Nicholas Hoult Tells A Seafood Horror Story - Exclusive

Nicholas Hoult's culinary horror story definitely does not equal Tyler's, the die-hard foodie the actor portrays in "The Menu." It's not a competition, of course. If it were, not even you could beat out Tyler's harrowing experience at the hands of Chef Slowik as portrayed by Voldemort (i.e. Ralph Fiennes). But while you'll have to watch the star-studded movie to understand that, Hoult gave Tasting Table his own terrifying tale in a recent exclusive interview. We'll call it a warm-up to the real show, shall we?

Before we get into all the gory details, here are the basics: In this story, our protagonist (Hoult) goes on a tropical, seaside vacation with "a person." Don't worry. The person has a pretty minor role in the plot, and can safely remain nameless. Hoult — and this is helpful background info — likes to try local cuisines. In fact, he told Tasting Table that culinary experiences while traveling is a way to "... take a little bit of information home and learn about [the cultures]" he visits. In other words, the actor was not an entirely reluctant participant in this experience. It went horribly awry, nonetheless.

Here's another piece of useful background info on Nicholas Hoult. He may not be food-obsessed, but "The Menu" star is an adventurous eater. He told The Guardian he's eaten antelope in Swaziland, and in an even more daring culinary experience, he tried caterpillars. "I'll eat anything," he blithely told the press in the lead-up to "The Menu's" release.

As it turns out, that's exactly what he did once, in Belize. "I was in Belize on holiday, and we went spear-fishing," Hoult exclusively told Tasting Table. "We caught a fish and grilled it up, and the person I was with didn't like theirs." The same way you know the ill-fated chick in the horror flick is always going to investigate that noise coming from the basement, you can probably tell where this story is going, too. 

"I was like, 'This is rude. We've got to eat all of it because they've taken us out in this boat, and we've caught this and they helped cook it with us,' Hoult continued his story. "I ate theirs too and then got the worst food poisoning of my life from that." If you want in on the ugly particulars of the incident, you're out of luck. "We won't go into more detail on that, but it ruined my trip," Hoult concluded.

Nicholas Hoult stars alongside Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, and Hong Chau in the black comedy "The Menu," which opened in theatres on November 18.