Matt Bomer Says He Lost Out on Playing Superman After Being Outed as Gay
Matt Bomer is speaking out against what he sees as the “weaponization” of sexuality in Hollywood.
Bomer revealed during The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast that he allegedly lost out on landing the lead role for axed DC film “Superman: Flyby” after being outed as gay.
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“It looked like I was the director’s choice for the role,” Bomer said. “I signed a three-picture deal at Warner Bros.”
When asked on the podcast whether his sexual orientation affected his casting, Bomer said, “Yeah, that’s my understanding. That was a time in the industry when something like that could still really be weaponized against you. How, and why, and who [outed me], I don’t know.”
Bomer even exited CBS soap opera “Guiding Light” amid the audition process for “Superman: Flyby.”
“I went in on a cattle call for ‘Superman,’ [which] turned into a one-month audition experience where I was auditioning again and again and again,” Bomer said. “On ‘Guiding Light,’ there was a killer in town, […] so the executive producer, very kindly, wanted to free me up just in case the [Superman] job came through. So [the ‘Guiding Light’ producer] said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be the killer. We’re writing you off the show; go with my blessing.’ So, I basically got fired, but in a generous way.”
“Superman: Flyby” was later shelved at Warner Bros. The film was supposed to be directed by J. J. Abrams. Instead, Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” was released in 2006 and starred fellow soap opera alum Brandon Routh as the titular superhero.
Read Bomer’s IndieWire interview for IW Honors celebrating his new series “Fellow Travelers” here.
Bomer isn’t the only actor who almost played Superman: Nicolas Cage infamously was supposed to star in Tim Burton’s “Superman Lives” and Jacob Elordi told GQ that he turned down reading for a Superman role for an unnamed project.
“Well, they asked me to read for Superman,” Elordi said in a cover story for the Man of the Year issue. “That was immediately, ‘No, thank you.’ That’s too much. That’s too dark for me.”
James Gunn’s “Superman” reboot “Superman: Legacy” will star David Corenswet as the superhero and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. The film has a July 11, 2025 release date.
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