Nicholas Hoult names his four favourite movies of all time
Nicholas Hoult has spent pretty much his entire life in front of a camera. He first came to most people’s attention at the age of 13, following a starring role in Nick Hornby’s adaptation About a Boy. He then moved into big blockbusters, appearing in the rebooted ‘X-Men’ series and Mad Max: Fury Road, before settling into more dramatic roles with the likes of The Menu, Juror #2, and Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu.
As one of the subtly great actors of his time, Hoult’s opinion on film should be strongly respected. When he was singled out by the team from Letterboxd at the launch of Burberry’s Summer 2025 collection, he must have known what was coming. The movie-logging site cornered him about his four favourite films, as they are one to do, and, being the savvy content creator that he is, he obliged.
“I’m putting Notting Hill in there, because I love Notting Hill,” he said. “There’s so many great moments in that film, so many great lines. Makes me laugh, makes me emotional.” Directed by Roger Michell and written by Richard Curtis, this classic romcom pairs a bumbling English bookseller (Hugh Grant) with a glamorous American actor (Julia Roberts) as they fall in love under unlikely circumstances. Given Hoult’s previous connections with Grant and the comparisons drawn between the two, it’s easy to see why this movie appeals to him so much.
Next up came Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless, the memory-erasing existential drama starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. Hoult didn’t give a reason as to why this was on his list, but given that it sits on an average of 4.2 out of 5 stars on Letterboxd, he probably felt like he didn’t need to elaborate. He did give a reason behind his next choice – the Coen brothers’ gorgeous neo-western No Country for Old Men.
“I worked with somebody who worked on the film, and they had the storyboards and the script of it, and I loved the movie beforehand,” the Warm Bodies star explained. “Then I got to watch it with the storyboards and the script whilst I was watching. So it was amazing to see how the Coens prepared for that, and just, like, as a little, like, film nerd, I enjoyed that.” Hoult also chose this movie during another film-based social media trend, the Criterion closet, so he’s obviously very serious about this tale of lost money, chilling bounty hunters, and the Texas desert.
Finally, Hoult rounded off his choices with a more recent release. “I saw Anora the other day,” he said. “That was a beautiful and wonderful movie, great performances, and so that’s been one of my top of this year. So those are gonna be my four right now.” Anora, directed by Sean Baker, tells the story of the titular character (Mikey Madison), a sex worker who becomes embroiled with the son of a Russian oligarch. At the 2025 Oscars, it won Baker the ‘Best Director’ prize, Madison the ‘Best Actress’ gong, and took home ‘Best Picture’ among a very stacked field. Hoult’s tastes and the Academy’s line up quite nicely.
A person’s ‘favourite’ films change like the wind, but this should give fans a fairly strong insight into what Hoult looks for in a movie: romance, action, heartbreak, and a soundtrack featuring Take That.
