Matt Bomer Says His Sexuality Was “Weaponized” Against Him When He Lost Out On Superman 

Matt Bomer revealed he once signed a three-picture deal with Warner Bros. to play Superman in the early 2000s until the role was unceremoniously taken from him.

Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast, Bomer said that he was the top choice to play the caped superhero at the time until he was outed.

“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,” he said. “It looked like I was the director’s choice for the role. 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 claimed that the Guiding Light producers even wrote him off the show so he could pursue the role.

Bomer, who did not publicly come out as gay until 2012, said that he believed that he lost the role because of his sexuality.

“Yeah, that’s my understanding,” he said. “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.”

Brett Ratner was attached to direct Superman: Flyby but he ultimately exited the project in 2003, claiming he experienced pushback over his choice for the role.

“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,” Ratner said in a statement.

Reports from that time confirm that Bomer, who had only starred in the CBS soap opera Guiding Light, was Ratner’s top choice after Josh Hartnett and Paul Walker both passed on the role. The studio reportedly preferred to cast Brendan Fraser, who was fresh off his success in The Mummy.

Years later, author Jackie Collins confirmed that Bomer lost the role because he was outed during the audition process, but a source denied the claim, noting that “[Ratner] 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 has spoken on the failed Superman project before, revealing that he even screen-tested with Amy Adams, who later starred opposite Henry Cavill in Man of Steel.

“Thankfully, Brett chose me for the project and then it all fell apart,” he said in a 2015 interview. “It was a month of, ‘Okay, it’s going to happen,’ and then it slowly fell apart. But it’s okay. I have zero regrets about that.”

He continued, “I’ve gotten to do such a rich array of roles and so many different things and I haven’t been too locked in to one thing. That’s a very iconic role to portray. You can suddenly be that character in everyone’s minds forever.”

Superman: Flyby was eventually axed. Instead, Bryan Singer released his own iteration with the 2006 Superman Returns, starring Brandon Routh.