He was cast as Gilderoy Lockhart, then stepped away. Kit Harington has the role now. The answer sits in a career that has barely paused since he was 11.
Hoult was 11 when he filmed About a Boy opposite Hugh Grant, released in 2002. It took more than $130 million worldwide and brought a Critics' Choice nomination.
In 2007 he played Tony Stonem in E4's Skins, the charming and cruel sixth-former at the centre of the first two series. It made him famous with British teenagers.
Tom Ford cast him as Kenny Potter in A Single Man in 2009, opposite Colin Firth. It earned a BAFTA Rising Star nomination and closed the child-actor chapter.
From 2011 he played Hank McCoy, or Beast, across four X-Men films. Days of Future Past alone took about $747 million, the biggest in the series at the time.
Warm Bodies in 2013 handed him a lead for the first time: a zombie called R who falls in love. It was the first film carried on his name rather than an ensemble.
In Mad Max: Fury Road he was Nux, the war boy chasing glory. The 2015 film took about $378 million, the highest-grossing Mad Max, and won six Oscars for craft.
The Favourite in 2018, then The Great from 2020 to 2023 as Russia's Peter III. That role brought two Golden Globe nominations and a Primetime Emmy nomination.
In 2024 he led Nosferatu for Robert Eggers and Juror #2 for Clint Eastwood, then 94. Both films reached cinemas within weeks of each other that winter.
He played Lex Luthor in 2025's Superman and returns for Man of Tomorrow, dated 9 July 2027. Scheduling conflicts were given as the reason he let Lockhart go.
Kit Harington plays Lockhart when Harry Potter season two shoots this autumn. He already voiced the character for Audible, so the part was not a cold start.