Superman fans were shooketh after seeing a resurfaced interview of Nicholas Hoult explaining why he doesnât feel like âa beautiful person.â
Hoult, who has been a movie franchise darling from Mad Max to X-Men, is used to admirers complimenting his looks. I mean, even as the bald, scheming villain Lex Luthor, people were still out here blushing like Gilded Age debutantes trying to land a railroad tycoon.
But Hoult? He doesnât let the catcallsâor, more accurately, polite British murmursâgo to his head.
In a 2023 Hits Radio interview, the 35-year-old English actor was asked point-blank: âHow does it feel, in life, being such a beautiful person?â
Blushing and laughing, Hoult thanked the host and replied:
âThatâs weird. I read something recently, I did a show called The Great, I play the emperor of Russia in that, and I saw a comment of someone on Twitter that said: âHe looks like just the right amount of inbred to be a royal.'"
And honestly? Heâs not wrong about Peter IIIâs questionable family tree.
For those who missed Houltâs hit Hulu showâdonât worry, I got you.
The Great is a satirical, historically âoccasionally accurateâ dark comedy starring Hoult as Emperor Peter III, a man-child ruler with a love for vodka, war games, and emotionally terrorizing his wife; and Elle Fanning as Empress Catherine the Great, who went from outsider German princess to overthrowing her husband in the most glamorous coup dâĂ©tat this side of Bridgerton.
Peter III, in real history, reigned for just six months before Catherine took the throne. He was awkward-looking, a little off-putting, andâhistorical portraits confirmâdefinitely had that âyour parents were first cousinsâ inbred bone structure physique, which is, in fact, true for the real Peter III.
Hoult leaned into that in The Great, portraying him as equal parts hilarious, terrifying, and pitiful, with a flair for absurdity such as staging mock duels⊠with live ammunition.
Royal fun, right?
Referring to the Emperorâs antics and his dubious genetics, Hoult added:
âAnd so I donât think Iâm conventionally very handsome or anything. I donât have the perks of being handsome because I look more inbred.â
Cue the internet collectively screaming, âLies!â
You can watch the interview clip below:
Fans, naturally, disagreedâloudly. They rushed to social media to insist Hoult is objectively gorgeous. But maybe this is just part of his charm: heâs tall, ridiculously talented, and capable of playing everything from a tortured X-Men mutant to Nosferatuâs vampire chew toy, yet genuinely doesnât see himself as a âbeautiful person.â
I mean, itâs like Lex Luthor claiming that âheâs not really a bald guy.â
Even if Hoult truly believes heâs serving 18th-century royal inbreeding chic, heâs clearly in on the jokeâand the internet had thoughts. Many, many thoughts.
You can view their reactions below:
Hoult and the Superman cast are currently celebrating a box office smash of $217 million, officially making it the highest-grossing superhero film, dethroning Marvelâs Fantastic Four: First Steps. And speaking of Superman, Hoult actually originally auditioned to play Superman, aka Clark Kent, but ultimately was cast as the villain, Lex Luthor.
And if youâd like to see Hoult squirm as strangers tell him heâs hot, his BuzzFeed Celeb Thirst Tweets video is right there waiting for you:
- YouTubeBuzzfeed Celeb/YouTube
The Great fans, youâre welcome.















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