Nicholas Hoult Reacts to Musk’s Tesla Tribute With a Cheeky Response

Credit: Unsplash

A Playful Reply that Shows Hoult’s Witty Side in the Celebrity Feud

What happens when one of the world’s richest men mixes up history with Hollywood? Nicholas Hoult swoops in with a zinger, of course.

In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk took a moment to praise Nikola Tesla, the brilliant inventor after whom his car company is named. But instead of posting a photo of the actual Tesla, Musk shared an image of Nicholas Hoult playing Tesla in the 2019 movie The Current War. Cue the internet’s collective double take.

“We named @Tesla after Nikola Tesla, one of the greatest engineers ever,” Musk wrote, alongside the Hoult-as-Tesla pic. Musk then went on about Tesla’s immigrant roots and his contributions to electricity. But instead of historical inspiration, followers got Hollywood vibes.

Hoult, ever the class clown, jumped into the mix by quoting Musk’s post and joking, “Clearly a very convincing performance I gave here.”

We named @Tesla after Nikola Tesla, one of the greatest engineers ever.

He was a penniless immigrant whose inventions led to American dominance in electricity generation and usage. pic.twitter.com/1K1IdSUjM0

— Kekius Maximus (@elonmusk) December 27, 2024

The actor’s quick wit lit up social media, with fans joking Musk might rename Tesla’s next model after Hoult himself. “Introducing the Hoult-omobile: zero emissions, infinite sass,” one person quipped.

To be fair, Hoult did play a pretty dashing Nikola Tesla in The Current War, a film about the battle of electrical systems. Starring alongside Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison, Hoult brought AC power to life. While the movie had mixed reviews, it seems Hoult’s Tesla portrayal is officially burned into Musk’s memory.

This isn’t Hoult’s only brush with fame lately. He’s starring in Nosferatu, just played a major role in Juror #2, and is set to become Lex Luthor in Superman: Legacy. Maybe Musk is just getting ahead of the curve in confusing Hoult with other iconic figures.

As one fan joked, “First Tesla, next Edison, and by next week, Hoult’s probably playing Musk in a biopic!”