You recently revealed
that you also auditioned for the role of Superman.
Was there ever a moment during one of our scenes together,
when you were looking at me, and see where you thought-
I could do better than that?
[Nicholas laughing]
See, I don’t want to be-
[beep] Yes or no!
[Host] Nicholas, David, we brought you here today
to take a lie detector test.
[beep] that!
[laughs] Nope!
[Host] One of you will be hooked up to the machine
while the other will ask the questions.
And then you’ll switch.
This is Stephanie, our polygraph operator.
Who wants to be in the hot seat first?
I don’t want to get it out of the way, I’m too nervous.
I don’t like this. Great.
I’ve never been calmer in my life.
[machines clicking]
Too tight?
No, it can be more tighter. [laughs]
Yeah, that’s good.
I think, yeah. Put this around here.
To begin, I’m gonna ask you a few questions
to calibrate the machine.
Okay. [breathes deeply]
Number one, is your full name Nicholas Caradoc Hoult?
Yes.
Correct? Do I just say yes or no?
Say yes or no. Yes.
Did I pronounce that right? Caradoc, yes.
Caradoc. Yeah.
Is that what I said?
Yeah, pretty close.
Okay. I can’t remember,
I’m too nervous. I’m so nervous.
Are you from England?
Yes.
Are you about to take a polygraph test?
Hmm, yes.
Are you nervous?
Yes. [laughs]
Is it true? No, she says
this is a baseline. Oh, we’re still baselining-
We know this is all true. We’re still baselining.
Yeah. Is this the real thing now?
Will you shut up for a second?
Stephanie. We are calibrated.
[David giggling]
Nick.
Can I call you Nick?
[Nicholas laughing]
You performed in productions of Swan Lake
and The Nutcracker for the English National Ballet.
Is acting your fallback
because you never made it as a ballerina?
No, I was a terrible ballet dancer,
but just got lucky that I was there
in the right place at the right time
and they needed a kid that could listen
to dancing instructions, I don’t know.
I’m definitely not talented at dancing or ballet.
That wasn’t a yes or no, sorry.
So I ask again, is acting your fallback career
because you were so terrible as a ballerina.
Yes.
Stephanie? Inconclusive.
Of course it was inconclusive,
you talked for like 20 minutes.
I’ve beaten the system, [chuckles] ramble.
So it is your fallback.
Does that mean you have mangled feet?
No.
Beautiful feet. Beautiful feet.
That was a lie.
[Nicholas screaming]
No, my ugly feet.
Do you know what your WikiFeet score is?
Yes.
What is it?
4.5?
It’s around there.
It’s 4.96, my dear.
You’re doing very well. Yeah, my ugly feet,
obviously some people like.
Do you know what my WikiFeet score is?
Oh.
No.
He’s being truthful.
Oh, that’s good, that’s a relief.
I would have been a terrible lie to get caught in.
I wish I did know.
I’m gonna guess though, I think it’s probably,
you’ve gotta be 4.9 as well.
You think 4.9 even. Yeah, nice feet.
I don’t think I’ve ever really seen you feet.
What if there’s another decimal place after that?
You’re a 4.96,
what do you think I am? I’m 4.96?
I’ll give you a 4.97.
Just a little bit better.
It’s a 4.99. [clears throat]
According to this,
I have no idea. You’re 4.99?
I’m just reading off the sheet.
That’s what it says. Well, it was me
that voted to make you a 4.99.
Oh, there’s also a question on here, are you jealous?
Yes. Yes, I’m jealous.
Stephanie? That is the truth.
[Nicholas laughing] Of course, it is.
Of course, you’ve got better feet than me.
You started acting at age three.
Yes. Would you say growing up
on camera made you more confident
in your fashion sense and choices?
No.
He’s telling the truth.
Not at all?
In my personal fashion sense? No.
Not confident?
No. So,
you weren’t confident in this look?
[chuckles] Oh, God.
It’s hard to believe, Nick.
I don’t look that confident.
If you really look into my eyes, I don’t look,
and the body language, I don’t look that confident.
Detecting big lies here.
[David and Nicholas laughing]
But could that not just be a reaction
to seeing that photo?
Possibly.
Yeah, I mean, it’s not the best.
Do you miss dressing like a member of a boy band?
Yes.
That’s the truth.
Follow up question, is that your real hair?
Right now? Yeah.
Yes.
Do you like it? Yes.
Truth. You I love it.
[David and Nicholas laughing]
You starred in About a Boy, opposite this man…
Yes. Allegedly, Hugh Grant.
Do you still have the signed golf clubs
he gave you as a wrap gift?
Yes.
Truthful.
Do you still play with them?
No, they’re for an 11 year old.
I’d be ridiculous. Much taller now.
Have you ever in turn gifted golf clubs to your co-stars?
No.
Yeah, he hasn’t.
He has not, he’s telling the truth.
Yeah, I certainly didn’t get a set.
Would you like some? I would love some.
Okay. From you, are you kidding?
Yeah.
Why haven’t we played golf together?
‘Cause you don’t play, do you?
If you want to, we can. [chuckles]
I mean, I have played. I’m not very good.
You’ve been spotted courtside at several Lakers games.
Yes. Do you think
you’ve ever distracted the players
with your piercing blue eyes?
Yes. [chuckles]
He’s being truthful.
[Nicholas laughing] Full of shit, come on.
Do you really? Yeah, that’s why I go,
to try and distract the other team, not the Lakers.
You’ve also sat not courtside in the Lakers game.
Do you find that a bit degrading?
[laughs] I’m gonna say no, but it’s gonna be a lie.
Is it? Just answer yes or no.
Oh, sorry, no.
That is a lie.
[Nicholas laughing]
It is a bit degrading, isn’t it?
Once you’ve been there.
Especially for someone of your esteem.
Yeah, well it’s difficult to distract them with my eyes
when I’m not close.
Now let’s get serious.
Yes. Would you ever consider
inviting me to a Lakers game? Yes.
Inconclusive.
[Nicholas chuckling]
I can’t even look at you right now.
Ugh. [clears throat] I’m so sorry.
I’ve got to now. [laughs]
Do you think the Lakers have a chance
of reaching the finals next year?
No.
That’s the truth.
So you’re not a real fan?
No, I’m a fan, I’m just trying to be honest.
I would love it if they did, prove me wrong.
Just being honest.
Should LeBron James retire after this season?
That’s a horrible question.
Come on, man,
answer the question. No.
Truthful. Yeah, I believe him.
You’ve starred in several X-Men films
as Hank McCoy, better known as Beast.
Do you think being cast as Lex Luthor
lowered your chances of having a cameo
in Avengers Secret Wars?
No.
He’s telling the truth.
‘Cause it didn’t lower it from 0% to 0%?
I don’t think I had a high chance anyway. [chuckles]
Is it because you simply can’t compete with this man?
Yeah, yes.
He’s a good Beast.
Kelsey Grammer, the first.
You ate real bugs to help prepare
for the role of Renfield, ew.
Be honest, was that really a requirement for the role?
No.
Truth. Just didn’t have to,
just dedication.
Pure dedication. [chuckles]
You’re on the record saying you will put mayonnaise
on quote, anything that makes sense, unquote.
[Nicholas laughing]
Did you ever put mayonnaise on a bug?
No. [chuckles]
He’s telling the truth.
Okay, that’s good. I hope that’s on
my gravestone.
I’ll put mayonnaise on anything that makes sense. [laughs]
That’s a dumb quote.
In the same film, you starred opposite this man,
Nicolas Cage. Yeah.
Do you wish you could have seen his take on Superman?
Yes.
That is the truth.
Yeah. I love Cage.
I love watching Cage in anything.
He’s the best. All right.
Not better than you.
[chuckles] Sorry.
Is that how it sounded?
Actually, inconclusive.
Yeah, okay. [laughing]
Well, I guess it’s hard to tell without-
I’m digging holes over here.
I just answer the questions.
Don’t say anything extra.
You’ve previously stated that you wanted to make Luther,
quote, as alpha as possible, unquote.
Were there any alpha male podcasts that you listened to
to help get into the character?
No.
That is the truth.
Yeah, that makes sense.
What, do you listen to sports podcasts?
I don’t know, I guess you’d listen to, I don’t know.
I listened to the audio book of Elon Musk’s book,
even though I didn’t base the character on Elon at all,
but I just thought it’d be interesting.
What do you normally listen to?
Sports podcasts?
Sometimes, yeah, basketball podcasts.
Mixed, at the moment I’ve been listening
to some Professor Galloway,
kind of his research for another job.
Let me ask you the most important question
this whole interview. Yeah.
Do you listen to your podcasts at 1.25 time speed?
No, regular speed. Yeah.
You know anybody who speeds up their podcasts?
I’ve met people who speed up movies.
Dogging. On the old PlayStation,
who watch it one and a half times on movies,
’cause they’re like, Oh, I’ve gotta watch it,
but they watch it fast.
Psychopaths. I’m like, wow.
You recently revealed that you also
auditioned for the role of Superman.
Was there ever a moment
during one of our scenes together… [chuckles]
[chuckles] This is gonna be a funny question.
Where you thought- I thought I could do
better than that.
Did you read the pages?
[Nicholas laughing]
So take a second. No, I just thought-
Breathe deeply. If I was doing-
Take a second, breathe deeply.
If I was doing this question, if I was doing this quiz,
that’s what I would ask.
Great, take a breath.
I’m already stressed by- Was there ever
a moment when you were looking at me
and you see where you thought-
I could do it better than that.
[Nicholas laughing]
See, I don’t wanna be-
Fucking yes or no.
Yes.
That is truthful.
[Nicholas laughing]
But you know I didn’t really think it.
No, no, I know.
All actors think that at some point.
[Nicholas laughing]
Just wait till we get to me in that chair.
Yeah, I hope I get to ask you the reverse.
What fucking scene was it?
Well, I don’t know, I’m actually trying to think.
But you know what it was?
It wasn’t actually ever that.
What’s very interesting about,
I auditioned to play Superman.
And so I know how difficult it is to play that character
because it is very difficult.
So actually, a majority of the time watching you,
I was impressed by how easy you made it look and how dynamic
and what you brought to that character
because that was special.
So, and that’s more, there was lots of other thoughts going
on when I answered that question
and when I’d watch you playing that character.
Just for the record, I would have been astonished
if the answer was no.
No, mostly, like,
majority of the time I’d be sitting there watching it going,
He’s incredible.
He’s nailing it.
[David] Would you ever…
Truth. Would you ever…
Oh, truth. Okay, yeah.
I mean, I know that’s true.
You said all that to me and- Yeah, no,
but I could’ve been lying.
Now I’m with a lie detector saying it.
You’re not that good a liar.
[Nicholas laughing]
Would you ever consider taking Superman and Lex on the road
and swapping roles every night?
Yes. I think that’d be
a lot of fun. Yes.
Truthful.
Waiting for Godot on the road,
but Lex- Open book.
Last question, did you lie at any point
during this interview and we didn’t catch you?
Yes, every single time.
[David gasps]
[Nicholas laughing]
That’s a lie. Yeah.
Ah, you got me. I gotcha.
[David and Nicholas laughing]
I’m making Stephanie nervous now.
You are. Now the tables have turned.
We’re gonna turn them back real quick, though.
Okay, I’m going to ask you a few questions
to calibrate the machine.
Is your full name David Packard Corenswet?
Yes. Are you from Philadelphia?
Yes.
Are you about to take a polygraph test?
As far as I know.
Are you, just yes and no, please.
Don’t be smart.
Yes. Thank you.
Are you nervous?
No.
It’s a calibration. Is he not nervous?
It’s just for- I doesn’t appear that he is,
actually. Yeah.
Look at you.
The internet claims you’re 6’4.
Have you ever lied about your height
to make yourself seem taller than you are?
No, I don’t think so.
That is a lie.
What I remember is lying to make myself seem shorter.
I did say that I was 6’3… [chuckles]
[Nicholas giggling]
But I’m suspicious because we’re definitely
at least the same height.
I know, and I say I’m 6’2.
And when I go to the doctors- 6’2?
Yeah, and when I go to the doctors,
they measure me with the proper thing.
I’m like 189 and a bit centimeters,
which is maybe almost 6’3, but you say you’re 6’4.
Well, let me ask you a question.
Do you think, especially as a gentleman,
do you think it’s appropriate to round up
if you’re 6’3 1/2 or more to 6’4?
Or are you required to round down to never seem
like you’re trying to over-inflate your height?
I would round down. Just always?
Well, because then it’s like if someone turns up
and they’re like, Oh, closer to 6’4, what a nice surprise.
Right, but then also you wear lifts in your shoes,
so it should pass you with that.
I don’t wear lifts in my shoes.
I wear regular shoes.
Large lifts.
If no, would you like to apologize for lying?
Sure. Yeah.
You’ve recently claimed that every time
you watch an Eagles game, they lose.
So you didn’t watch the Super Bowl this year.
No, I didn’t claim…
Yes, it was hyper…
No, I watched the Super Bowl, yes.
Did that work?
You were telling the truth.
Yeah, I watched the Super Bowl.
It was an amazing, amazing game to watch.
Considering it was such a blowout,
usually I don’t like a blowout, but. [chuckles]
Don’t put that in.
Keep that in.
Run that in the credit bit.
He loves a blowout.
Is that a lie? Does he like a blowout?
[group laughing]
It appears he does like a blowout.
He loves a blowout.
[group laughing]
You recently became a dad.
Speaking of dads, this man once dressed up as Batman
for his son’s birthday party.
Would you ever dress up as Superman
for your daughter’s birthday?
No.
The machine was detecting some deception there also.
Yeah. Maybe you just wear your pants
on the outside of your trousers that day.
Would you dress up as Superman for my
son’s birthday parties? Yes, anytime.
That is the truth.
Great, that’s gonna be very useful for me.
Thank you very much.
You’re on the record being a huge Star Wars fan.
Is it true that you can recite entire scenes from memory?
No.
Looks like you’re being truthful.
I say that because- You’re pretty close though.
In periods in my life, I have been able to,
and if I’ve just re-watched the films, I can.
At the moment, I don’t think I would be able to.
I’m due for a re-watch.
It’s like your dentist,
you know, your six month checkup.
How often do you re-watch every six months?
On New Year’s Eve is now the tradition,
starting the three movies,
ending with the second Death Star exploding at midnight.
There’s food involved as well.
It’s a wonderful tradition that we’ve just started.
And then I figure every six months,
’cause I’m already getting…
I saw them on the plane and I was like,
I’m not gonna watch them on a plane,
but after the movie comes out, I’ll watch them.
Okay, good.
So I won’t make you recite them right now,
but we will in the future.
If you had the choice between playing Superman again
in the sequels,
or starring as a Jedi Knight in Star Wars,
which one would you choose?
[breathes deeply]
Jedi Knight in Star Wars.
Truthful.
Oh, I think that’s right.
Was that the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make?
It was among them.
In the end, as many things do, it came down to the money.
I’m already under contract for a sequel,
but I’d be fresh negotiating with Star Wars, so.
True? More truth, yeah.
[David and Nicholas laughing]
My dream role, I think, would be to play
like an X-wing pilot in a Star Wars film.
A Jedi was sort of my childhood dream,
but now, since I’m into aviation,
that like sitting in an X-wing cockpit,
huh, sounds so, first of all, great way to shoot a movie.
You’re just sitting there-
In the cockpit. Yeah, you don’t have
to learn any choreography, you just beep-boop-boop-boop.
[chuckles] In 2019, you said you wanted to play Superman.
Were you secretly pitching yourself
because you knew this project was in development?
No.
Truthful. Are there any other jobs
you’d like to pitch yourself for now?
Well, yeah, a pilot, an X-Wing pilot in a Star Wars film.
You put on 40 pounds
of muscle. Don’t say it like that.
Not a muscle, no. 40 pounds.
Was that the most challenging part of this role?
No.
You’re being truthful.
Was the most challenging part of this job working with me?
No.
That’s a lie.
[Nicholas laughing]
Well, what was the actual question?
The actual question was, was it taking off your costume
to go to the bathroom, but now my feelings are hurt
and I don’t know if I want to continue with this.
That was putting the costume on.
Okay, how sweaty was the costume?
Quite sweaty.
I don’t know, how do you grade sweatiness?
It’s like medium rare sweaty?
Yeah, yeah.
Quite sweaty. Raw, just raw and sweaty.
Steamy.
Were you able to scratch an itch?
Depends where the itch was.
You spent the majority of the production strapped
to a harness to perform the flying and fight scenes.
Where was the wildest bruise you got?
My right testicle.
Inconclusive.
It could’ve been my left.
Which testicle was it? I’m pretty sure
it was my right. Right, middle, or left?
[David and Nicholas laughing]
Well, as you well know, I lost the middle one
in an early filming accident.
There is footage from filming where, have you seen it?
I think I’ve seen it.
Of me getting pulled through the air.
It’s this wonderful epic moment.
It’s in the trailer part, the beginning of it,
where I stand up and punch the glass out,
and then I leap out the window and fly through the air.
And on the first take of that,
it’s this big epic punch and a leap through the air,
and then just, my testicle.
[Nicholas laughing]
That was all truthful.
Oh yeah, couldn’t lie about that, it’s on film.
I want to ask you more questions about your testicles.
[Nicholas laughing]
Was that true, Stephanie? [laughs]
But I don’t know where to go that’s appropriate.
You’re the 12th person to play Superman in live action.
Which was your favorite Superman growing up?
I think Tom Welling.
Truthful.
You wrote a letter to Tyler ahead of the series finale
as Superman and Lois.
Did you write a letter to any other Superman?
Yes.
Inconclusive.
Because, to give Henry Cavill credit,
he wrote me a note first.
So I wrote him a note in response to his note.
Tyler, I initiated writing him a note
and he wrote me a note.
So you’re all pen pals?
Oh, none of us have spoken since.
Okay, what did Henry,
I didn’t know Henry wrote to you, what did he say?
Well, I think I’ll keep that between him and me,
thank you very much.
He said some lovely things.
Did Tyler or Henry share any secrets on playing the role?
No.
Truthful. Not that I remember.
Why haven’t you written me any letters?
I did write you a very nice letter-
You did actually,
you did write me a very nice letter.
So fuck right off with that.
I was lying, sorry.
Funny question.
As Superman, you have had dozens of action figures
made in your likeness.
As a collector, would you ever take them out of the package
or would you play with them?
As a collector,
you obviously would not take them out of the package.
I personally am not good at that.
I think if, I’m like-
You wanna play with yourself? [laughs]
Yes or no, do you want to play with yourself?
No, I’m not particularly interested in playing with-
Yes or no? No.
Not particularly interested in playing with yourself.
That is a lie.
Yeah, I knew it.
Finally, that was basically the final question,
oh, final version.
Did you lie at any point in this interview?
We know you did.
No, and not get caught.
Read the end of the sentence. Oh, sorry,
and not get caught.
I think I got, I mean, inconclusive doesn’t really count
as getting caught.
I think that counts as beating the system,
so I would say no.
Okay, well done.
Very good lie detector.
He loves blowouts and playing with himself.
Didn’t ask me if I ever thought
that I could be better than you in a scene.
I’ll ask that. No, no, no, it’s over.
Nope- Oh, one final question.
Hot from the press.
I missed one.
Did you ever watch me in a scene
and think I could do that better?
All the fucking time.
[David and Nicholas laughing]
Truthful.
[group laughing]
