This story appears in i-D 374 “The Unknown Issue.” Get your copy here.
written by DOUGLAS GREENWOOD
photography ILYA LIPKIN
styling THOM BETTRIDGE
The waitress at Zinc, an earthy, sparsely decorated café in Downtown LA, tells me she often sees celebrities here—young stars dipping in for a Retox Detox and chop salad. She never says anything to them. Today, though, she feels compelled to.
Nicholas Hoult, the accomplished (and attractive) British actor, has just slid into a booth, dressed inconspicuously in a dark Studio Nicholson sweater. The only hint at his profession is his Focus Features logo cap, made by the studio behind Nosferatu, the Robert Eggers–directed vampire romp he played the lead in last year. “I know you, right?” she asks. Hoult’s cheeks flush and he replies, “Maybe, I don’t know!”
Later, she’ll tell me she recognised him from Warm Bodies, a zombie spin on Romeo and Juliet that Hoult led in 2013, and that she’d just been watching Nosferatu videos on TikTok, desperate to see it. It often feels like you can barely pierce the terrifying air around actors. Hoult, six-foot-three with piercing blue eyes, is intimidating on paper. But everything from the way he speaks (hushed, uncertain, and self-deprecating) to his dimpled close-mouthed smile is soft.
It’s January, and the 35-year-old London native lives in LA with his wife, Bryana Holly, and their two young kids. He’s back home after back-to-back worldwide press tours, promoting arguably the three best films of his career.
Nosferatu, shot in Prague in 2023, kicked off an intense, unrelenting schedule that shows no signs of slowing. Hoult had one day of rest between that and racing to Canada to film The Order, a thriller in which he delivers a terrifying turn as a neo-Nazi. There was one weekend between that and filming Juror #2, Clint Eastwood’s courtroom drama about a guilty man, played by Hoult, who finds himself on the jury for his own crime. Late this summer, we’ll see a very bald Hoult play the megalomaniac nemesis of Clark Kent in the new Superman. With that densely packed slate, we jumped into our conversation with the big questions.
Douglas Greenwood: It’s well-documented that you were gifted Count Orlok’s prosthetic penis after filming Nosferatu. What other weird trinkets have you taken home from a film?
Nicholas Hoult: I have the wrist strap and chain that tied me to Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road, and my fluffy feet from when I played Beast in X-Men. I’ve got lots of fun stuff from The Great: a fake version of my head, a portrait of me as the Emperor that’s hanging in my bathroom, and a bunch of quill drawings of characters doing obscene things.
Have you ever stolen something?
Never. I usually just hint very well. I got a crystal from the Fortress of Solitude in Superman.
I guess you’re in a bit of a limbo state with Superman, waiting for its release. How does it feel to look back and forward at something at the same time?
I struggle with it, partly because my greatest ideas seem to come at that time—what would I have done if I could do that scene again? Waiting for people to see and judge it is an apprehensive moment. But James Gunn is such a wonderful director and creator. I’m a fan of what we did.
Where did you shoot it?
In Atlanta and Svalbard, which is up in the Arctic Circle. I guess I like extreme conditions for shooting. We shot Mad Max in the desert in Namibia. It’s something that makes you feel present—and I like the challenge.
You really shaved your head to play Lex Luthor?
Yep, but I’d done it before for Mad Max, too. I like it—it takes away the softness, I suppose. People kind of maybe go, “Oh, maybe I’ll not mess with him. Just in case.”
Does your character have an action figure?
I’m not sure yet.
Don’t they do a full-body scan for that stuff?
We did, but I think it was just for the film. If they do exist, then they’re sold out already, because I’ve got them all. Everyone’s getting one for Christmas! And they’re all signed. They’ll be worth more unsigned than signed.
Are you going to do Comic-Con?
I actually don’t know yet. I should know that.
Let’s go back a bit: When you were 19, in 2008, you filmed A Single Man with Tom Ford, better known then as the former creative director at Gucci. Can we talk about your time with him?
I flew from London to LA, and remember getting off the plane and being so tired. My team was like, “You’re gonna meet Tom at Sunset Tower at 8 p.m.” My body felt like it was 3 in the morning. I searched his IMDb, and all that came up was him appearing in Zoolander as himself.
I remember sitting down with him, so jet-lagged, and being like, “So, how did you get into directing?” He was so humble and kind to a stupid young English boy who had no idea who he was. That night, just before I went to sleep, I googled him because he talked about fashion a bit. The first thing that popped up was him on the cover of Vanity Fair.
With Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley?
Right. Then I read about his time at Gucci, and everything. The beautiful thing about him as a director is obviously he pays attention to detail, and he’s very good at explaining what he needs.
Have you heard what he’s doing next?
I’ve heard he’s maybe doing a musical.
I’ve heard it was an Anne Rice adaptation, or maybe a vampire movie. When was the last time you encountered real star power?
At the Venice Film Festival last year. We went to the bar at the Cipriani. Brad Pitt came over to say hello because he had seen The Great. I was definitely starstruck. Later, some of his team said, “Oh, we’re gonna send you some wine and stuff.” I wasn’t home, but just before Christmas, my wife said the doorbell rang. She went outside and this delivery guy had stuck his face through the hole in our fence and said, “Delivery from Brad Pitt!”
Today’s young crop of actors, yourself included, are fawned over and respected, but you all seem relatively normal. This interaction with the waitress here: sweet, well-handled, polite.
The ’90s was just a different era. There was something more unknown about the stars then, probably because there wasn’t access to everyone.
Maybe it’s because, back in the day you knew if you had Tom Cruise in the movie, or whoever, that opening weekend they were going to make this much [money at the box office].
I don’t think that’s the case anymore, and there’s just a different understanding around it. In terms of how people perceive me, I don’t know. I think the one thing I’ve been trying to do is be less awkward.
Have you ever pretended to not be you?
Oh, yeah. If people tell me, “You look like . . . ,” I’ll say, “I get that a lot.” Or I often get mistaken for other people. The other week, I was at some event, and someone was like, “Oh, you, you’re so good in that film.” I just assumed they were talking about Nosferatu. Then they mentioned something else, and I realised they’d gone to see Babygirl . . . Harris [Dickinson] and I don’t really look that similar. He’s a great actor. So I said, “Thanks!”
Do you miss anything about being a teenager?
I don’t think so. Maybe my back not cracking? I don’t feel old, but I’ve started to realise that I’m an adult. I’ll meet someone who was born in the year 2000, and I’ll be like, “I remember when we thought it was all gonna end!”
You used to do ballet and be in a choir as a kid. Have you retained any of those skills?
I haven’t signed up for the local choir. They would not accept me. I was thinking about dancing, though. We did a dance routine in Renfield [the Nicolas Cage–led vampire comedy], and I really loved it. It was so fun and liberating in a way. I liked tap dance as well. Maybe I should get into Zumba or something.
I heard you were in a pool wearing a suit for this shoot. Are you aware of the lore of actors wearing suits in pools for photoshoots?
I’ve never been in a pool in a full suit before. Actually, no, that’s a lie. I have been in Skins. Hopefully I’ll be [on the Reddit]. I’ll like and comment on it from my burner account!
You have a burner account?
No.
I also heard you told a dirty joke on set. What was it?
Okay, I might butcher it in the delivery. Basically, this guy’s got a drinking problem, and he comes home and it annoys his wife. She says, “I’m done. You’re always wasted. Keep drinking like this and I’m leaving you.” So, he says he’ll never drink again. A week later, he’s walking home with a friend, they go past the pub, and he’s like, “Just one, though, just one.” Two hours later, he’s absolutely hammered and throws up over himself. He says, “My wife’s going to leave me. What have I done?” And his mate says, “Don’t worry, I’m going to put £20 in your pocket. When you get home, give her the jacket and say, ‘Look, some guy threw up on me. But don’t worry, he’s given me £20. It’s in the pocket for the dry cleaner.” He walks in the door. His wife goes, “Look at you, you’re a state. You’ve been drinking again.” He says, “No, honey, look in my jacket pocket. There’s £20 in there from the guy who threw up on my jacket to get it dry-cleaned.” She looks in the jacket and goes, “OK, great, but what’s this other £20 for?” And he says, “Oh, that’s from the guy who shit in my pants.”
I think that’s funny!
People tend to like that joke! I told it to Clint Eastwood, and he laughed.
Some Nicholas Hoult Facts…
Average daily phone screen time: Three hours
Currently playing: God of War Ragnarok
Last indulgence: Aesop deodorant with wasabi extract
Number of skateboarding accidents: Two
Actors he wishes he’d worked with: Paul Newman and Jack Nicholson
Last read: The Cone Gatherers by Robin Jenkins (1955)
grooming CHRISTINE NELLI USING DIOR AT FORWARD ARTISTS
set design ROBERT DORAN AT FRANK REPS
tailor FLORA COTOM AT TAILOR HERE
photography assistants JONNIE CHAMBERS & THOMAS LINE
digital technician JAMES GOETHALS
styling assistant NICOLE CHAUX
post production THE HAND OF GOD
production THE MORRISON GROUP
associate producer VINCE BARRUCCO
production coordinator ANTHONY HUFFNAGLE
location L’ERMITAGE BEVERLY HILLS