Nicholas Hoult’s journey to becoming the iconic Lex Luthor in the upcoming Superman movie was far from the norm. Specifically, because the respected actor was initially auditioning to play the lead role in the highly anticipated film.

Lex Luthor is a maniacal villain, but he comes with layers. There are different ways that an actor can get into the character’s head space. So I asked Nicholas Hoult on the Superman set where his Lex draws his power, and the X-Men: First Class actor told CinemaBend:

James Gunn's Superman may have found its perfect Man of Steel in David Corenswet now, but there was another actor who was almost set to play the Kryptonian hero, and surprisingly, it was Nicholas Houl