Nicholas Hoult Talks Lex Luthor’s Watch, Bleaching His Hair, and the Superman Sequel

Outfitting a supervillain can be tricky business. Apple, for instance, allegedly has a policy that prevents onscreen bad guys from using their devices. But the historic Swiss watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre saw no issue with providing their global ambassador Nicholas Hoult with a stellar timepiece for his role as Superman heavy Lex Luthor. When I asked Hoult recently to name his favorite look ever with a JLC on his wrist, that’s what came to mind first: the Reverso Duoface he sported with a tuxedo “on his way to interrogate and torture Superman, but he had a gala to attend before that.”

Hoult was chatting with me over Zoom from the set of a new Jaeger-LeCoultre commercial. His shock of bleach blond hair was cheekily paired with a vintage T-shirt from Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour. The central idea of the campaign is turning points—a cute nod to the Reverso’s signature flipping dial, but also something the 35-year-old actor is all too familiar with.

From his start as a child actor on movies like Hugh Grant’s About a Boy to his teen heartthrob days on Skins to major roles in hits like The Favourite, The Menu, Nosferatu, and next year’s heist blockbuster How to Rob a Bank, Hoult’s career has been as longer and windier than that of some actors twice his age. “It’s a long road,” he tells me of his working life. “I remember Colin Firth telling me when we did A Single Man, ‘Enjoy the highs. There will be lows. So enjoy the highs.’”

Here, Hoult goes deep on his favorite watches, sheds light on the upcoming Superman sequel, and explains how a Pittsburgh Pirates game became “one of the scariest experiences” of his life.

GQ: Tell me about the watch you’re wearing today.

Nichous Hoult: This is the Reverso Tribute Steel Monoface. This is, as people say, my daily driver. I love this watch because it's understated, it’s classy, it’s elegant. This one is personal to me because it’s got my eldest son's initials engraved on the back. So this is a watch that I plan to pass down to him when he’s older.

When did you first get into collecting?

I’ve always viewed watches as something that becomes a family heirloom, something to pass down through generations. So that’s something exciting for me now that I’m a father myself. Now I’m like, “Any watch that I collect or love and appreciate, that's something that I can then give to my sons.”

The first time I was given a watch was when I was 14 and I was shooting a movie called Wah-Wah. It was about Richard Grant's life, and Gabriel Byrne played my father in that and he gave me a watch at the end of the shooting. So that watch is something I still have. It’s engraved on the back with the date of the movie and Wah-Wah, and I said to him that I will hand that down to a younger actor that I work with one day. Hopefully, that’ll be something that travels through generations of actors. That’s what I like to imagine.

Do you have a favorite look that you’ve done on the red carpet or in your day-to-day life with a watch that’s special to you?

There’s a moment in the Superman movie where [Hoult’s character] Lex Luthor is wearing a dinner jacket. He was on his way to interrogate and torture Superman, but he had a gala to attend before that, so he was wearing his dinner suit, and we had a Reverso Duoface in rose gold with a black leather strap for that scene. That felt very in sync with Lex and what he was wearing and how astute he is in terms of what he would appreciate and his wealth—it felt very right for that moment in the film for him to be wearing that.

The watch that I'm most excited about with JLC at the moment is the Small Seconds in rose gold with the Milanese bracelet. I will get to see it in person for the first time today and then hopefully get to wear it on a red carpet or to an event soon. But that’s the one that I’m very excited about at the moment.

That’s a leading contender for watch of the year for me. The bracelet is insane. So you’re shooting this new campaign for JLC, which is about turning points in your career. What are those for you?

It’s about turning points. It’s also about the hour before a performance, those final few moments of calm or being alone, and you’ve put in the work and the preparation, and it’s that final little bit of mentally focusing before you go out to perform.

But in terms of turning points—with an acting career, even more so than some other careers, I feel like you can really see how one thing influences the next. This past weekend I was with some of the Skins cast, which was a show I did when I was 16.

Obviously, going back earlier than that, About a Boy was a huge deal as a child actor to do that and to have that experience. But then to do Skins and to find those lifelong friends and people that are all succeeding now and making such beautiful work, that was something fortunate for me to be involved in that. And then I know Skins was something that led to me being cast in Tom Ford's movie, A Single Man. And while I was promoting that movie, I got cast in Mad Max: Fury Road. So it’s a career that’s fun for [looking back], because you can really tell what leads into the next.

But then it’s interesting as well, because there are also waves within that. You can have an upward trajectory for a moment, and then it can feel like you're leveling out or having a downward turn, or something doesn’t work out as you hoped, and then hopefully build up again. It’s a long road. I remember Colin Firth telling me when we did A Single Man, “Enjoy the highs. There will be lows. So enjoy the highs.”

With Lex Luthor, what’s it like playing the villain compared to some of the nicer guys you’ve portrayed?

I do really enjoy it. I suppose there’s a freedom in playing a villain because there’s nothing you can do that could be wrong. It’s really interesting to try and get into the mindset and psyche of those people and their obsessive nature and their belief system or ideology.

Also, I loved working with James Gunn. I think he’s a wonderful director and creative person and mind. I just spoke to him a week or two ago about the sequel and his idea for that. So I’m really excited to play that character again because I feel like there’s a lot to explore with him and expectations to subvert. It’s going to be exciting to step back into those shoes again.

I haven’t read it yet, but hopefully will soon, so I can’t say anything more than that. But just upon playing the character for the first time in that story, through my research and prep, I feel like there’s a lot more for me to explore and for us to explore. So I’m excited that we are getting the chance to go back and do that.

Speaking of turning points: Tell me about the bleached hair. What brought on the decision to go blond?

You know what, it was something that I had considered for roles before, but never felt like it was quite right for the feel of the tone of the job or whatever it might be. And then, while I was talking to David Leitch, the director of [Hoult’s upcoming 2026 film] How to Rob a Bank, we were talking about this character and what he felt he represented. And as we started to prep, he said, “How would you feel about bleaching your hair?”

And it was funny because I’d had this instinctual thing at one point about the character where I was like, “Maybe [bleached hair] is something physically I could do to transform and use with this character.” So I said yes right away. Two days later, I was in my wife’s aunt’s salon, and she was putting the bleach on my head, because I was like, “Let’s do it now and we’ll see, because maybe it looks bad and we don't want to use it.” But I did it and we felt like it was right for the aesthetic of the film and the character, and I kind of like it. I’ve got my Madonna Blonde Ambition T-shirt on. I’m all about that blonde life now.

He’s bleached his hair? Copycat! I didn’t see. He just won the US Open. He shaved it and then bleached it? I didn’t realize he was such a fan of mine.

You started a movement.

It is funny how many people have reached out to me. They’re like, “I was thinking of doing that,” or, “I'm going to bleach my hair.” It’s kind of fun. I think, as guys, why not have fun? Change your hair and shake it up. Why not? I can always hide behind the excuse that I’m doing it for work. But it’s also fun just to do something different, regardless of that.

I saw you got to throw out the first pitch at a Pirates game. How was that?

Honestly, one of the scariest experiences of my life. I didn’t grow up playing baseball. My oldest son plays a little bit, so I’ll throw a ball with him. But very suddenly it went from me being like, “Hey, could we get tickets to a Pirates game?” to, “You’re throwing out the first pitch.”

I haven't ever really played or been on a full-scale baseball pitch. I was like, “Oh, it’s a long way [from the mound to home plate].” And then in the buildup that week, everyone loves to talk about terrible pitches, people’s pitches that have gone wayward. Like, “Have you seen this person?” or whatever. So then my nerves are building and I found out that it's bad mojo for the team if you don't make it to the catcher.

I didn’t know that actually.

I was actually genuinely very nervous and it’s not my normal environment. I’m used to going onto a set and having to perform like that, but having to walk into a stadium with however many thousands of people and throw a ball is not in my usual wheelhouse. So I was very relieved when it went okay, and I got it to the catcher and they went on to win the game. I feel like maybe I’m a good luck charm.

Did you practice a bunch before the first pitch, or did you just let it rip?

I didn’t practice that day, but the day before, the location manager [on How to Rob a Bank] brought his glove to set. We were filming in this bank and he brought out his little wheelie measurer. He measured out how far it was going to be, and I was throwing inside this bank back and forth.