Nicholas Hoult discusses losing ‘Batman’ role to Robert Pattinson
Nicholas Hoult has revealed that he failed auditions to The Batman, Mission: Impossible 7 and Top Gun: Maverick in a short space of time. Despite the “disappointments”, Hoult explained that he is “happy” with his career. He also discussed losing out on the central role in The Batman to the “brilliant” Robert Pattinson.
“Of course,” Hoult replied when asked if he would have enjoyed the role of Bruce Wayne during an interview with The Guardian. “I’m sure if you ask most people, they’ll tell you they’d want to portray that role. I think Matt Reeves’ ideas were fantastic and he made a brilliant movie. And I also think that Rob [Pattinson] did an amazing job with the character, and I loved seeing him in it. So I don’t think I would have done as good a job as him ultimately. I don’t think I could have fit as well into the world that Matt created as Rob did.”
“When they tell you for the first time that it’s not you, it’s painful, but then you have to accept it as normality,” Hoult continued. “I think that’s probably a strength of mine as an actor as well. I can accept that they didn’t cast me pretty well and when I see the chosen actor doing a great job, and I enjoy it, and it’s good, I’m like, ‘oh yeah, they made the right choice. They knew what they were doing.’ So it’s not like I’m sitting there like, ‘Oh, I’m not going to watch it now.’ It’s a good movie and Rob is brilliant in it.”
Reeves’ 2022 reimagination of the classic DC Comics superhero with Pattinson on board was a critical and commercial success, earning $770 million at the worldwide box office. In a 3.5-star review, Far Out wrote: “How Reeves manages to comment on the dangers of the internet age is an expertly delivered reminder of his talent. He instils the world of Batman with real grit, not from the pages of a comic but from the soles of our feet in 2022. In truth, it goes beyond the purely aesthetic darkness that Christopher Nolan conjured for the Caped Crusader. Despite some clomping first footsteps, Reeves and Pattinson’s hero could become the greatest.”
Watch the trailer for The Batman below.
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