All these months later, Nicholas Hoult still can’t help but laugh when he brings up Clint Eastwood. Specifically, he chuckles at how casually he recounts their first conversation: “Clint called me about doing ‘Juror #2,’” the English actor says, and then stops, amused at referring to the legendary director by first name as if they’re old chums. “What a ridiculous thing,” he declares. “Even leaving my mouth I’m like, ‘It doesn’t sound like my life.’”
Forgive the sweetly self-effacing star — his life has been a blur for the last couple of years. Hoult, who turns 35 in just a couple of days, has been a part of huge blockbusters, soon to appear as Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s reimagined “Superman.” And yet, he has steadfastly avoided the trappings of celebrity. In fact, he describes himself as a character actor. “I try and create characters,” he notes. “Sometimes it’s in a leading role; sometimes it’s in supporting. What I enjoy doing is trying to disappear and not do the same thing over and over again.”
In 2024, Hoult accomplished that goal thrice in quick succession. Relaxing in a conference room at The Times in mid-November, he takes a moment to reflect on becoming part of awards-season speculation by playing three very different characters. In the 1980s-set real-life thriller “The Order,” Hoult portrays Bob Mathews, a neo-Nazi leader who terrorized the Pacific Northwest. For Robert Eggers’ eerie “Nosferatu” remake, he’s Thomas Hutter, whose fate is sealed once he meets Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). And then there’s “Juror #2,” in which his Justin Kemp, a seemingly decent husband who’s selected for a jury, discovers that he is implicated in the murder case in unexpected ways.
“It was a pleasure, in a weird, intense way,” says Hoult, discussing the fast turnaround from shoot to shoot to shoot. Laughing, he adds, “I mean, I was exhausted. I was struggling at times — it was a big, steep learning curve for me to do it in that manner. I’m glad of the experience, even though at the time I was like, ‘This is tough.’” But Hoult has always been driven. “[I’m] a competitive person,” he admits. “But I don’t know if it’s always with other people — it’s partly just myself. I have this thing where I’m like, ‘I’m going to try and do it as best as I can.’ Otherwise, what are you doing it for if you’re not trying to be good at it?”
None of his standout 2024 performances was approached in the same way. Eggers’ exactness for period detail was nothing like Eastwood’s laid-back mastery. “The Order” director Justin Kurzel encouraged Hoult to plan imaginary bank robberies to better understand how Mathews pulled off the real thing to fund his white-supremacist agenda. The pace was breakneck: Hoult finished his time on the Christmas release “Nosferatu” on a Friday, had the weekend to be home, and then traveled to Calgary, Canada, that Monday to start “The Order,” opening this week. Right after he wrapped “The Order,” he was off to do his screen test for next summer’s “Superman” and then hopped on a plane to Georgia for current release “Juror #2.”
The actor is refreshingly blasé about his process, not taken to pontificating about how he “finds” a character. When he signed up for the Eggers film, he watched the two earlier versions of “Nosferatu,” directed by F.W. Murnau and Werner Herzog, “not necessarily for inspiration but more out of reverence and respect.” But he didn’t worry about the other actors who have portrayed Hutter. “You’re a conduit — a ghost of all the people that have come before you making films — and you just continue through the stories,” he suggests. “Robert sent lots of movies to watch that weren’t related, but you watch them and hopefully they seep into you in terms of a feeling where you then unconsciously imbue it into the work somehow.”
Unintentionally, there are riveting connections between the films — in “Nosferatu,” Hoult’s character is one of the faint signs of goodness, whereas in “The Order,” his Bob Mathews is pure evil. Straddling the two is “Juror #2’s” ostensible hero, Justin Kemp, who knows that the murder defendant didn’t kill his girlfriend. (Justin accidentally hit her with his car that rainy night, assuming it was a deer.) It’s a gripping drama about a flawed Everyman tempted to ignore his conscience — and it also meant a chance to work with Eastwood.
“He did something that very few directors do, where they come and sit by the camera,” recalls Hoult, motioning to indicate just how close the 94-year-old director would be to him on set. “There’s a little bit of, ‘OK, I’ve got one of the greats watching me,’ so that’s obviously intimidating. But it’s also encouraging: ‘OK, let’s switch up a gear.’ When you finish the take, you can look him in the eye and see if he’s happy or not. That’s very special.”
This busy stretch of shoots over, he’s now enjoying being at home in Long Beach with his partner, Bryana Holly, and their two children. A few days before our interview, the internet was buzzing that he and Holly had secretly wed, and indeed he’s sporting a band on his ring finger. Are the rumors true? Hoult is neither coy nor defensive, simply replying, “Yeah,” as if it’s the most ordinary thing in the world. He’s someone who likes to keep things simple.
“I did the school run this morning,” he says, smiling. “I think it’s important to have a real, normal life as much as possible. When I’m watching something and I know so much about [the actors], I find it difficult to completely lose myself in what they’re doing. If I’ve seen them everywhere doing this and that, I don’t know. … I want to be transported and believe them onscreen. I think there’s an element of that that I try to maintain in life. People don’t have to know everything about me.”
Like his other roles, Hoult disappears into the part of dad perfectly. “That’s the fun of life,” he tells me. “Last night, we [were at the Governors Awards] in the room with all those people — so many that I look up to in this industry. But then, the alarm goes off this morning, it’s like, ‘All right, quick breakfast, teeth, hair, uniform, let’s go.’ What’s fun about acting is experiencing it all.”
