Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#913
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Nicholas Hoult represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 25 years in, and Nicholas is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Nicholas Hoult appears in 35 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Nicholas. Mad Max: Fury Road is the clearest case: a film rated 7.9 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for family, animation, action. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with James Gunn, David Leitch, Clint Eastwood and others, Nicholas Hoult helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) as Nux · The Banker (2020) as Matt Steiner · Superman (2025) as Lex Luthor
Career snapshot
Ranked #913 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
35
2002–2027
Career length
25 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.9
Mad Max: Fury Road
Average Nutevio score
5.9
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.6
Mad Max: Fury Road
Most frequent director
David Leitch
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With David Leitch
Most common genre
Action
15 titles
Average runtime
1h 37m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.8
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.3
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2000s
6.7 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. A Single Man, The Weather Man, About a Boy — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
6.7
Across 3 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
6.7
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2000s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. A Single Man, The Weather Man, About a Boy.
Most productive era
2010s
18 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.73 films | 6.39 films | 7.03 films |
| Action | — | 6.612 films | 4.73 films |
| Thriller | — | 5.82 films | 5.04 films |
| Comedy | 6.42 films | 7.43 films | 6.93 films |
| Crime | — | 5.91 film | 3.32 films |
| Romance | 7.02 films | 6.33 films | — |
| Horror | — | — | 6.83 films |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
2002About a Boy
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Marcus Brewer.
Highest rated performance · Career peak
7.9 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2027Man of Tomorrow
The current state of the argument, as Lex Luthor.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
35 of 35 films
as Nux
Directed by George Miller
as Matt Steiner
Directed by George Nolfi
as Lex Luthor
Directed by James Gunn
as Tyler
Directed by Mark Mylod
as Harley
Directed by Unknown
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Nux
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Performance score8.2
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Nux gives Nicholas Hoult a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Matt Steiner
The Banker (2020)
Performance score7.9
The Banker asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Matt Steiner is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Lex Luthor
Superman (2025)
Performance score7.8
Superman asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Lex Luthor is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Tyler
The Menu (2022)
Performance score7.6
The Menu asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Tyler is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Nux
Start here. Mad Max: Fury Road is the clearest statement of what Nicholas Hoult does — accessible, 121 minutes, and rated 7.9 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Nicholas at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
The Favourite (2018)
A deliberate change of key after Mad Max: Fury Road — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Banker (2020)
Keeps the drama register of The Favourite but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Menu (2022)
A deliberate change of key after The Banker — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Superman (2025)
A deliberate change of key after The Menu — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Bryan Singer
Director
3 films together
Notably X-Men: Days of Future Past
David Leitch
Director
3 films together
Notably Deadpool 2
James Gunn
Director
2 films together
Notably Superman
Chris Weitz
Director
1 film together
Notably About a Boy
Gore Verbinski
Director
1 film together
Notably The Weather Man
Tom Ford
Director
1 film together
Notably A Single Man
Louis Leterrier
Director
1 film together
Notably Clash of the Titans
Matthew Vaughn
Director
1 film together
Notably X-Men: First Class
Jake Paltrow
Director
1 film together
Notably Young Ones
George Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably Mad Max: Fury Road
Eran Creevy
Director
1 film together
Notably Collide
Danny Strong
Director
1 film together
Notably Rebel in the Rye
Fernando Coimbra
Director
1 film together
Notably Sand Castle
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Director
1 film together
Notably The Current War
Simon Kinberg
Director
1 film together
Notably Dark Phoenix
George Nolfi
Director
1 film together
Notably The Banker
Taylor Sheridan
Director
1 film together
Notably Those Who Wish Me Dead
Mark Mylod
Director
1 film together
Notably The Menu
Justin Kurzel
Director
1 film together
Notably The Order
Mark Dindal
Director
1 film together
Notably The Garfield Movie
Clint Eastwood
Director
1 film together
Notably Juror #2
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Bryan Singer
Director
3 films together · 6.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
X-Men: Days of Future PastDavid Leitch
Director
3 films together · 4.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Deadpool 2James Gunn
Director
2 films together · 3.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
SupermanGeorge Miller
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mad Max: Fury RoadGeorge Nolfi
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The BankerMatthew Vaughn
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
X-Men: First ClassTom Ford
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Single ManMark Mylod
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The MenuMark Dindal
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Garfield MovieClint Eastwood
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Juror #2Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Current WarChris Weitz
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
About a BoyJustin Kurzel
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The OrderTaylor Sheridan
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Those Who Wish Me DeadDanny Strong
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Rebel in the RyeFernando Coimbra
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sand CastleGore Verbinski
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Weather ManSimon Kinberg
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dark PhoenixLouis Leterrier
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Clash of the TitansJake Paltrow
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Young OnesEran Creevy
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CollideSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Mad Max: Fury Road
as Nux
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
A Single Man
as Kenny
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Mad Max: Fury Road
as Nux
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Deadpool 2
as Beast (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Mad Max: Fury Road
as Nux
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Nicholas Hoult has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
25 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Action Legend
Awarded
15 catalogue titles in action, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Mad Max: Fury Road
as Nux
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Mad Max: Fury Road
as Nux
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Rebel in the Rye
as J.D. Salinger
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Dark Places
as Lyle Wirth
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Mad Max: Fury Road
as Nux
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Mad Max: Fury Road
as Nux
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Favourite
as Harley
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Mad Max: Fury Road
as Nux
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
David Krumholtz
Built a career in the same territory: action and adventure
Cillian Murphy
Built a career in the same territory: drama and history
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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