Nicholas Hoult felt relieved when he was cast as Lex Luthor instead of Superman

Nicholas Hoult felt a sense of relief when he was cast as Superman's nemesis, Lex Luthor, instead of the superhero.

The British actor originally auditioned to portray the titular superhero in James Gunn's Superman, even though he had a gut feeling he was better suited to Lex, so he was "thrilled" when the writer/director offered him the villainous role instead.

"I remember reading the script for the first time and there was a tiny little piece of my instinct that was like, 'You might be a good Lex,' or, 'You might have fun playing this character,'" he recalled in an interview with Empire magazine. "But I brushed it aside. I wasn't listening to my instincts, which I guess is not a good thing."

Hoult revealed that he "just cackled" when Gunn called him after his camera test and said he wanted him to play the bald-headed baddie instead of Superman.

"Because there was an instant flash in my brain where I went, 'Oh, you knew this would be best,'" he explained. "So there was a moment of excitement, joy, thrill, and then also I'd say relief or something, where I was like, 'Oh, this has ended up how it should have done if I had kind of listened to my gut early on.'"

To prepare for the role, the Nosferatu star looked to his Lex Luthor predecessors Gene Hackman and Michael Rosenbaum for inspiration.

Hackman played Lex opposite Christopher Reeve in Superman, Superman II and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace in the 1970s and 1980s, while Rosenbaum portrayed the iconic comic book character on Smallville for seven seasons from 2001 and 2008.

Hoult stars alongside David Corenswet as the Man of Steel in Superman, which hits cinemas on 11 July.