When Robert Pattinson was first reported to be the latest actor to put his spin on the caped crusader in a new Batman movie, it was the film news that everyone had an opinion on at the time.

But spare a thought for Nicholas Hoult, who has revealed he was still in the running for the role when the news was first reported.

“And I was like, ‘It’s not confirmed yet! I’m auditioning next weekend. Give me a chance!’.”

Opening up about what it was like to lose out on such a high-profile gig, Nicholas admitted: “Of course it’s an emotional blow.”

“Rob is fantastic in that movie. That was the right decision. But you get excited by the prospect,” he continued. “It’s a cool movie and I [wanted] to be a part of it. It’s a brilliant character.

“There’s a weird period before you can get to the acceptance and see the movie and be like, ‘that was the right choice’, you go through the period of ‘what could I have done different? Why not me?’. You run through all those things.”