Matt Bomer says he lost the chance to play Superman decades back after it was learned he was gay.
‘That’s my understanding,’ the Emmy-nominated actor, 46, said on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast Monday when asked if his sexuality could have factored in losing the part. ‘How, and why, and who, I don’t know, but yeah, that’s my understanding.’
The Golden Globe-winning star added, ‘That was a time in the industry when something like that could still really be weaponized against you.’
The Webster Groves, Missouri-born actor said that the incarnation of Superman he would have played was for a film in the early 2000s that was ultimately scuttled.
‘This is a very early iteration of Superman written by J.J. Abrams, called Superman: Flyby, I think is what it was called, and it never came to light,’ Bomer said.
Matt Bomer, 46, says he lost the chance to play Superman decades back after it was learned he was gay. Pictured Sunday in LA at the 84th annual Peabody Awards
Bomer said he auditioned ‘again and again and again’ for the role, and had been the preferred choice of director Brett Ratner, who ultimately left the project over casting issues
The Fellow Travelers actor continued: ‘I went in on a cattle call for Superman, and then it turned into a one-month audition experience where I was auditioning again and again and again.’
Bomer said in the interview he had inked a three-film contract with Warner Bros. on the project.
The project was initially slated to be directed by Brett Ratner, the filmmaker whose career has stalled in the wake of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct amid the MeToo movement in late 2017.
Bomer said, ‘It looked like I was the director’s choice for the role.’
Ratner in March of 2003 departed from the project, which was initially slated to be titled Superman: Flyby and later Superman: Man of Steel, according to Entertainment Weekly.
At the time, Ratner issued a statement that read, ‘I have chosen to withdraw as director of Superman. The difficulty of casting the role of Superman has contributed to my decision. I appreciate the efforts of Warner Bros. and the entire production team during this process.’
Variety reported Ratner left the film after studio execs would not cast Bomer after Josh Hartnett and the late Paul Walker declined to take the role; and the studio wanted Brendan Fraser in the high-profile part.
The timeframe of the scuttled film was less than a decade before Bomer publicly came out as gay in 2012.
The Golden Globe-winning star said, ‘That was a time in the industry when something like that could still really be weaponized against you.’
The project was initially slated to be directed by Brett Ratner, whose career has stalled in the wake of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct amid the MeToo movement in late 2017. Ratner pictured in Sun Valley, Idaho in March of 2017
Author Jackie Collins, appearing on Gaydar Radio in October of 2012, said that Bomer’s sexuality had played a part in him losing out on the role.
‘Matt Bomer, who is the most gorgeous looking guy and the star of White Collar, he had not come out of the closet, but people in the know knew he was gay,’ Collins said. ‘His audition tape went in and he called up the agent and somebody didn’t like him and told [the producers] he was gay.
‘They said, “No, no, we can’t cast you.” The reason he didn’t get cast was because he was gay.’
Later that month, an insider told E! News that Bomer’s sexuality wasn’t the reason he didn’t get the role, but rather Ratner’s departure from the movie.
‘Matt was Brett’s Superman,’ the insider said. ‘He would never have not cast Matt because he’s gay. Brett knew Matt was gay. They’re good friends. Matt not being Superman had nothing to do with his sexuality. It was because the director changed.’
Bomer went on to voice the role of Superman in the 2013 animated film Superman: Unbound, which also featured the voices of Stana Katic, John Noble, Diedrich Bader, Jason Beghe and Stephen Root.
After Ratner left the film, McG took over for awhile in 2004 before also leaving, according to Variety. During his time, he tested actors including Jared Padalecki, Jason Behr, and Henry Cavill, who would later play the role in the 2013 movie Man of Steel.
After McG left, director Bryan Singer – whose career has been stalled amid multiple allegations of sexual misconduct – took over, and made a number of changes that ultimately resulted in the 2006 movie Superman Returns, in which Brandon Routh portrayed the titular role.
