Rachel Weisz was stunned to discover nerdy About a Boy co-star was such a gifted actor

Rachel Weisz struggled to take her The Favourite co-star Nicholas Hoult seriously, because she kept having flashbacks to their 2002 film About a Boy - when he was a "nerdy" 11 year old.

The actress admits Hoult, who plays devious politician Harley in the period comedy, was "an eccentric oddball" when they last worked together and she was quite surprised to see him all grown up.

"Nicholas was a very small boy, around 11, when I worked with him in About A Boy," Weisz says. "He was kind of like a nerdy kid in the sweetest possible way. He was an eccentric oddball in the best way and so was his character.

"He's grown up into this incredibly gifted, versatile actor, and he's extremely funny in The Favourite. But whenever I looked at him... I kept seeing the nerdy child. He looks like Adonis now, but I still see the nerdy child."

Chris and Paul Weitz's 2002 movie also featured Hugh Grant and Toni Collette, who played the struggling single mum of Hoult's character Marcus Brewer.

Hoult is all grown up now and recently became a first-time father - he and his girlfriend Bryana Holly welcomed the child last April (18), and recently confessed his kid has changed his life.

"Having a baby puts you in this place where you go, 'Oh, OK, this human is going to change a lot...' It makes you value time differently, which is why I talk very quickly in interviews now, because I need to get home," Nicholas told the Evening Standard's ES magazine.

Neither Nicholas nor Bryana have revealed the gender or name of their child.