Underrated Actor of the Week: Nicholas Hoult

You might remember Nicholas Hoult from the 2002 film, ‘About a Boy.’  Hoult played a bit of an outcast, and received a lot of praise for his performance.  At the time, Roger Ebert said that he liked that Holt isn’t “conventionally cute,” and every moment he has on screen is authentic.  Eight years later, I think it’s safe to say that Nicholas Hoult is now “conventionally cute.”   Since ‘About a Boy’, Hoult’s most known role is in the UK television show, ‘Skins’.  The main reason I chose him for this week’s post though, is because of his very touching performance in the 2005 film, ‘Wah-Wah.’  The film was written and directed by British actor Richard E. Grant, and it is loosely based on his own childhood in Swaziland, during the last days of the British Empire in Africa in the 1960’s.  The story is secondary to the characters, so keeping the audience engaged was a formidable task that Hoult easily lived up to.  I’m surprised that it didn’t garner more attention, but perhaps the limited release had something to do with it.  I realize he’s only 20, so it’s slightly odd to call him “underrated” at such a young age.  But with those great credits on his resume so far, I think it’s fitting.