’re working from a different script, but it’s fun to draw inspiration from all of those places.
You’re bald in Superman, but you’ve shaved your hair in the past. When you did it the first time for Fury Road, did you ever worry you’d have a weird-shaped head?
For Fury Road I shaved it into a mohawk first and then I took it completely off. Having a weird-shaped head wasn’t something that I was particularly worried about, and people speak about that a lot! When you shave your head, everyone starts bringing up weird-shaped heads. I never really considered that. I guess it was just like, well, I was gonna do it. Let’s find out what we’re dealing with.
How is everyone worried about having a weird-shaped head except for you?
There’s nothing you can do about the shape of it!
Do you prefer to play characters that look different from yourself, physically?
Yeah, for me it’s like… Do you listen to these interviews back? And you have to hear your voice?
Yeah. It’s terrible.
Right, so everyone hates the sound of their own voice. I can’t stand the sound of my own voice so the further I can sound not like myself or not look like myself, then it’s easier for me to watch.
What’s the furthest away from yourself you’ve ever got?
Appearance-wise? Back to the X-Men movies, playing The Beast. Emotionally? That’s a different question. That would be [neo-Nazi Bob Mathews in] The Order. That’s… probably the right one to say. (Mock-panicked look at the screen)
Let’s talk about Nosferatu. Robert Eggers said in an interview with Empire that he told you there could be a little bit of Hugh Grant in your character, Hutter, who was “trying so hard not to fuck up, and all he’s doing is fucking up”. Since you met him so young, how much do you think Grant influenced you? Are you conscious of any Hugh Grantiness in your performances?
I’ve been on a little bit of an early-Hugh-Grant kick at the moment. I was watching Maurice and The Remains Of The Day — the Merchant Ivory stuff. Because I only knew all his later stuff, from the period where I was working with him [in About A Boy] onwards. It was exciting to see him in those roles, because it was kind of a different version of Hugh. I see what [Eggers] is saying in terms of [Hutter] always trying to do the right thing, and he’s a little bit behind, in a slightly naive way. But it would be more, now having seen it, the earlier Hugh. Occasionally, when we were doing The Great, people would say, “You seem to be doing a few Hugh-isms.” I certainly wasn’t consciously trying to do that, but there’s a part of me that goes, “Oh, you did work with him at a very formative time in your life.” And also obviously [he was] very influential in terms of, like, suddenly you’re put into this weird world of promoting a film, and you’re with this person who you see is very funny and eloquent and charming and has that personality, and you go, “Okay, so did I accidentally, perhaps, get influenced by them a little bit by that, in a good, positive way?” Maybe!
I think when they need pale English, they’re like, “Well, who’s that guy?”
Apart from Hutter fucking up in Nosferatu, he spends a lot of time being frightened. By his wife, by the villagers, by Orlok. Was there ever a time on set where you were actually freaked out?
Yeah! When I’m getting chased by the wolves, and I climb out the window. They were Czech Shepherds, so they weren’t wolves but part-wolf. When we met them with the animal handlers, they were like, “Oh, they’re just like dogs.” But there were also all these rules. “They’re just like dogs, but don’t do this, and don’t do that, and if you’re gonna give them a treat, do it straight away.” When we got to set, there was a moment before that scene where I’m running on the spot, trying to get my heart rate up. The wolves — it sent them crazy. They’d been told to chase me and then they saw me getting myself fired up, and they were barking, being held back on these leashes. I was like (looks genuinely afraid), “Whoa! Whoooooaaa.” And there was one time doing that shot where I was running — they’d be like, “Okay, three-two-one, action,” and I would go on three, and [the wolves] would be released on one — and there was one time where I slipped, trying to get out of the window. I was like, “Well, I know these wolves have been released, and I know they’re chasing me, but I never asked, like… ‘What are they trained to do if they do get to me? Like, what’s the end goal here, what if I don’t make it out the window??’” I remember after that take, [Eggers] being like, “You pulled a weird face, we can’t use that.” That was real! That was a moment of real panic! I was going like (pulls comical, deeply un-Eggers film face) because I was just thinking, “Oh no.”
Why were you gifted Orlok’s prosthetic penis at the end of filming? Did you have an alarming number of questions about it on the day or something?
No, I received the penis because there’s a scene where it suddenly cuts to a wide angle, and you see Orlok/Bill [Skarsgård] on top of me, drinking my blood. And whilst we were doing that scene, the way that Bill was moving, I could feel the prosthetic on my leg. And whilst we were rehearsing I couldn’t stop giggling. So that was why I had… interactions with the prosthetic. That was probably the funniest wrap gift I’ve ever been given. The best thing was when it got shipped back to my house, the frame broke, so I had to take it into a frame shop. And as I unwrapped it the guy looked at it like, “... What is going on here?” To be fair, he took it in his stride considering that I was like, “Hey, we need to fix the frame of this penis that I’ve got mounted.” And when I went back in to pick it up all he said was, “Is this some kind of... collector’s piece?”
You’ve been in two vampire movies, with Renfield—
Not intentionally! It wasn’t like I said, “This is my vampire era.”
Is it something about being pale and English that draws them to you, if you’re not seeking them out?
I think when they need pale English, they’re like, “Well, who’s that guy?” And there I am, hiding from the sun in the shadows. (Laughs) After Nosferatu, we went to start shooting The Order and my character was meant to be outdoorsy and living in nature. When I looked him up, he was a very tanned person. So I would go and get fake tans. One thing I didn’t realise was, as part of Jude Law’s prep, Justin [Kurzel] had him follow me. I didn’t know until we were doing the press tour that Jude had been following me around for a day — he’d been tailing me like an FBI agent or a detective. When I found out he’d done it, I was like, “Wow, I never knew you did that. (Warily)... What was I doing?” [He said], “It was pretty boring, to be honest. You went to the shops.” Luckily, it wasn’t a day where I was going to get a fake tan. I was like, “Oh no! I hope he hasn’t seen me sneaking into the [fake tan] store with my slides on, coming out, drying off.”
What tasks did you do as prep for The Order? Did you have to read a lot of depressing racist stuff to get into that mindset?
Yeah. The book that the film was based on (The Silent Brotherhood by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt) was a great source of information for that, and about Bob, and then reading lots around those ideologies and beliefs. One of the things was sending voice-notes as the character to [Kurzel] whilst I was sitting in the trailer [while] shooting Nosferatu. I’d go have lunch, and then I’d get a message from Justin, being like, “Hey, leave me a voice-note as Bob telling me all the guns he owns.”
Bob Mathews was the leader of this white supremacist militant group. It’s a risky role to play. Was it hard not to judge him when you were doing it?
Yeah, of course you judge, but then you don’t at the same time. Does that make sense? Obviously you read horrible things and you’re like, “Wow, this is horrendous.” But then when you’re playing the character, you can’t have your judgements influence how you’re portraying him. You’ve gotta strip that layer back, and just do the work without the judgement on top of it.
I’m gonna keep getting darker and stranger until people are like, “No!! Too far!”
Shifting gears slightly, but probably no less jarringly than going from The Order back to Transylvania, let’s talk about The Great. The thing that sticks out most in that show is, obviously, the dialogue. What’s the most outrageous line you’ve had to say?
Oh my God. There are so many. I would giggle every day reading those scripts. I remember one of the days I really struggled not to corpse [was when] Peter (played by Hoult) decided that [his son] was sick because of the nanny’s milk. So he decided to test the milk. So I was having to pretend to test breast milk, and then Catherine (Elle Fanning) walks in and sees Peter sucking on nipples. And honestly, just having to stop doing what I was doing, because, first of all, you’re trying to look like you’re sucking nipples, while not actually sucking nipples—
Wait, what are you actually sucking on? A fake nipple?
No, real nipples, real boobs…
So, just not actually drinking breast milk.
Every time I would make eye contact [with Fanning], we just both burst out laughing. I said, “What is this job?!”
I’ve heard Clint Eastwood has a nickname for you based on that role…
He would call me Captain Lingus! Because Peter was meant to be very good at cunnilingus — the “tongue trick”. So I’d walk on set [of Juror #2] and Clint would salute me like (Hoult winks and salutes), “Cap’n Lingus.” Because I was confused — I was like, “How did I end up in a movie by Clint Eastwood??” His way of casting is watching people in things and I guess he’d seen me in that and liked it.
That’s probably your name in Clint Eastwood’s phone.
(Laughs) Yep, that’s what pops up when I call him.
What do you want to do next? Do you want to keep getting darker and stranger?
I’m gonna keep getting darker and stranger until people are like, “No!! Too far!” (Laughs) I don’t have a master plan. [But] it seems like a lot of the performances that I grew up loving, or specifically when actors would go on runs of things, [it] seemed to be in their thirties and forties. So I’ve always been excited about this period of my career. So, keep trying to do unexpected things. And take some risks.
This article was originally published in the July 2025 issue of Empire. Nicholas Hoult was shot exclusively for Empire in Los Angeles on 1 May 2025 by Monica May. Superman comes to UK cinemas from 11 July.