Nicholas Hoult has been an actor ever since he was five years old, and he's built a prosperous career. His breakthrough role was with Hugh Grant as a young pre-teen in About a Boy, followed by amazingly crazy roles in Mad Max: Fury Road, The Great and even playing a zombie in Warm Bodies. Unfortunately for Hoult, there are three movies he regrets that are not on his best movies list, and two of them involved Tom Cruise.
It must be disappointing to see another actor achieving success in a movie that could have starred you. Hoult has been in that situation three times, as he told The Guardian which movies he wished he could have done and that two of those films could have meant working with Cruise.
I screen-tested for Batman and didn’t get it. Screen-tested for Top Gun, didn’t get it. Then I got the call from Tom Cruise: ‘Hey, how about Mission Impossible?’ OK. Got it. Then I had to drop out because I was already attached to do some more of The Great.
When you think about it, Nicholas Hoult does remind you of a young Tom Cruise, so imagine seeing these two being our newest on-screen dynamic duo. Hopefully, that chance will come one day. It’s hard to know which role Hoult had his eye on for Top Gun: Maverick as he would make a great fit for Goose’s son (the role that ultimately went to Miles Teller) or Glen Powell’s character Hangman. I’d probably see him more as Hangman out of the two with his history playing villainous roles and since Teller clearly had an uncanny resemblance to Goose’s Anthony Edwards.
The Weather Man actor did go head-to-head with Robert Pattinson for the role of Batman in the 2022 Matt Reeves film. After a reported screen test of the two, the role eventually went to Pattinson. The Skins alum had yet another missed chance to co-star with Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 7, which he described as the real deal. But like the British star said, his Golden Globe-nominated role in the historical satire series The Great had to come first. Hoult’s antagonist role was ultimately recast with Esai Morales. While starring in a TV show can offer an actor stability and awareness, the drawbacks can be when you have to turn down roles to commit to filming episodes.
Fortunately, Nicholas Hoult is not down on his luck with big-screen roles. He reunited with his Weather Man co-star Nicolas Cage in Renfield, where he plays the title character who's looking to distance himself from his teeth-sinking master. He described the story similar to The Graduate as being under the spell of someone only for the spell to wear off over time. You already can sense the unconventional comedic stylings at play here between a legendary vampire and his long-suffering servant. The Favourite actor is currently shooting Nosferatu as Thomas Hutter, who’s an estate agent attempting to escape the clutches of his blood-preying client. While this plot seems similar to Renfield, Hoult claims his next vampire movie couldn’t be further apart from the other one. One of these days, we’ll have to see the Tolkien actor be the one to take on the role of a vampire next.
While Nicholas Hoult previously missed his shots to co-star with Tom Cruise, it doesn’t mean his career will be short of memorable roles. He concluded his interview with The Guardian by saying the more he can disappear into the role, the more satisfied he’ll be. So I interpret this as more eccentric roles in the future for this English actor. You can watch the 2023 movie release of Renfield in theaters now.
