Superman's Nicholas Hoult Reveals Which Lex Luthor Actor Is 'The Best'

Summary

Nicholas Hoult reveals Michael Rosenbaum was the first version of Lex Luthor he ever encountered.
Hoult praises Rosenbaum’s portrayal of Luthor as “the best.”
Hoult reveals that he’ll begin filming James Gunn’s
Superman
in two to three weeks.

Lex Luthor comes face to face with Lex Luthor! No, it’s not a multiverse or even a DC Elseworlds encounter. Rather, Nicholas Hoult (who will star as Luthor in James Gunn’s new Superman film) joined Michael Rosenbaum on his Inside of You podcast this morning to discuss a number of topics, and, of course, chew the fat over how both actors are now synonymous with the Man of Steel’s shaven-headed adversary. But what Rosenbaum didn’t know was that he was the first Lex Luthor Hoult ever saw. Hoult said during his interview on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum:

I grew up… I think the first ever Lex I saw was you […] And since [Smallville], I’ve like seen Richard Donner’s [Superman] movies, and kind of seen some of the other performances. But you’re like… the one.

Smallville

Release Date: October 16, 2001
Seasons: 10
Studio: The CW
Franchise: DC

The Inside of You podcast host portrayed Lex Luthor for seven seasons on Smallville, and he returned for a few scenes in the series finale during Season 10. Elated, Rosenbaum then asked Hoult if he enjoyed his performance as Lex on Smallville, and the DCU’s Superman actor immediately replied:

I love it. Are you kidding? It’s the best.

When the idea of appearing on Inside of You came up, and he knew there would be an opportunity for the two actors to meet and discuss the Lex Luthor character, Hoult admitted to being a superstitious sort. And, at first, he worried meeting Rosenbaum would result in some sort of “bad juju.” In the end, though, Hoult and Rosenbaum had a revealing discussion about Superman’s bald villain.

Two Truly Bald Lex Luthors

His memory is a little foggy, but Nicholas Hoult was either 11 or 12 years old when he first saw Smallville. As such, Tom Welling’s Clark Kent and Michael Rosenbaum’s Lex Luthor were the first “iterations” of those DC Comic Book characters Hoult ever encountered. Clearly, his appearance on the Inside of You podcast was shot before Hoult shaved his head to play Lex. And Rosenbaum graciously offered to shave Hoult’s head for him, which the two laughed about. “Yeah, go on then,” Hoult joked.

Shaving his head wasn’t a new experience for the actor, as he’d done so to play the part of Nux in Mad Max: Fury Road back in 2015. And, as most fans probably expected, Hoult confirmed that he indeed would not wear a bald cap when he posed with his fellow collaborators for a photo following the first Superman table read. James Gunn shared an image on his Instagram account and wrote:

After the table read with the #Superman cast. Eve, Mr. Terrific, Superman/Clark, Otis, Lex, producer Peter Safran, Jimmy, Metamorpho, Lois, Hawkgirl, me, Guy, The Engineer all together for the first time! What a wonderful day.