Why Nicholas Hoult lost out on Superman role

Nicholas Hoult lost out on the Superman role because he was too “controlled” and had better chemistry with a different Lois Lane.

David Corenswet, 31, ultimately landed the title role in James Gunn’s DC blockbuster, alongside Rachel Brosnahan, 34, as Lane and although Nicholas, 35, auditioned for Superman, he was cast in the role of villain Lex Luther.

Speaking in a new interview for Jake’s Takes, Gunn explained: “A lot of time casting is finding the right person for the right role. Most people [auditioning for Superman] weren’t doing anything wrong, they just didn’t fit how I envisioned this Superman to be. Nicholas Hoult auditioned. He’s a great actor. Some might say he’s better than David in certain ways, but he just didn’t fit the role. That’s why he didn’t get that.

“As much as you can transform yourself as a person, Nicholas is just more controlled. One of the things we were doing was mixing and matching Lois and Clark actors when we were auditioning them. I wanted to make sure we had that chemistry right. The truth is Nicholas, who is a more controlled actor, had a really good chemistry with another Lois who was less controlled. They were opposites. David had better chemistry with Rachel [Brosnahan] because she’s a very controlled actor and Davis is a little bit more loose. That creates a different dynamism on screen.”

This isn’t the first time Hoult has lost out on a high profile role, he previously auditioned to play Batman in Matt Reeves’ film but the part went to Robert Pattinson.

Speaking to GQ España in 2023, he said: “I don’t think I could have fit as well into the world that Matt created as Rob did.

“When they tell you for the first time that it’s not you, it’s painful, but then you have to accept it as normality. I think that’s probably a strength of mine as an actor as well. I can accept that they didn’t cast me pretty well and when I see the chosen actor doing a great job, and I enjoy it, and it’s good, I’m like, ‘oh yeah, they made the right choice. They knew what they were doing.’ So it’s not like I’m sitting there like, ‘Oh, I’m not going to watch it now.’ It’s a good movie and Rob is brilliant in it.”