'X-Men' star Nicholas Hoult auditioned for a leading role in 'Game of Thrones'

X-Men and Tolkien star Nicholas Hoult has revealed he tried to land a leading role in Game of Thrones - but his audition was unsuccessful.

It’s tough to imagine anyone but Kit Harington playing heroic Jon Snow in the fantasy epic, but it turns out he faced some stiff competition for the role in the shape of fellow English actor Hoult.

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Talking to Page Six, the About a Boy star said: “I auditioned for Jon Snow. I remember it because I was filming Clash of the Titans at the time, so I had long hair extensions. They gave me a ponytail and also a very patchy fake tan. So I remember being like, ‘This is probably not what they’re hoping for,’ and it obviously wasn’t.”

But there is no bitterness from the actor, who also revealed he watched the first series of the HBO show before his busy schedule prevented him from watching the whole series.

“I’ll binge-watch it when laid up in bed with the flu for couple days,” he said.

The 29-year-old is currently busy promoting Tolkien and new X-Men film Dark Phoenix.

He kept himself busy during filming for Dark Phoenix by painting, in an attempt to get in the right mind frame to play Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit author JRR Tolkien.

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“I painted and copied his illustrations because I didn’t know he drew the maps and illustrations for his books.

“It was just something that I was like, ‘Oh, he was interested and did that and that’s something that maybe can give me some subconscious element of his nature.'”

Hoult stars alongside Lily Collins and Colm Meaney in Tolkien (in cinemas now), which chronicles the famous author’s early years up until he began writing his famous Middle Earth novels. Watch a trailer below.