Nicholas Hoult recalls Tom Cruise call: ‘Hey, how about Mission Impossible?’

Nicholas Hoult has revealed that he had to pull out of a role in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One after Tom Cruise approached him.

The seventh film in the action franchise, which will be released in July, almost featured Hoult, 33, as its primary villain.

In January 2020, news of Hoult’s casting broke, with writer and director Christopher McQuarrie posting a (now-deleted) photo of the actor to Instagram, with the caption “Say, @nicholashoult, care to raise a little hell?”

Hoult then responded: “Love to. Though why stop at a little?”

But just months later, Bad Boys actor Esai Morales, 60, replaced Hoult in the role.

Speaking in a new interview with The Guardian, Hoult said he had three quite big career disappointments in a row. “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.”

The Batman role went to Robert Pattinson, while Miles Teller got the Top Gun part.

In satirical historical drama The Great, returning for a third season next month, Hoult plays Peter III of Russia opposite Elle Fanning’s Catherine the Great.

Elsewhere in the interview, Hoult said that Skins has been “the most disruptive” job of his career, “life-wise”.

“For a moment it was a different level of fame – it was a bit scary,” he said. “I didn’t like it. It just makes you feel like you can’t mooch around.”

Mission: Impossible 7 is out on 14 July 2023.