Nicholas Hoult on Why He Had to Drop Out of ‘Mission: Impossible’

Nicholas Hoult was once set to star alongside Tom Cruise in an installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise, and the actor is now sharing why he had to drop out of the film.

In an interview with The Guardian published Friday, the actor reveals more about the scheduling conflicts that prevented him from starring in the film. Hoult was reported in 2020 to be cast as a villain in Mission: Impossible 7. At the time, director Christopher McQuarrie teased Hoult joining the franchise by writing on Instagram, “care to raise a little hell?” to which Hoult responded, “Though why stop at a little?”

However, Hoult’s role in Hulu’s The Great prevented him from being available to join the Mission: Impossible film. Dropping out of the role seemed to follow a chain of events in which the actor lost on out on other big roles.

“I screen-tested for Batman and didn’t get it. Screen-tested for Top Gun, didn’t get it. Then I got the call from Tom Cruise: ‘Hey, how about Mission Impossible?’ OK. Got it. Then I had to drop out because I was already attached to do some more of The Great,” Hoult tells The Guardian.

Hoult’s role in Mission: Impossible was later recast with Esai Morales.

In addition to Mission: Impossible, Hoult was also in the running to take on the role of Batman in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. As The Hollywood Reporter explained, Reeves was said to have met with Hoult and Pattinson, with both actors having shot screen tests in costume. They both also had a pre-negotiated deal in place to go into effect for whoever had the final contingency lifted, the screen test. Pattinson was ultimately cast as the Caped Crusader.

Meanwhile, Hoult did not disclose which role he auditioned for in Top Gun: Maverick, which would go on to star Miles Teller and Glen Powell among others.

Hoult can currently be seen on the big screen alongside Nicolas Cage in Universal’s horror comedy Renfield. His upcoming projects include joining Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu and starring in Juror No. 2 with Toni Collette in what is being geared up to be one of Clint Eastwood’s final films as a director

Juror No. 2 will take place during a murder trial and follow a juror (Hoult), who realizes that he may have caused a victim’s death. He must decide whether to manipulate the jury to save himself or reveal the truth and turn himself in. Collette would portray the prosecutor.