14 Essential Details About Nicholas Hoult That Only Superfans Know
British actor Nicholas Hoult has been turning heads and capturing hearts since he was 11, when he stole the show in the 2002 comedy-drama film "About a Boy." Sharing the screen with fellow British movie star Hugh Grant set Hoult in good stead and his career has gone from strength to strength. On average, he's appeared in at least one movie a year since 2005, with a handful of carefully chosen TV shows like "The Great" thrown in.
But, there's much more to know about this star than just his impressive filmography. How did he get his start in acting, anyway? Perhaps it's in his blood, since his great aunt, Dame Anna Neagle, was a prolific film and theater actress for several decades in the mid-to-late-1900s. However, she sadly passed away from Parkinson's three years before Hoult was born. Neagle didn't just pass the acting gene on to the "Skins" star, though, all three all three of Hoult's siblings have some acting experience in differing degrees, from community theater, to pantomimes, to professional screen credits. You might have spotted his younger sister Clarista Hoult in the 2018 TV miniseries "Prime Cut."
Hoult lives a full life off the screen, too. Although, he prefers to keep it private so you might not know that he's in a committed relationship with model Bryanna Holly. The couple welcomed a child in 2018, but didn't release their name or gender. It was eventually confirmed they had a son named Joaquin.
He was scouted in the audience of his brother's play
All of Nicholas Hoult's siblings have some degree of acting experience. For his older brother James, who is now a biologist based in the US, this took the form of school plays and community theater. However, one of his plays ended up being his little brother's big break. Or at least the start of his impressive career. Hoult was sitting in the audience intently watching his brother's performance, which impressed the director of the play. He was talent scouted on the spot, and the rest was history.
He started working in commercials and local productions before he made his screen debut in the 1996 black dramedy "Intimate Relations." These years of experience culminated in him scoring his breakout role in "About a Boy," which is still one of his most well-known roles to date. Of course, navigating his early career was difficult, but Hoult worked hard to make sure that he worked in a variety of genres and projects, so that he was never only known for one thing. "[Typecasting is] what I've been really trying to avoid, it's deliberate," he explained to Evening Standard. Even now, he says, "I don't want people to walk into a film thinking, oh, he's in that so I know what he's going to do. That's boring for me and boring for them."
Hugh Grant and Colin Firth mentored him during his early career
After Nicholas Hoult shot to fame starring opposite Hugh Grant, he shared the screen with British movie royalty again just a few years later, joining Colin Firth in the cast of "A Single Man." "I've been called Colin Firth and Hugh Grant's love child before," he admitted to The Sydney Morning Herald. The phrase is something of a joke, but it rings true, too, since both Grant and Firth helped shape Hoult's early career.
He was particularly nervous about being labeled a child actor and navigating his acting career into adulthood, and later admitted to Vogue Man Arabia that it was a difficult transition. Thankfully, though, his co-stars were there to mentor him and even offer some words of wisdom. Speaking of his early relationship with Grant, he told GQ that "he was a brilliant first role model in filmmaking, both in terms of work ethic and in terms of how he interacted with people."
That set Hoult in good stead, but it was words from "Kingsman" star Firth which stuck with him and helped him navigate the tricky waters of fame. "When your career's on the up, you'll have loads of friends and you'll feel great. But when things aren't going so well, a lot of people will disappear — so your family are the most important thing," Hoult recalled Firth telling him. These words stuck with him, and now most of Hoult's attention is focused on his family life with Bryanna Holly.
Nicholas Hoult used to DJ parties for kids
There is no shortage of actors who worked weird and unusual jobs before getting their start in acting — like Keegan-Michael Key, who had a side job planting flowers in a graveyard. Things were no different for Hoult, either. If being a teenager and a working actor wasn't hard enough, Hoult made some extra cash DJing kids' parties while he was in high school. "I was, like, the roadie for my best friend who used to radio, like, DJ kids' birthday parties. So, I would, like, set up the smoke machine and the lights," he explained on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."
Hoult's role in the DJ duo extended beyond just carrying equipment, too. Alongside helping to choose the music from a big book of CDs, he would have to get up and show off his dance moves during some of the more popular songs like the "Macarena" or "Oops Upside Your Head." "I would be like, 'I don't even know these dances and here I am trying to lead these younger kids from school.' It was embarrassing," he recalled.
He grew up surrounded by strong female energy
Nicholas Hoult is one of four siblings born to parents Glennis and Roger. They grew up together in the south of England, but his brother James was significantly older than the rest of them, and left home when Nicholas was still young. His father, a commercial pilot, also traveled a lot for work, and this meant that Hoult found himself outnumbered by the women in his family. Though probably overwhelming at times, Hoult told Elle that growing up around strong female energy ended up giving him an insight and understanding that other men might not have. "I can maybe steer clear of some pitfalls that guys who didn't grow up with women would fall into," he said.
When asked by the Evening Standard if this helped him get in touch with his feminine side, he replied, "I hope so," before adding that this means he thinks he has more of an appreciation for what it's like to be a woman. "I think we could all try and have a little more empathy now and then," he concluded. As a result of growing up with his mom and sisters as some of his biggest influences, Hoult has a strong awareness of issues surrounding gender equality and often speaks to this in interviews. Speaking to Mr. Porter in the wake of #MeToo, Hoult admitted that he feels "responsibility to pay more attention, to be aware of those things and to change them because that's not how I want the world to be."
He didn't think he was right for the part of Tony in Skins
Nicholas Hoult already had a hoard of acting credits behind him by the time he appeared in "Skins" at the age of 16. The show revolutionized the British teen drama genre by having actors play their own ages, and having characters who were so relatable. Hoult wound up gracing the screen as the handsome, popular antihero Tony. But, when he first read the script, Hoult envisioned himself playing Tony's best friend Sid. "That was something that I felt like was more in my repertoire," he admitted to GQ.
Although he was already in the spotlight, playing the TV heartthrob gained Hoult more attention than ever before. "Skins" was raking in 1.5 million viewers per week when its popularity was at its highest. The attention was a lot to deal with, and being swarmed by fans while in the car waiting to pick up his sister was a defining moment, which almost made him want to quit acting. "TV is odd because people feel they know you because you're in their houses once a week," he explained to The Guardian, before adding that he's since gotten used to people staring and taking videos on their phones. Perhaps this is what contributed to Hoult focusing more on feature films than TV moving forward, as he believes cinema is "a different mindset."
He scored his part in X-Men thanks to a Family Guy impression
Nicholas Hoult has starred alongside some of the biggest names in British cinema by the time he was 20, but his biggest movie role of his early career came when he was cast as Henry "Hank" McCoy in "X-Men: First Class," which premiered in 2011.
Hoult was a huge fan of the "X-Men" series growing up and was thrilled when he got the opportunity to audition. He sent in a self-tape and, naturally, the director, Matthew Vaughn, wanted to see Hoult's American accent. "[I] also [had to] do a take doing an impression of Stewie Griffin from Family Guy," he revealed to GQ. It was a surprising request, but, as Hoult claims, "I had watched a lot of Family Guy in my teen years growing up, so I was like, 'Okay, I think I've got a pretty good impression of Stewie Griffin lined up.'"
The unusual approach obviously worked for Hoult who booked the part, which saw his character transform from a human mutant in the big blue Beast, which required him to wear prosthetics and hours' worth of makeup. Hoult returned to the franchise for a further three films, reuniting with his former girlfriend Jennifer Lawrence on the set of "Dark Phoenix" in 2019. Speaking about the dynamic to the Evening Standard, he said it was like reuniting with family, with the cast having spent nearly a decade working together.
Jack the Giant Slayer is the kind of film he loves to watch
Nicholas Hoult has worked hard not to be typecast in his career and you certainly couldn't call him solely an action star, given his propensity for comedies like "Warm Bodies" and "The Favorite." However, action and stunts are one component of acting that he really loves. When he starred alongside Eleanor Tomlinson and Ewan McGregor in "Jack the Giant Slayer," these elements were brought to the forefront of his job. Rock climbing, horse riding, and fitness training were all part of Hoult's preparations for film.
However, it wasn't just the extraordinary stunts — like climbing a fake beanstalk, which made the film such a special experience for him. In an interview with HeyUGuys. Hoult explained that this kind of action-adventure fairy tale is exactly the kind of film he loves to watch. "So to be on set and kind of get involved doing all [the stunts] is a real treat."
Of course, Hoult was particularly impressed with how the final action sequence — where the giants are chasing him and Tomlinson's character Isabelle through the castle — turned out. But, he also shared the thing about the film that excited him most is its underlying message about making your life into anything you want it to be.
Nicholas Hoult was hit by a bus while filming a stunt
Nicholas Hoult loves to do his own stunts, like in "Jack and the Giant Slayer" and his subsequent film "Mad Max: Fury Road." For the latter, Hoult said it was one of the most exciting sets he's ever worked on. However, he was thrown into the deep end, doing his stunts "practically as opposed to doing them on a green screen," he explained to Wired. Though it sounds terrifying, Hoult said this made his job much easier. "You're not even thinking about the acting. You're just being put in this real situation."
However, sometimes these impressive stunts come at a price. While in Australia filming "True History of the Kelly Gang" a blank round from a fake gun backfired into his eye. The incident landed him in hospital, but it was nothing compared to a stunt gone wrong in 2004 when he was filming an episode of the TV series "Keen Eddie." Hoult was hit by a bus while hanging upside down. During an interview on "Live With Kelly and Ryan," Hoult explained that he was hit by a bus while hanging over a bridge. "[It] was meant to come toward me and stop, but one take it didn't stop." There's not much you can do when a double-decker bus is coming toward you at speed, but teenage Hoult thought sticking his foot out might offer him some protection. "It, like, broke through the glass and then I, like, pendulumed and swung off and then I was just hanging there, like, hitting against this bus."
Nicholas Hoult has a passion for race car driving
Despite the accidents he's experienced on set, Nicholas Hoult is not afraid of stunts on or off sets. Off-screen, he gets his thrills from a passion he discovered a few years ago; race car driving. Speaking on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Hoult explained that his "X-Men: First Class" co-star Michael Fassbender inspired his new hobby, and Ferrari have offered him the chance to take it further. He's also been inspired by fellow actor Patrick Dempsey, who he happily bombarded with questions backstage prior to his "Jimmy Kimmel Live" interview. "I want to be that. I want that skill," he enthusiastically proclaimed afterward.
This new passion is a natural progression of his interest in cars, though, with Hoult explaining to Vanity Fair that small vehicle models were always his toy of choice growing up. However, he wasn't a natural from the get go. "I mean, I couldn't even figure out how to turn it on at first," the actor admitted. With a bit of work, he's managed to improve though, and Hoult has continued racing with Ferrari. He called the experience a dream come true and loves it so much that a career change could be in order. "If acting doesn't work out, I'd like to be a racing driver," he explained to Vogue Man Arabia.
He still feels new to acting despite his decades-long career
Having been starring in films and TV shows for over two decades, Nicholas Hoult is a very seasoned actor. One of his later projects, playing Peter III, an irreproachable and eccentric villain who viewers love to hate in "The Great" is proof of that. The show is darkly comedic, and the character is wildly different from others that he's played, which makes it tons of fun. "I do weirdly find it quite fun, playing these offbeat, very disconnected people, who have no sense of the world around them," Hoult admitted to Uproxx.
However, even with all of his experience and continued success, Hoult struggled when taking on new projects, dishing to Vogue that he feels like a newbie actor when he takes on a new role. Hoult explained: "Each job feels like you're starting again — you're working with new people, you're playing a new character. You don't know what you're doing. You turn up on day one like, what are we going to do here?"
However, it always works out when he finishes a project, so Hoult tries to make sure that this fear never holds him back. He is always trying to push himself out of his comfort zone. "I wouldn't like acting if I was always playing the same role and doing the same thing," he said to Glamour. "The joy of it comes from learning new skills, learning new characters and attempting new stuff."
Shooting The Favorite was 'brilliant' and 'bizarre'
Nicholas Hoult's role in "The Great" came after he filmed "The Favorite." Prior to that, he'd never really been interested in the period drama genre. "I've never read [one] that was fun. They can be a bit of a slog. Sometimes there are incredible stories and incredible people, but the dialogue can be really dry," he explained to the Evening Standard. However, "The Favorite" completely changed his perception of the genre, admitting that each one of his lines in the film are an actor's dream.
Hoult plays Robert Harley, a minister to Olivia Coleman's Queen Anne, in the flick. He told Gold Derby that he didn't just fall in love with the script, but his character, too. "He's very manipulative, smart and cruel, but also he makes sense ... [he uses] all the pieces and people he can to get the results he wants politically." This is probably what made Robert so interesting and brilliant to play, especially because it was unlike anything he'd done before.
But, on the whole, filming the star-studded movie was completely bizarre. Hoult recalled to the Evening Standard that in one scene he found himself throwing oranges at a naked man while trying to avoid an authentic 800-year-old tapestry.
He feels a lot of responsibility when portraying great authors in biographies
As a lifelong fan of J. R. R. Tolkien's work, playing the man behind his beloved stories was a lot of pressure for Nicholas Hoult. He took on the role of the famed author in 2019 for the biography "Tolkien" in which he starred opposite "Emily in Paris" star Lily Collins. "It was something that was really ingrained in me, the worlds that he created, but reading the script I realized I knew very little about the man behind it," Hoult told GQ. This was also the case for Hoult, when he took on the role of J. D. Salinger in 2017's "Rebel in the Rye."
So, Hoult threw himself into learning everything he could about the authors he was portraying, admitting that playing such important literary figures was quite daunting. "The more you research, the more you feel the responsibility of what you've taken on," he explained to Vogue. Hoult added that he even had doubts that he'd taken on more than he could handle, but ultimately, he had confidence in his abilities to do their stories justice.
His approach to sex scenes has changed
Nicholas Hoult loves the variety his acting career has offered to him. The characters, genres, and stories he's been a part of have been widely different, but there's one thing that has remained consistent throughout most of them, and that's sex scenes. Having done his first in the teenage comedy-drama "Skins" in 2007, Hoult has been getting down to business on set long before there were intimacy coordinators on the scene, and for the most part, he loathed it. Speaking to GQ, the "Clash of the Titans" actor explained that, while he didn't have any negative experiences, the whole process was uncomfortable, and often terrifying.
Things have changed since "Skins," though. "That experience was very much just get it done ... [now] I'm like, 'Okay, what are we learning about the characters, what are we trying to say about them by doing this, by showing this?'" Hoult explained in a subsequent interview with GQ. With intimacy coordinators and more awareness on set, the process has gotten easier for the actor. In fact, his approach to sex scenes has completely changed since those early days. Now, he'd rather take on the confidence of the characters he plays, like Peter in "The Great." "You have to go: 'All right. I'm Peter. And I feel so confident, and I'm so happy and enlightened, that I'm going to walk down this corridor naked.' It's an interesting trick to play on your brain," he told The Guardian.
Being a dad has made him think differently about the roles he takes
Nicholas Hoult's approach to sex scenes is not the only thing that's changed over the course of his career. Becoming a father has also made him think differently about the roles he takes on, specifically the violent characters. "I remember there was a scene in 'The Kelly Gang' where I had to hold a gun to a baby's head. My son was around the same age and it was really difficult in many ways. It was actually quite horrible to do that," he told GQ. It's completely understandable that Hoult would be hesitant to portray this kind of violence, not only because of his son, but because he's always thinking about the message he wants to send out into the world with his work.
Hoult has also been reexamining the amount of time he spends at work, versus being at home. Now that he and Bryanna Holly's family is growing, Hoult finds that all he wants to do after work is to get home to them. He told the Evening Standard that fatherhood is the biggest part of his life now. "The level of love that comes with it outweighs everything. It's phenomenal ... And it evolves all the time. They change so much, every day is different. It fills you up as a human completely."