At this point in his career, it’s easy to forget that Nicholas Hoult got his start as a child star in 2002’s About a Boy. Now 35, the British actor has become a Hollywood mainstay, delivering standout performances in both indie dramas (see: Tom Ford’s A Single Man and Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite) and blockbuster hits (Mad Max: Fury Road and the X-Men franchise). Meanwhile, on television, he went from the teenage debauchery of Skins to playing the delightfully debauched Peter III, opposite Elle Fanning, in The Great. This past year has perhaps been his busiest yet, with several films added to his already extensive résumé. There’s the crime thriller The Order, which sees Hoult as the leader of a neo-Nazi terrorist group in the Pacific Northwest, plus Juror #2, a legal drama directed by Clint Eastwood. And on Christmas Day, Robert Eggers’s chilling Nosferatu remake arrived in theaters, with Hoult taking on Thomas Hutter, the husband of Lily-Rose Depp’s Ellen, who is desperately fighting against a demon that threatens to overtake the couple. Below, Hoult discusses those projects and more with W‘s editor at large, Lynn Hirschberg.
In The Order, you play Bob Mathews, the real-life neo-Nazi who was the mastermind behind the murder of Alan Berg, a left-wing radio personality. How did that film come into your life?
I’d worked with Justin Kurzel, the director, before. When he read about that horrible, horrible white supremacist, he was like, I know just the actor for this. And he called me. I don’t know what to make of that.
What did you think when you read the script?
I was surprised that I didn’t know this story. It’s a true story that took place in the ’80s, and it seemed very relevant to what is happening in the world now. So I was like, how did I not know anything about this part of history, or these people?
Mathews was a terrible person, but you are scarily compelling—almost attractive—in the part.
I did try to give myself weird hair. I actually cut my bangs on day one. I walked onto set, and I could see the director look at me and think, What’s he done? It was quite a severe fringe I’d given myself. Bob was someone who took care of himself. He didn’t drink. He was athletic. He was out in nature all the time. Bob was someone who, from the exterior, might appear to be very, very attractive. But he was nasty and manipulative on the inside.
Have you played a lot of real people?
I have played quite a few real-life characters now. It’s an interesting process, and most of them haven’t been so recognizable in today’s world that you have to do an impression. I’m not very good at impressions. I remember Michael Shannon telling me, “You’re just playing a ghost of the person.” That was quite freeing.
And then there’s Nosferatu, in which you take on a different kind of dark role but also quite heroic.
Actually, Thomas Hutter is kind of misguided. He loves his wife so much, but he can’t listen to her fully or understand what she’s going through. He’s naive in his idea that getting more money and a better house is going to solve all their problems. And then, obviously, unleashes pure evil Count Orlok on the world, and a plague—kills all his friends, lovers, family. It’s a dark, terrifying movie, but also beautifully shot. Every image looks like it’s a Rembrandt or something, and the score is soaring. I love Robert Eggers movies, so I felt very lucky to be in one.
It’s a very precise kind of darkness.
What’s scary about the film is it feels completely authentic—like a classic movie from another era, in the best possible way.
In your other film, Juror #2, directed by Clint Eastwood, you are the everyman—almost like Jimmy Stewart. How did Clint find you?
Clint had seen The Great. I’m glad you said Jimmy Stewart, though, because that was an actor that Clint had likened me to. When my agents called me and said, “Clint Eastwood wants to speak to you,” I was like, what?! Really?! How does he even know who I am? And when we had to choose for our aliases on Superman, I chose Jimmy Stewart because Clint mentioned me being like him.
Toni Collette costars with you in Juror #2. She played your mother in About a Boy when you were 13.
Yes, it was this weird thing where I opened the door and was looking at her [in a new way]. I was like, You played my mom and were so kind to me. And now I’m an adult and we don’t really know each other in our current forms. But it still felt very safe.
Did you get to keep your hat from About a Boy?
I think my mom has the hat, and maybe the jacket and cardigan.
What movies make you cry?
Moana made me cry the other day. Maybe I’m just getting sappier and sentimental, but there was a rousing moment toward the end of the movie. She’s singing and the ocean’s lifting. It was powerful. I was welling up a little bit.
Who was your cinematic crush when you were growing up?
Halle Berry. I got to meet her briefly when we were doing X-Men: Days of Future Past. We didn’t really have any scenes together, but during press we did a couple of group interviews, and I said hello and then I was starstruck.
Do you typically get starstruck?
Yeah. I got starstruck at the Governors Awards. As I was walking in, Sharon Stone was there. Before she turned to walk away, she goes, “You’re incredible.” And I was like, what?! I thought she meant someone else. But then she said, “You’re so good.” I had just arrived, but I said, “I’m going to go home now—my night has been made.”
Hoult wears a Calvin Klein T-shirt.
Style Director: Allia Alliata di Montereale. Hair for portfolio by Paul Hanlon at Dawes & Co.; makeup for portfolio by Sam Visser at Art Partner; manicures for portfolio by Michelle Saunders James. Set design by Gerard Santos at Lalaland.
Creative producer to Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott: Leonard Cuinet-Petit at January Productions; producer to Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott: Kevin Isabelle; produced by AP Studio, Inc.; executive producer: Alexis Piqueras; producer: Anneliese Kristedja; associate producer: Kimmy D’Ancona; production manager: Hayley Stephon; production coordinators: Miranda Dos Santos, Susan Lucas; photography assistants: John Neate, Jed Barnes, Chris Whitaker, Kendall Peck; digital technician: Niccolo Pacilli; digital assistant: Cassian Gray; postproduction by Dreamer Post Production; fashion assistants: Tyler VanVranken, Molly Cody, Celeste Roh, Raea Palmieri, Tatiana Isshac, Haleigh Nickerson, Lauren Marron, Savannah Steilner, Sage McKee, Frankie Benkovic, Kaley Azambuja, Tatum Sanchez; production assistants: Gigi Rosenfield, Lily Cordingley, Eli Cash, Lex Vaughn, Anderson Renno, Kat Saravia, Kyle Dekker, Wyatt Noble, Brandon Martin, Moose Krupski, Josh Muwwakkil, Bradley Gonsalves, Drew Carter, Thomas Lynch, Alex Kofman, Jackson Schrader, Anatalia Zavaleta, Joseph Wride, Matt Flynn; first AD: Steve Kemp; location manager: Kyle Hollinger; hair assistants: Kim Garduno, Ben Gregory, Marco Iafrate, Hyacinthia Faustino, Chris Foster; makeup assistants: Shimu Takanori, Laura Dudley, Brian Dean, Beatrice Sandoval; manicure assistant: Cheyenne Vander Schuur; set design assistants: Seth Powsner, Denver Stoddard, Ryan Johnson; tailors: Irina Tshartaryan, Ripsime Vartanyan, Jackie Martirosyan at Susie’s Custom Designs, Inc.
