Well, he grew up.
He went on to star in my very favorite television show to date, "Skins" (it's british, but they're supposed to be making a US version, but MTV is making it, so look forward to it sucking). Someday I will make an entire post waxing poetic about Skins and all the amazing things about it (sex, drugs, electronica, namely), but for today we'll focus on Nicholas.
Well, after Skins, he went on to be in the amazing first film by Tom Ford, "A Single Man", which I saw a few weeks ago, which also explains above picture. He played the young boy with an ambiguous interest in Colin Firth's character, the aging gay professor, pondering suicide after being unable to get over his lover's death six months prior.
As you'd expect from Tom Ford, you get style, style, style. Amazing clothes, make-up. Occasionally the shots got a bit film school-y: "Oh, we can do slow-mo? We can freeze frame? Oooh, look at this cool pan shot!" but for a first film of a non-traditional director, it was just great. Not that I expected anything else.
Another thing I found refreshing was the portrayal of a gay relationship as the center of a film, portrayed in a romantic, "normal" way. There are nothing wrong with gay people acting stereotypically "gay", but not every gay person is obsessed with fashion, acts totally fey, etc. I think it's correct and necessary that we open dialogues about what it means to be homosexual without making the gay person the funny stereotypical friend, or have their gayness be this huge deal. Hey, guess what? Gay people can feel the exact same way that straight people do in relationships. Crazy, huh?
Another thing that pisses me off is the fetishization of lesbians in TVs and movies. Sure, there's the whole "porn" thing, but when they talk about real lesbian relationships, that kind of "she's gay, but will still sleep with you" thing seems to carry on. Like, lesbians portrayed are usually actually "bi" so the straight male audience will feel adequately catered to. And while every gay man seems to be a fey stereotype on TV, every lesbian seems to be completely straight in appearance. Why is this? Is it all pandering to straight males by saying that lesbians really still want you, and that gay men are totally unlike you, so you can totally tell who they are and avoid them as such?! Can't we see a butch woman every once in awhile too?
But on to Nicholas Hoult: isn't he adorable? Didn't I still totally love him on Skins even though his character was a complete asshole? (I did.)
Yeah. He's amazing.
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