Nicholas Hoult reveals emotional toll of losing an iconic role

Nicholas Hoult, a renowned actor, recently got candid and opened up about losing Batman’s role.

Hoult appeared on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast and shared his reaction when he heard that Robert Pattinson would be the Batman in Matt Reeves’ 2022 film.

Calling to mind, he said, “I remember a week before we did the Batman test, I was driving in my car and I had the radio on and they were talking on the radio about how Rob was going to be the new Batman.”

“And I was like, ‘It’s not confirmed yet! I’m auditioning next weekend. I was like, give me a chance,’” he explained, sharing his disbelief.

Then he went on to say, “Your imagination doesn’t know [but] you are aware on a practical level: ‘I know I am auditioning against Rob.’ And Rob is fantastic in that movie. That was the right decision. But also you get excited by the prospect.”

Speaking highly of Reeves, he quipped, “Matt is a fantastic director and the script and everything. I was like, this is going to be a cool movie and I want to be a part of it, and a brilliant character.”

“There’s a weird period before you can get to the acceptance and see the movie and be like that was the right choice, you go through the period of ‘what could I have done different? Why not me?’ You run through all those things,” the Warm Bodies actor added.

As they continued discussion, the Renfield star revealed that giving an audition for a job in a fan favourite movie was “a lot to put yourself through emotionally.”

Moreover, Hoult admitted that he was “hesitant about going through” an audition process like that again for Superman, but James Gunn made the process smoother.

For those unversed, for the forthcoming Superman movie, Hoult appeared in the audition for the titular character, but he eventually got the iconic villain character, Lex Luther.

It is pertinent to mention that the Superman movie will be released in theatres across the globe on July 11, 2025.