There has been a social media war between factions of MAGA recently, andElon Muskweighed in with an odd post.Entertainment Weeklyreports that the post on Twitter (currently X) was “part of an ongoing argument among supporters of President-elect Donald Trump about the value of immigration visas.” The post was made in support of his argument for H-1B visas, which allow a certain number of skilled overseas workers to be employed in America. “We named @Tesla after Nikola Tesla, one of the greatest engineers ever,” wrote Musk. “He was a penniless immigrant whose inventions led to American dominance in electricity generation and usage.” However, Musk posted a photo of the actorNicholas Houltrather than a photo of the inventor himself.
In the image,Hoult was playingNikola Tesla in the 2017 film,The Current War. Hoult saw the post and commented, “Clearly a very convincing performance I gave here.“The Current Waralso starred Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison and Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse. The film was produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. The story follows the professional and personal struggle between these three pioneers of electricity, exploring each system and weighing whether Edison’s system or Tesla’s would come out on top as America’s chosen electric current system.
Produced by The Weinstein Company, the film’srelease was delayed after the New York Times exposed the decades of sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein. The movie was partially reshot and re-edited, and finally premiered in 2019. It has an 83% audience score but a 33% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics' consensus reading “The Current Waris powered by an outstanding cast and an intriguing, history-inspired story, which makes this drama’s low wattage all the more shocking.”
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Perhaps Musk’s post will introduce the forgotten film to new eyes. Why he didn’t use an actual image of Tesla is a question best left for him. And why he chose Hoult and this relatively obscure film, rather than David Bowie’s great performance as Tesla inThe Prestigeor Ethan Hawke’s in the fittingly namedTesla, is even more curious.
Nicholas Hoult Is a Busy Man
2024 was a great year for Hoult. The actor starred in Clint Eastwood’sJuror #2, The Garfield Moviewith Chris Pratt,The Orderwith Jude Law, and Robert Eggers' highly anticipated remake of the Gothic horror classicNosferatu,which premiered on Christmas Day. Rounding out the cast is Willem Dafoe, Lily-Rose Depp, Emma Corrin, and Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok. Read MovieWeb’sreview ofNosferatuby George Edelman here.
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The Orderstars Jude Law and Tye Sheridan as an FBI agent and a cop investigating a series of bank robberies and car heists he believes are connected to a group of domestic terrorists; Hoult is incredible as the leader of a neo-Nazi group.Juror #2focuses on the moral dilemma of a sitting juror on a high-profile murder case. With the ability to influence the verdict and potentially convict, or free, the accused killer, the stakes are high and the drama flows. Both films are now available to watch on streaming.Hoult is also starring as the iconic supervillan, Lex Luthor, in James Gunn’sSupermannext July. Audiences have been raving online about the film’s teaser trailer that dropped a few days ago.
If fans are looking for more Hoult performances while we wait forSuperman, then there is a plethora to choose from. Having started acting at the age of five, Hoult’s resume began as a child actor in the great moviesAbout a BoyandThe Weather Man.Nosferatuis actually just his latest horror role, having recently starred in 2023’s horror comedyRenfieldalongside Nicolas Cage. Starring in Hulu’s historical comedyThe Great,Hoult’s comic skills really shine and his on-screen chemistry with co-star Elle Fanning is luminous. He’s also famous for playing Beast in theX-Menfranchise. His best performances (and films) are arguablyA Single Man, The Favourite,andWarm Bodies.
The Current War
