Beast actor Nicholas Hoult recalls his weird Marvel audition requests and preparation for his X-Men role. Beast appeared in six of Fox’s thirteen X-Men movies — twice played by Kelsey Grammer, in X-Men: The Last Stand and a cameo in X-Men: Days of Future Past; and four times by Nicholas Hoult, in X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Kelsey Grammer played a seasoned version of Hank McCoy a.k.a. Beast, whereas Nicholas Hoult played a younger, more involved variant of the character. Grammer also played Beast in The Marvels‘ post-credits scene, which suggests Grammer’s version of the mutant will return in the MCU.

At MEGACON Orlando 2025, where ScreenRant was in attendance, Superman and X-Men actor Nicholas Hoult spoke about his unconventional casting audition experiences. Hoult mentions one where he had to bark his lines, and when asked about whether that audition was for X-Men, he revealed that his Beast audition required him to play the hero like Family Guy character Stewie Griffin. Hoult says:

“There was one where there wasn’t a language for the character, and you had to just bark. It was basically ‘do it in English’ and then they had to pretend to talk to another character, and bark. And they’d bark back. [when asked if that was for First Class]… The weirdest request in [the First Class] audition was ‘do one take as Stewie Griffin'”

Nicholas Hoult also reveals one of the inspirations behind his Beast portrayal. According to Hoult, he partially modeled his Hank McCoy performance on Frasier‘s Niles Crane, played by David Hyde Pierce. Hoult recalls:

“Before we did First Class, I watched a lot of Frasier. I would walk around and be like Niles. I was trying to get the accents”

Why Nicholas Hoult’s Beast Audition & Niles Inspiration Are Deeper Than You Realize

Stewie Griffin And Niles Crane Share An Unexpected Connection

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Nicholas Hoult’s voluntary Niles Crane and involuntary Stewie Griffin inspirations for Beast may seem a bit arbitrary. However, Family Guy‘s 100th episode special features a gag where one of the test audience members interviewed by Seth McFarlane thinks Stewie Griffin is voiced by Frasier‘s David Hyde Pierce. In Family Guy season 21 episode 14, “White Meg Can’t Jump”, Stewie pᴀsses out from shock and his soul comes out of his body; after his soul pᴀsses out, David Hyde Pierce comes out of his body and says, “I’m David Hyde Pierce. I’m two layers down, but I’m in there.”

Family Guy likes to feature David Hyde Pierce gags in unexpected moments. In Family Guy season 4 episode 14, “PTV”, Pierce has a wardrobe malfunction at the Emmys. In Family Guy season 20 episode 7, “Peterschmidt Manor”, Elle reveals she kissed a guy who was once beaten up by Pierce. And in Family Guy season 2 episode 1, “Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater”, Brian tries to teach manners to Stewie by forcing him to watch Frasier. A clearer connection between Beast, Stewie, and Niles, of course, is the fact that Frasier Crane actor Kelsey Grammer played the X-Men movie franchise’s Beast before Nicholas Hoult.

Our Take On Nicholas Hoult’s Beast Comments

Nicholas Hoult’s Beast Portrayal Doesn’t Resemble Stewie Griffin Or Niles Crane Too Much

Both Seth McFarlane’s Stewie Griffin and David Hyde Pierce’s Niles Crane are incredibly intelligent and sarcastic. Both in the comics and the movies, Beast is a slightly snarky genius-level scientist, but he’s considerably a more courteous and kindhearted character than Family Guy‘s Stewie and Frasier‘s Niles. Perhaps Beast’s naughtier personality traits were toned down when Nicholas Hoult first put on the blue make-up in X-Men: First Class, but Hoult will certainly embody Stewie Griffin and Niles Crane’s mischievous aspects more clearly as Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s Superman.

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