Nicholas Hoult talks about preparing to play Lex Luthor

Nicholas Holt

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Nicholas Hoult shares some thoughts on his preparations to play Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s upcoming film Superman.

The actor stopped at Inside You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast to chat about his acting career, including the upcoming film, which, according to the director, began production last week.

Hoult looked back on his time auditioning for a classic villain, saying that Gunn had “the ability to keep things fun and lively and try things in the moment and be like screaming from the screens, ‘Say that line.’ Do this! Do that!’ And that’s something I really enjoy. … That’s the whole preparation process for me, be as prepared as you can so that when you get there you can just throw everything away and do whatever you want in the moment.”

As for the weeks leading up to filming, Renfield The actor also told the host that he has started rehearsing to play Lex.

“There’s this thing in All-Star Superman “(Comic book series) where he talks about how his muscles are real, hard work and all that,” Holt said. “I kind of took it as a little fuel for the fire.” But he also noted that he doesn’t think the villain will have any shirtless scenes in the movie.

Earlier in the podcast, Holt revealed to Rosenbaum, who played a younger version of Lex SmallvilleHis iteration of the villain was the first time he had seen Lex on screen.

“The first Lex I ever saw was you. Yes, I’m all grown up, Smallville I had to ” warm bodies The actor said. “That was the show I used to watch and see my first iterations of Superman and Lex and all those stories. I’ve since watched the Richard Donner movies and all the other movies and I’ve kind of watched some other shows but you’re like this show. … It’s the best.”

At the end of February, Gunn shared a photo of the actors together for the first time, noting that the photo was taken after the first table read. It appears that Holt had a shaved head, preparing to play Lex.

Sing Supermanwhich also stars David Corensweet as Clark Kent/Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, is scheduled for release on July 11, 2025.