Hollywood is full of stories about how actors landed their most iconic roles, from a star turning down a part that went on to define someone else’s career to a chance moment that ended up changing everything. Now, adding to the list is Nicholas Hoult's casting in Clint Eastwood's Juror #2.

Anyone would assume it was Hoult’s sense of justice, or perhaps that contemplative look in his eyes, that convinced Eastwood he had found his juror. For the legendary director, though, it was something far wilder: a scene from The Great that had nothing to do with the courtroom.

Nicholas Hoult has been a fixture of the acting world since childhood, wearing countless hats with ease along the way, from teen heartthrob to scene-stealing villain. The résumé backs it up, with a BAFTA nominaton, two Golden Globe nominations and a Primetime Emmy nomination among his accolades. But none of that is what caught the eye of acclaimed director Clint Eastwood.

According to Hoult’s How to Rob a Bank co-star Pete Davidson, the filmmaker was far more impressed by something else entirely; the on-screen oral skills Hoult displayed in The Great.

"That's also the role that got you the Clint Eastwood movie," Davidson said as Nicholas Hoult named his The Great character as his GOAT role.

Davidson and Hoult went on to joke on Complex's GOAT Talk about the bizarre way the Juror #2 actor got booked for Clint Eastwood's legal thriller. The oddness only deepens when the two projects sit side by side. The Great is an absurdist, satirical dark comedy-drama that plays fast and loose with history, while Juror #2 is a sober courtroom thriller set in recent times. About the only thing linking them is Hoult’s talent.

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While the story of how Nicholas Hoult landed on a Clint Eastwood movie set is funny, what is funnier is how the director greeted him there.

Clint Eastwood is best known for award-winning films and thrillers that keep audiences perched on the edge of their seats, but humor is not the first quality associated with the Hollywood legend. Nicholas Hoult says otherwise. While promoting Nosferatu on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Hoult said Eastwood, then 94, had given him an NSFW nickname on the Juror #2 set.

"He would salute me in the morning and say Cap'n Lingus" Hoult revealed.

Much like how Hoult will carry that memory forever, so will the audience, not simply because of how entertaining it was, but also because it shows an unseen side to the acclaimed director. And it all traces back to that one racy stretch of The Great, which opened the door to Eastwood’s set and to a morning greeting Hoult is unlikely to forget.

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