Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (; born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His filmography includes work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in independent projects in American and British films. His accolades include nominations for a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He was included in Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2012.
Hoult performed in local theatre productions as a child. He made his screen debut aged six, in the 1996 film Intimate Relations, and appeared in several television programmes. His breakthrough came with his role as Marcus Brewer in the 2002 comedy-drama About a Boy. He achieved wider recognition for his performance as Tony Stonem in the E4 teen series Skins (2007–2008). His transition to adult roles began with the 2009 drama A Single Man and the fantasy film Clash of the Titans (2010). He played the mutant Hank McCoy / Beast in the 2011 superhero film X-Men: First Class, a role he reprised in later instalments of the film series.
Hoult played the title role in the adventure film Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) and the zombie lead in the Romeo and Juliet homage comedy Warm Bodies (2013). He had supporting roles in the action film Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), portrayed various historical figures such as Robert Harley in the black comedy The Favourite (2018) and Peter III, Emperor of Russia in the Hulu comedy-drama series The Great (2020–2023). His work on The Great earned him nominations for two Golden Globes and a Primetime Emmy Award. He has since starred in the black comedy The Menu (2022), the courtroom drama Juror (2024), the horror film Nosferatu (2024), and the superhero film Superman (2025).
Outside of film, Hoult voiced Elliot in the 2010 action role-playing game Fable III and appeared in the 2009 West End play New Boy. He supports the charitable organisations Teenage Cancer Trust and Christian Aid. He is also a trained racing driver, competing in the Ferrari Challenge racing series.
Early life
Nicholas Caradoc Hoult was born on 7 December 1989, in Wokingham, Berkshire, England, to Glenis (née Brown), a piano teacher, and Roger Hoult, a commercial pilot. His middle name, Caradoc (pronounced /ka.ˈra.dɔk/), originates from Middle Welsh and translates to "beloved one." His paternal great-aunt, Anna Neagle, was a renowned stage and film actress, celebrated during the 1930s and 1940s. Hoult has three siblings: an older brother and two sisters.
Hoult spent much of his early years in the village of Sindlesham, located in the borough of Wokingham, where his family lived on a quiet estate. His older siblings were passionate about acting and dancing from a young age, participating in classes and auditions. As a child, Hoult often accompanied them to these events, which sparked his own interest in acting. Reflecting on his childhood in a 2011 interview with The Guardian, he described his upbringing as "pretty outdoorsy" and "normal," noting that he and his siblings enjoyed "running around in the garden and making tree houses."
He attended the Coombes Infant and Nursery School before moving on to Arborfield Church of England Junior School for his primary education. He also developed a passion for ballet during his early years and performed as a dancer with several high-profile companies, participating in regional productions. He notably took part in prestigious productions of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker with the English National Ballet, showcasing his versatility and dedication to the performing arts. However, in 2002, at the age of 12, Hoult decided to shift his focus towards acting and enrolled at the renowned Sylvia Young Theatre School, marking the beginning of his formal training in the craft.
At the age of 14, Hoult left his previous school and attended Ranelagh School, a Church of England's secondary school in Bracknell, Berkshire, where he continued his education while balancing his growing interest in acting. By 2006, he made the decision to further his studies at Farnborough Sixth Form College in Hampshire, where he studied A-levels in English literature, biology, and psychology. After filming the first season of Skins, he chose to leave his studies behind and dedicate himself fully to acting.
Apart from his acting pursuits, Hoult also had a musical background. As a child, he played the trombone and was an active member of his local choir. Hoult played basketball for the Reading Rockets, who played in the English Basketball League. He was later appointed as the club's ambassador.
Career
1996–2005: Early career
Hoult's acting potential was discovered at the age of three, by a theatre director during a performance of a play that starred Hoult's brother. The director was impressed at Hoult's ability to "concentrate well" and offered him a role in his next theatre production The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Hoult began attending auditions and at the age of five was cast in the 1996 drama Intimate Relations, his first feature-film role. He later appeared in the television programmes Casualty, Brass Eye, Silent Witness, The Bill, Judge John Deed, and Doctors, among others. Hoult initially treated acting as a hobby rather than a potential career option; in a March 2009 interview with The Daily Telegraph, he said he was not "in love with it... I just enjoyed it. It was like playing for a football team. When you got a part it was great. And meeting new people. It was an exciting new world."
Hoult's next feature-film appearance came at the age of eleven, in Chris and Paul Weitz's 2002 comedy-drama film About a Boy. Hoult was initially reluctant to audition for the role as the casting process was a lengthy one and interfered with his schooling. He nonetheless decided to participate in the early rounds of auditions and was eventually cast in the role of Marcus, a "woolly-hatted, oddball son of a suicidal, hippy-ish single mother, [who] gets bullied horribly at school". About a Boy was a commercial success, grossing more than $130 million worldwide and receiving praise by film critics. Hoult's portrayal of a lonely schoolboy was well-received; David Thomas, writing for The Daily Telegraph, attributed the film's appeal and success to Hoult's performance. By the time the film was released, Hoult had left his junior school in Arborfield and began attending Sylvia Young Theatre School in London. He said the change was difficult; his time there was short and he preferred attending a regular school. He still did not want to pursue acting as a profession and at 14 he left Sylvia Young Theatre School in favour of Ranelagh School.
Hoult starred in Richard E. Grant's semi-autobiographical film Wah-Wah (2005) as Ralph Compton, a boy who is forced to deal with the disintegration of his family. The film, set in Swaziland during the 1960s, chronicles the waning years of the Swaziland Protectorate. Hoult made his debut in Hollywood with Gore Verbinski's film The Weather Man (2005) as the son of a television weather presenter undergoing a mid-life crisis. The film and Hoult's performance went largely unnoticed. Both Wah-Wah and The Weather Man performed poorly at the box office.
2006–2010: Skins and West End debut
Hoult was a student at Sixth Form College Farnborough in 2006 when he was cast in the lead role of the television teenage-drama Skins. He was initially sceptical of his ability to play Tony Stonem, a manipulative, egocentric anti-hero, and identified more closely with the supporting character Sid. The programme was a success and ran for seven series, only two of which Hoult appeared in. His performance was well received; the character was popular, and Hoult garnered widespread attention. Skins won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Philip Audience Award, and Hoult was nominated for the Golden Nymph Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series. Critic Elliott David lauded Hoult for his performance in a 2016 retrospective review, and wrote that he "maintain[ed] the…