Nicholas Hoult Says He Sees Ex-Girlfriend Jennifer Lawrence as 'Family’

Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult in 2012
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Nicholas Hoult says there's no awkwardness when it comes to working with his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Lawrence.

Nicholas Hoult says there's no awkwardness when it comes to working with his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Lawrence.

Hoult, 29, and Lawrence, 28, met on the set of 2011's X Men: First Class and dated for four years before splitting in 2014. However, the two continue to work together on the X-Men series -- including the highly anticipated Dark Phoenix -- which comes out in June. In a new interview with ES Magazine, Hoult says he now considers Lawrence "family." 

"It’s pretty similar to Skins, we’re a big family, we’ve been doing those movies since we were 20 years old," he notes, referring to the popular British TV series he also starred in. "As much as the Skins crowd grew up together, the X-Men crowd really grew up together. It’s been a good eight, nine years making those movies."

"We’ve all got to get along, we’ve all got to have fun," he continues. "The really beautiful thing about this last film is that [writer and director] Kim Berger has given me somewhere nice and new to experiment and go with the character. Which is cool." 

Of course, Hoult and Lawrence have also moved on when it comes to their love lives. Lawrence is now dating gallery director Cooke Maroney, and Hoult confirms during the interview that he welcomed his first child with model girlfriend Bryana Holly nine months ago. The fiercely private actor doesn't reveal his child's gender, but does share how his life has changed.

"Having a baby puts you in this place where you go, 'Oh, OK, this human is going to change a lot,'" he says. "It makes you value time differently, which is why I talk very quickly in interviews now, because I need to get home to them." 

"The levels of tiredness are extreme," he also notes. "No one warns you about it! But the level of love that comes with it outweighs everything. It’s phenomenal. I’m loving it. And it evolves all the time. They change so much, every day is different. It fills you up as a human completely."

Hoult says his child is definitely his No. 1 priority, not his flourishing career.

"Fatherhood is the main thing. Yeah. That," he says. "I’m going to do a hell of a lot of that."

Meanwhile, Hoult and Lawrence are clearly on friendly terms. Last September, Lawrence even brought Maroney to the New York Film Festival premiere of her ex's critically acclaimed film, The Favourite.

ET sat down with Hoult in 2016, when he revealed his biggest lessons in love, and whether or not he believes in soulmates. Watch the video below for more:

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