Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His body of work includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in independent projects in both the American and the English film industries. He has been nominated for such awards as a British Academy Film Award, a Critics Choice Award, and a Gold Derby Award. Hoult was included in Forbes magazine's 2012 list of 30 under 30.

Born and brought up in Wokingham, Berkshire, Hoult was drawn to acting from a young age and appeared in local theatre productions as a child. He made his screen debut at the age of seven in the 1996 film Intimate Relations, and appeared in several television programmes between 1998 and 2001. Hoult's breakthrough role was Marcus Brewer in the 2002 comedy drama film About a Boy, for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer. Although he initially wanted to study English, Hoult chose to pursue a career in acting and briefly attended Sylvia Young Theatre School.

Hoult received wide recognition for his role as Tony Stonem in the E4 teenage-drama series Skins. Although Hoult was dismissive of his character, he garnered praise and a nomination for Golden Nymph Award for his performance. His transition to adult roles began with the 2009 drama film A Single Man, for which he earned a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination. Hoult's role in the 2010 fantasy adventure film Clash of the Titans was also well received. He was cast as the mutant Hank McCoy in Matthew Vaughn's 2011 superhero film X-Men: First Class, a role he reprised in later instalments of the series; as of 2018, his role in the $747 million-grossing X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)"his second production in the franchise"has been his biggest commercial success to date.

Hoult starred in such big-budget productions as the 2013 fantasy film Jack the Giant Slayer, which was a box office bomb, and the 2015 action film Mad Max: Fury Road, which was a blockbuster. He has recently turned to starring roles"mostly in independent films"including three of his 2017 productions; the romantic drama Newness and the biographical films Rebel in the Rye and The Current War, in which he portrayed writer J. D. Salinger and inventor Nikola Tesla, respectively. Outside film, Hoult voiced Elliot in Lionhead Studios' 2010 action role-playing game Fable III, appeared in the 2009 West End play New Boy, and is involved in philanthropy, supporting such charitable organisations as Teenage Cancer Trust and Christian Aid.