Superman's Nicholas Hoult Shared The Advice Michael Rosenbaum Gave Him About Playing Lex Luthor, And The Smallville Actor Had A Lovely Response
Nicholas Hoult landed the role of Lex Luthor even though he auditioned to play the Man of Steel, but there were no hard feelings, as the British actor knew reading the script that the antagonist role was more in his wheelhouse. Still, to best play Superman's well-known villain, Hoult shared some advice given to him by Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum, who, in turn, had a lovely response to his kind words.
Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor Advice to Nicholas Hoult
When taking on a timeless role like Lex Luthor for James Gunn's Superman movie, it helps to get advice from actors who've been in the villainous role before. Batman V. Superman's Lex Luthor's Jesse Eisenberg's blunt advice to Nicholas Hoult was… basically not to watch his performance.
On the other hand, Nicholas Hoult had the pleasure of meeting the Lex Luthor he grew up watching: Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum. They've had a couple of occasions to meet. A year ago, on the American actor's podcast, the two talked about Hoult getting fit to play the role, and thy met again on set during Rosenbaum's cameo in Superman. Hoult got real with Entertainment Weekly on what it was like to finally meet the man behind his childhood villain, saying,
Honestly, he was so kind and encouraging, and he really gave me a freedom and a confidence and a support that felt really lovely going into it. He was probably the first person I saw play Luthor when I was growing up. So to get to interact with him and to chat with him beforehand was really special. I appreciate that from him, his time, but also just his encouragement meant a lot.
I completely relate to Nicholas Hoult in growing up watching Michael Rosenbaum play Lex. Smallville was one of the best DC superhero shows for the modern era and introduced younger audiences to the Man of Steel's beginnings. I remember Rosenbaum was on-point in portraying Lex's sinister personality while also being low-key – knowing his friendship with Clark Kent would uncover secrets of the Kryptonian native.
It must have been a real dream for Nicholas Hoult to finally meet Michael Rosenbaum. But before they parted ways, the podcaster made sure to impart some sage words of advice onto the next Lex Luthor. Hoult recounted,
The beautiful thing he said was, 'You've got this. Go have fun.' It's a, weirdly, kind of uplifting and wonderful thing to play a character that you've watched someone play and do a brilliant job at, to then have them say, 'Yeah, go get it. Go take it on.' That's a really bolstering sort of thing to happen. It was very kind of him to do that because I suppose it's a weird thing taking on a character that other people have played in some ways. Normally in acting, there's no comparisons, really, when it's a unique character, but when there's been different interpretations, then obviously people do compare.
Michael Rosenbaum may have wanted to take the Lex Luthor role away from Jesse Eisenberg, but it looks like he's kindly given the go-ahead to Nicholas Hoult.
One can tell Nicholas Hoult was enjoying himself playing the role in a new Superman clip that was released featuring Lex poking fun at Superman for missing his dog. While there may be a lot of pressure to portray a role that's been done many times before, the actor has earned acclaim for his performance.
Michael Rosenbaum's Reaction to Nicholas Hoult's Praises
Nicholas Hoult's kind words about Michael Rosenbaum didn't escape the eyes of the talented actor. Rosenbaum took to Instagram to return the favor for Hoult, writing:
So kind of Nicholas to say such lovely things about me. I adore him. He's a great actor and will knock it out of the park. I told him right off the bat… 'you're in great hands with James'.
Michael Rosenbaum knows what he's talking about since he's worked with James Gunn in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 as Martinex. I'm sure he trusts that the filmmaker's vision of Lex Luthor would be one his longtime pal would be proud of.
Nicholas Hoult must have felt a wave of nostalgia meeting Smallville's fan-favorite Lex, who offered him wise advice on the role. Fortunately, he and Michael Rosenbaum plan to meet again on his podcast for the two to discuss their take on the new Superman. You can see Hoult's version of Lex Luthor in the 2025 movie release playing in theaters now.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gizmodo
11 minutes ago
- Gizmodo
This JBL Party Speaker Just Hit a Record Low, Amazon Clears Out Stock Before Back to School
For real summer parties, small portable Bluetooth speakers simply don't cut it to get an entire crowd dancing. There are, however, larger portable ones that have gained much popularity for breathing life into parties. The JBL PartyBox 710 has established itself as a top choice (and our favorite choice) for anyone looking to create instant atmosphere among friends. Right now, the JBL PartyBox 710 is on sale at Amazon for only $599, close to $250 off its usual price of $850. That's the cheapest this party speaker has ever been on Amazon, and it's available as a limited time offer that's sure to sell out quickly. See at Amazon The big speaker blasts 800 watts of JBL Original Pro Sound from its twin 2.75-inch tweeters and pair of 8-inch woofers. The result is sound that's not just loud but also packed with detail and bass that you can feel. It's engineered to deliver authentic high-fidelity sound over large spaces, and it can transform a backyard or even outdoor area into an actual event. The PartyBox 710 doesn't hold back when it comes to light either: The built-in party lighting system can transform any environment into a concert or club with programmable and dynamic strobe effects and multicolor LED patterns. You can sync the lights to your music and create a starry night effect or switch to fast club-style flashes, all manageable either on the simple top panel or right from the PartyBox mobile app. With its sturdy handle and smooth-spinning wheels, it's built to roll with you – out to the patio, the park or wherever the party goes. The durable construction features IPX4 splash resistance so if a drink gets spilled or there's some unexpected rain, the music won't stop. It connects simply via Bluetooth to phones, tablets, and laptops for wireless control over playlists and volume. A dedicated PartyBox app enables real-time customization of lights, EQ settings, and music, while physical jacks make it simple to connect mics or instruments for karaoke and live performances. If you're looking to take your summer parties to the next level, this all-time low price on the JBL PartyBox 710 is one of the year's best audio opportunities. See at Amazon
Vox
12 minutes ago
- Vox
Superman is a socialist
In a recent interview with The Times, Superman director James Gunn said that his new blockbuster tells the story of 'an immigrant.' He also explained it was a story about 'basic human kindness.' But that first comment — about Superman's foreign origins — is the one that set off some pundits on the right. Fox News commentator Jesse Watters joked on air: 'You know what it says on his cape? MS-13.' Ben Shapiro blasted Gunn and the Hollywood left for being out of touch with everyday American audiences: 'The reality [is] that Hollywood is so far to the left that they cannot take a core piece of Americana and just say it's about America.' But, Grant Morrison — author of the seminal comic book series All-Star Superman — said the conservative backlash ignores the leftist origins of the world's most famous superhero. Not only was Superman created by the sons of Jewish immigrants, but those very first comics portrayed their character as a 'socialist figure.' Today, Explained Understand the world with a daily explainer, plus the most compelling stories of the day. Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. In one comic published in 1939, Superman is seen shielding young thieves from police because he figured the kids were victims of poverty, then tearing down slums and forcing authorities to build low-rent housing. Before becoming the 'Man of Steel,' Superman was 'The Champion of the Oppressed.' Gunn has said that All-Star Superman was a big influence on his new film. Morrison sat down with Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram to talk about where Superman came from, how the character has evolved, and why he will endure. Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There's much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify. How did you get into Superman? What did this character mean to you? I grew up on the west coast of Scotland next to an American naval and nuclear base. My parents were anti-nuclear activists. My father was a World War II soldier who became a peacenik. So, my big fear in the world was the atom bomb, and I associated it with the Americans, but the Americans also brought the comics. Then I discovered Superman. And although I knew no real Superman was coming to save me from an actual atom bomb, metaphorically he really solved a lot of problems for my head when I was a little kid. Those are the primal roots for me, and they're quite deep. So yeah, getting a chance to do that character, sitting here overlooking that same stretch of water where we did the protests…To write All-Star Superman kind of defies the forces of entropy. If anything survives in my career, it will be that one book. Who was the Superman that you created in that series? We went for an older Superman. The basic idea was: What if Superman was dying and he had a year to live? Basically, it's a part of Lex Luthor's scheme to send Superman to the sun, and the solar radiation overcharges Superman's cells, so they begin to decay and die. Basically, Superman's dying of cancer. What would this man do in the last 12 months of his life to leave the Earth a better place than he found it? Were you surprised to find out that James Gunn wanted to relaunch this character and relaunch an entire cinematic universe with your story about a dying Superman? James didn't necessarily take the dying part. His is a younger Superman. But I think he certainly took the character as we decided to define it, and he saw something that he could work with. Instead of Superman having flaws, let's present a fictional character who doesn't have flaws. You know, he has problems of his own. He still can't get the girl. He still works for a boss in an office, but he's Superman. He's a kind of everyman whose life happens at a much higher scale. He's got an unruly dog, but his unruly dog can laser his own dinner and cook a steak. His unruly dog can fly through buildings, but he's still dealing with an unruly dog. In previous attempts people have asked: What would Superman be like if he was in the real world? Which to me is an absurd question. The only existence Superman has in the real world is as a comic book or movie character, and that's where he is most useful and most functional, as far as I'm concerned. He's a metaphor. He is an allegory. He stands for everything that is good in us. It sounds like there have been at least some iterations of this character throughout his near-century of existence — from your dying version to this ideal version, to this all-powerful version. But I believe Superman even started as a bit of a tough guy, a headbasher, and maybe even a left-wing revolutionary. Can you tell us about the non-Kryptonian origins of this character, and how he came to be on Earth? Well, he arrived in Cleveland, Ohio. He was created by two teenagers, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who'd met at school. Jerry was the writer and Joe was the artist. They wanted to work for newspapers. Newspaper syndication was the place to go for cartoons back then. They were working on this notion called 'The Superman.' The original version was an evil bald guy who eventually became Lex Luthor in the Superman story. But after a few tries, they hit on this fabulous notion of: Let's give him a wrestling costume with a cape so that we can track his movement across the panels, and make him very colorful so that he's memorable. The greatest addition to the design was to put his monogram on his chest so that the character's entire identity was summed up in this very simple advertising motif that people can remember and people can also wear and partake in being Superman. It was created by two young kids who were the sons of immigrants — European immigrants, Jewish boys — and this was their vision. Superman was a do-gooder. He was here to help people. He'd come from a distant world, but thought the only use for power and strength was to help the downtrodden and the oppressed. Early issues of Action Comics depict a Superman who's very much an outlaw. He goes after corrupt union bosses. He goes after mine owners. He goes after politicians who are corrupt. Superman later was seen as a messianic figure of hope, which I don't really like, because I think he's a fighter, he's a scrapper. He gets into fights on behalf of the little guy. He gets bloodied up and he gets up again. You shoot him [with] a tank shell, and he gets up again. Through the years, that changed quite radically. The socialist figure of the early years hit 1942 and suddenly it was war, and Superman became incredibly patriotic, and that's where the 'Truth, justice, and the American way' thing first appears. Then, in the 1950s, Superman changes again completely. You're dealing with guys coming home from the war, domestication, and living in suburbia. So Superman becomes a family drama, but on a titanic scale. He has friends from the future who visit and cause trouble. He has a cousin who survived the destruction of Krypton, he has a dog, and he has a monkey. So Superman then, to me, was probably at his peak, but he was representative of post-war masculinity trying to adjust to a world of relatives and not being married. Those stories were obsessed with the relationship with Lois [Lane]. In the 1960s, he becomes a cosmic seeker. He almost goes back to his roots, and we have stories where he is fighting for Native American land rights, he's up against polluters, and very much back to the activist Superman. And so it goes. In the 1980s, he's a yuppie. In the 1990s, they kill him in order to make it interesting, then bring it back as a soap opera set around the fictional newspaper, the Daily Planet. And into the 2000s, you get the work that I did. It's funny to hear you lay out this history in which Superman at one point is something of a socialist warrior, because all of these pundits who are mad about James Gunn saying that Superman's an immigrant, if they really knew the history here, there's so much more they could be mad about. Absolutely. As you say, if anyone had bothered to look at the history of Superman, they'd see that he was always an immigrant created by immigrants. He represented that experience, but he was assimilated. I mean, he was an American. He'd been raised by American parents. So that was very important as well. And I think the combination of these two qualities is what maybe drives people mad, because they want it to be either one thing or another, but Superman's trying to embody everyone. It's funny, a thing that we talk about the first half of the show is that depending on how tuned into the news you are, you can see a lot of what's going on in the world today in this movie. But of course, this movie wasn't made this week. It was made a year ago. Yeah. The meetings about this movie probably started five years ago. Do you think there's something about the nature of Superman that makes him timeless? I definitely believe that. I mean, we are talking about the history of Superman, which goes back to 1938. Superman has outlived his creators. He's also outlived the people who took over from his creators, and the next generation of the people who took over from his creators.
CBS News
12 minutes ago
- CBS News
Book excerpt: "Bug Hollow" by Michelle Huneven
We may receive an affiliate commission from anything you buy from this article. A summer lark turns tragic, and a shattered family must carry on, in "Bug Hollow" (Penguin Press), the latest novel by Michelle Huneven, the author of "Round Rock" and "Blame." Read an excerpt below. "Bug Hollow" by Michelle Huneven Prefer to listen? Audible has a 30-day free trial available right now. The summer when Sally Samuelson was eight, her brother Ellis graduated from high school and a few days later, he and his best friends, Heck Stevens and Ben Klosterman, drove up the coast in Heck's '64 Rambler American. They promised to be back in a week. Sally was the only one who went outside to see them off. She waved a dishrag and dabbed at pretend tears, then one or two real ones. "Bye, little Pips!" Ellis yelled from the back seat—he called her Pipsqueak, with variations. "See you in the funny papers!" Ellis had thick, curly yellow hair long enough to tuck behind his ears and he wore a baseball cap to keep it there. He'd lately grown incredibly tall and skinny; his pants rode so low on his hip bones, they seemed about to slip off. Sally's sister, Katie, who was fourteen, called him El Greck after they saw El Greco's Christ on the Cross at the Getty; even their parents confirmed the resemblance. His last two years in high school, Ellis had a girlfriend named Carla, who was also tall and blond and liked to show off her stomach. In front of Ellis, she would say hi to Sally. Sometimes Ellis would come into Sally's room when she was drawing on the floor; he'd sit by her and talk about his last baseball game or his weird calculus teacher, and sometimes he'd wonder how much he liked Carla and if she was even nice. Sally somehow knew not to say what she thought. Anyway, Ellis spent most of his time playing ball with Ben and Heck. For their trip, they packed Heck's old Rambler with sleeping bags, the small smelly tent the Samuelson kids used on camping trips, and a cooler full of sodas. After ten days, when Ellis hadn't come back, Heck showed up at the Samuelsons' front door with the tent. Sally answered his knock. "Ellis decided to stay away for a few more days," he said. "Stay where?" Sally's mother said from behind her. "With some girl he met," said Heck. "Not sure where, exactly." "Well, where did they meet?" "On a beach around Santa Cruz." That was all her mother could get out of Heck. "Some girl has snagged Ellis," she told Sally's father when he came home from work. "Good for her," he said. "How can you say that, Phil?" her mother cried. "El's such an innocent. What if she's trouble?" Hinky, their Manchester terrier, cocked her head at one parent, then the other; she followed conversations—they'd tested her by standing in a circle and tossing the conversation back and forth. Hinky shifted her attention to each speaker in turn. "What if he doesn't come back in time for his job?" Ellis was supposed to be a counselor at the day camp he'd attended since first grade. "Let's worry about that when the time comes," Sally's father said. The camp's start date came and went. An excerpt from "Bug Hollow," published by Penguin Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2025 by Michelle Huneven. Reproduced with permission. Get the book here: "Bug Hollow" by Michelle Huneven Buy locally from For more info:
