Posted in: CW, Movies, streaming, TV, YouTube | Tagged: dc studios, dcu, inside of you, james gunn, michael rosenbaum, nicholas hoult, smallville, superman

Superman: Nicholas Hoult & Michael Rosenbaum: When Lex Luthors Meet!

Superman star Nicholas Hoult & Michael Rosenbaum on portraying Lex Luthor, how Smallville influenced Hoult, auditioning for James Gunn & more.

It was the one-on-one that fans had been waiting for since the news broke that Nicholas Hoult had been cast as Lex Luthor in writer/director James Gunn's Superman (previously Superman: Legacy). This week's edition of the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast finds Hoult sitting down with the man who knows a thing or two about The Man of Steel's arch-nemesis – Michael Rosenbaum. As cool as it is to hear from two actors about a character one has played and the other is about to, this one was particularly special, considering how Gunn holds Rosenbaum's Lex in such high regard (more on that in a minute). To add some timeline perspective, Hoult still has his hair in the episode above – that means that the interview was done before the big table read, the changing of the film's title, and things like that.

When the conversation turns to Lex Luthor early on, Hoult shares with Rosenbaum that Smallville was his first experience seeing the big bad brought to live-action life and that he was influenced by how Rosenbaum brought a "depth" and "charm" to the character instead of portraying him as a one-dimensional villain. Hoult tapped Rosenbaum for some background on how he crafted his take on the character, with Rosenbaum sharing that there was much of himself and his childhood in what viewers saw on their screens. Rosenbaum added that he was always looking to show the character's complexity and how he saw in Lex what he saw in himself – someone who can be smooth & steady – until a line is crossed and they go off. And sometimes, go off in ways that are even surprising to them.

Later in the episode, Rosenbaum asked Hoult about auditioning for the role – a process that Hoult described as "intimidating." From there, Hoult explained how he approaches auditions and how that's changed over the course of his career before getting into the different auditioning approaches that he's experienced. When it came to Superman: Legacy/Superman, Hoult shared that he appreciated how Gunn made the audition more of an interactive experience – working with the person who was auditioning to give them opportunities to try different things – noting Gunn's "ability to keep things fun and alive… and to try things." Make sure to check out the full episode above – including what it was about the comic book All-Star Superman that got Hoult motivated workout-wise – and here's a look at a brief intro video the duo shared to promote the episode:

In December 2023, Rosenbaum posted his support of Hoult, adding: "Congratulations to Nicholas Hoult! You'll be a great Lex Luthor. You're in good hands with [James Gunn]. Pumped for you, buddy. I know you'll kill it. Welcome to the family. [Nicholas Hoult]." Here's a look back at Rosenbaum's post, welcoming Hoult into "The League of Evil Lex's":

Superman: Legacy: James Gunn Has Favorite Lex Luthor & That's Okay

Earlier in the year, Gunn checked in with Rosenbaum on the latter's Inside of You podcast to cover a whole ton of issues. At one point, Rosenbaum shifted the "Legacy" conversation to a subject near and dear to his heart – Lex Luthor. Though Rosenbaum said he assumed Lex would be in the film, Gunn made it clear that info never came from him. So from a purely hypothetical standpoint, Rosenbaum asked Gunn if there is a Lex Luthor, that he's portrayed as "grounded and real" and true to the character's core – an approach Gunn seemed to agree with (referring to Rosenbaum as "definitely the best Lex"). Well, that didn't seem to go over well with folks who were fans of Jesse Eisenberg, Gene Hackman, and other folks who've portrayed The Man of Steel's arch-nemesis. In particular, some Zack Snyder fans thought the conversation was a directly veiled slap at the Snyderverse. So after clarifying that it was never intended as any kind of slight, Gunn had to follow up with a tweet where he argued that he had a right to have a favorite Lex – which is a weird thing to be put into a position to have to argue because… you know… opinions. We all have them.

"In reading these replies, sometimes it seems like people are looking for things to get outraged about & have little sense of history. Although Donner's 'Superman' movies are some of my favorites, I've spoken out publicly before, & even written about it in EW back in the early 2000s, perhaps unwisely, that Lex Luthor is not my favorite part of those films," Gunn responded in a tweet looking to put to rest a non-issue that became an issue (shocking for social media, we know). "The portrayal can lean campy & I wished he seemed like a greater threat & I wished he'd played it bald throughout. I regret having intimated that I didn't like ANY Lex on Michael's show, but there it is. For the record, I think Hackman is one of the five greatest actors of the '70s & '80s, and he starred in some of my favorite movies; I just didn't love him as Lex." Here's a look at Gunn's tweet:

Here's a look at the complete episode – and make sure to subscribe to the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum here:

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