When British actor Nicholas Hoult first received the script for the upcoming film Superman, he had his sights set on playing the iconic lead. The actor, now confirmed to portray Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s upcoming DC film, was initially auditioning for the role of Clark Kent/Kal-El. But even during that process, a small voice inside hinted otherwise, as he recalled in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “There was a tiny little inkling voice inside of me. I was like, ‘Maybe you could do a good job with the Lex stuff’,” he said.
Despite quickly dismissing the idea to stay focused on Superman, that early instinct stuck with him.
After auditioning, the 35-year-old actor had a feeling the role might go to someone else. When he spotted actor David Corenswet—who was also in the running—basking in a beam of sunlight while the rest of the area was shaded, it felt symbolic. “He was sitting in the sunlight, just like Superman does to charge up, to get his powers back. I looked at him and I was like, ‘Wow! That’s Superman,” Nicholas recalled. Sure enough, David was cast as the Man of Steel, but Nicholas’ gut was right in another way: he soon got the call from James offering him the part of Lex Luthor.
“I kind of let out what I would describe as an evil cackle,” he admitted. “Because instantly, when I was reading the script and all those instinctual reactions I’d had, I was like, ‘Oh, you were right! That is the character you’re better suited to in this story’,” he added.
Nicholas approached Lex with the intention of making him a tangible and dangerous adversary. “Superman’s so powerful and unstoppable… you need to have a character that feels like, ‘Okay, how is this person dangerous?'” he explained. Gunn envisioned Lex as a “sorcerer of science,” and Nicholas embraced the idea—crafting a character whose tech innovations feel borderline magical. One of Lex’s defining traits is his belief that he’s worked tirelessly to earn admiration, only to be eclipsed by an alien who seemingly gets everything effortlessly. This resentment, Nicholas believes, fuels his villainy.
Physically, Nicholas also committed. He shaved his head again, as he once did for Mad Max: Fury Road, this time letting his young son do the honors. “The thing that I remember mostly was my younger son got great pleasure out of slapping my head,” he laughed.
