Nicholas Hoult & David Corenswet vs. Lie Detector | Vanity Fair

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 seeing where you thought... I could do better, no? See, I don't want to be... I don't want to... Yes or no? Nicholas, David, we brought you here today to take a lie detector test. F*** that. Nope. 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. Too tight? No, it can be tighter. Yeah, that's good. I think, yeah. To begin, I'm going to ask you a few questions to calibrate the machine. Okay. Number one, is your full name Nicholas Karadoc Holt? Yes. Correct? Do I just say yes or no? Say yes or no. Yes. Did I pronounce that right? Karadoc, yes. Karadoc. Is that what I said? Yeah, pretty close. 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? Yes. Are you nervous? Yes. Is it true? No, this is baseline. We're still baselining. We know this is all true. We're still baselining. Is this the real thing now? Will you shut up for a second? Stephanie. We are calibrated. Nick. Can I call you Nick? 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'd be in the system. She's ramble. So it is your fallback. Does that mean you have mangled feet? No. Beautiful feet. That was a lie. No, my ugly feet. Do you know what your wiki feet score is? Yes. What is it? 4.5. It's around there. It's 4.96, my dear. You're doing very well. My ugly feet, obviously some people like. Do you know what my wiki feet score is? Oh. No. He's being truthful. That's good. That's a relief. That would have been a terrible lie to get caught in. I wish I did know. I haven't guessed though. I think it's probably... You've got to be 4.9 as well. I think 4.9 even. Yeah, nice feet. I don't think I've ever really seen your 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? Yeah. I'll give you a 4.97. Just a little bit better. That's a 4.99. According to this. I have no idea. 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. 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? Oh, God. It's hard to believe, Nick. I don't look that confident. If you really look into my eyes and the body language, I don't look that confident. Detecting big lies here. But could that not just be a reaction to seeing that photo? Possibly. 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 love it. 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. It'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'd love some. Okay. From you? Are you kidding? Yeah. Why haven't we played golf together? Because you don't play, do you? If you want to, we can. I mean, I have played. I'm not very good. Okay. 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. He's being truthful. Oh, ----. 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 at a Lakers game. Do you find that a bit degrading? I'm going to say no, but it's going to be a lie. Is it? Just answer yes or no. Oh, sorry. No. That is a lie. 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. I can't even look at you right now. I'm so sorry. I've got to now. Do you think the Lakers have a chance of reaching the finals next year? None. 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. Truthful. Yeah, I'd leave 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. Because it didn't lower it from 0% to 0%? I don't think I had a high chance anyway. 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. I just didn't have to. Just dedication. Oh, dedication. You're on the record saying you will put mayonnaise on, quote, anything that makes sense, unquote. Did you ever put mayonnaise on a bug? No. 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. 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. Oh, right. Not better than you. Sorry. Was that a lie? Inconclusive. Okay. It's hard to tell without having seen it. Digging holes over here. Just answer the questions. Don't say anything extra. You've previously stated that you wanted to make Luthor, 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. Were you listening 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. 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 of this whole interview. Do you listen to your podcasts at 1.25 times speed? No, regular speed. Do you know anybody who speeds up their podcasts? I've met people who speed up movies. Diving. On the old Playstation, who watch it 1.5 times on movies. Because they're like, oh, I've got to watch it, but they watch it fast. Psychopaths. You recently revealed that you also auditioned for the role of Superman. Was there ever a moment during one of our scenes together... This is going to be a funny question. Where you thought... I thought I could do it better than that. You read the pages. So, take a second. Breathe deeply. 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 the question. Was there ever a moment when you were looking at me... Where you thought... I could do it better than that. See, I don't want to be... ------- yes or no. Yes. That is truthful. But you know I didn't really think it. No, no, I know. All actors think that at some point. Just wait until we get to me in that chair. I hope I get to ask you the reverse. What ******* 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. 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. Yeah. Just for the record, I would have been astonished if the answer was no. No. Majority of the time I'd be sitting there watching and going, He's incredible. He's nailing it. Would you ever... Truth. Truth. Okay, yeah. I mean, I knew that was true. You said all that to me. Yeah, I know, but I could have been lying. Now I'm with a lie detector saying it. You're not that good a liar. 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. Waiting for Godot on the road. Open book. Last question. Did you lie at any point during this interview and we didn't catch you? Yes. Every single time. That's a lie. Yes. Ah, you got me. Gotcha. Sorry. I'm making Stephanie nervous now. You are. Now the tables have turned. We're going to 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 Coren Sweat? 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. No. It's a calibration question. Is he not nervous? It's just for... The internet claims you're six foot four. 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 six three. But I'm suspicious because we're definitely at least the same height. I know, and I say I'm six two, and when I go to the doctors... Six two? 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 six... Almost six three, but you say you're six four. 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 six three and a half or more to six four? Or are you required to round down to never seem like you're trying to over-inflate your height? I would round down. Well, because then it's like if someone turns up and they're like, oh, closer to six four, what a nice surprise. Right, but then also you wear lifts in your shoes, so... I don't wear lifts in my shoes. I wear regular shoes. Large lifts. If no, would you like to apologize for lying? Sure. You 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... Yes, it was... No. I watched the Super Bowl. Yes. Did that work? You were telling the truth. Yeah, I watched the Super Bowl. It was a great, amazing, amazing game to watch. Considering it was such a blowout, usually I don't like a blowout, but... 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? It appears he does like a blowout. He loves a blowout! You recently became a dad. 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 wore your pants on the outside of your trousers that day. Would you dress up as Superman for my son's birthday party? Yes. Anytime. That is the truth. Great. That's going to 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. It looks like you're being truthful. I say that because... You're pretty close though. At 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, your six-month check-up. How often do you re-watch? On New Year's Eve, it's 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 whole tradition that we've just started. And then I figure every six months because I'm already getting... I saw them on the plane and I was like, I'm not going to watch them on the 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? Jedi Knight in Star Wars. Truthful. I think that's right. Was that the hardest decision you've ever had to make? It was among them. Because like so many things do, it came down to the money. I'm already under contract for a sequel, but I'd be fresh negotiating for Star Wars. True. More truth. My dream role, I think, would be to play an X-Wing pilot in a Star Wars film. A Jedi was sort of my childhood dream. But now, since I'm into aviation, sitting in an X-Wing cockpit, huh, sounds so... First of all, great way to shoot a movie. You're just sitting there. You don't have to learn any choreography. You're just... 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. 40 pounds. Was that the most challenging part of this role? No. Being truthful. Was that the hardest job working with me? No. That's a lie. 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. I don't know if I want to continue with this. No, it 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. Quite 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. Could have been my left. Which testicle was it? I'm pretty sure it was my right. Right, middle or left? Well, as you well know, I lost the middle one in an early filming accident. I've seen it. 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. 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. Was that true, Stephanie? But I don't know where to go that's appropriate. You're the twelfth person to play Superman in live action. Which was your favourite 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? None of us have spoken since. 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 write me a very nice letter. So **** 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 want to play with yourself? Yes or no? Do you want to play with yourself? No, I'm not particularly interested in playing with... Yes or no? Not particularly interested in playing with yourself? That is a lie. I knew it. Finally. That was basically the final question. Oh, final question. 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. Well done. Very good lie detector. He loves blowouts and playing with himself. You 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. Oh, one final question. Fast press. I missed one. Did you ever watch me in a scene and think, I could do that better? All the ******* time. Truthful.