Out actor Matt Bomer revealed he was supposed to play Superman/Clark Kent in a feature film directed by J.J. Abrams that never came to fruition, allegedly because he was outed as a gay man.
On the June 10 episode of The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatterpodcast, the 46-year-old White Collar actor opened up about navigating the industry as a closeted actor before coming out publicly in 2012.
Bomer was a regular on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light when he was in the midst of a grueling audition process for the Man of Steel in the film called Superman: Flyby.
"It never came to light," he recalled.
The Emmy-nominated, Golden Globe winner for the 2014 television film The Normal Heart said of his prospects of playing the iconic superhero:
"It looked like I was the director's choice for the role."
"I signed a three-picture deal at Warner Brothers."
But the film never came to fruition after Bomer was allegedly outed as being gay.
When he was asked if his sexual orientation may have affected his chances of portraying Superman, Bomer replied:
“Yeah, that’s my understanding."
Bomer noted of his sexuality and coming out:
"That was a time in the industry when something like that could still really be weaponized against you."
"How, and why, and who, I don’t know, but yeah, that’s my understanding.”
Moviegoers were disappointed in Hollywood's discriminatory tendencies in a past era.
Author Jackie Collins touched on Bomer's casting experience related to Flyby.
According to Advocate, Collins spoke to Gaydar Radio in a 2012 interview and said of Bomer:
"Someone 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."
In 2006, a completely different Superman reboot helmed by Bryan Singer called Superman Returns hit screens.
Actor Brandon Routh played the titular hero.
It's worth mentioning the long-time double standard that was applied at the time to the casting of gay vs. straight actors in Hollywood.
In 2012, Routh was cast as Wyatt Plank, the boyfriend of co-star Michael Urie's character, Louis McManus, on the short-lived television sitcom Partners.
While strides have been made since then for inclusionary efforts, queer representation in film and TV remains a sensitive issue, and there is always room for improvement.
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