We now know Matt Bomer as one of the most successful out gay actors in Hollywood, but things weren't always easy for him.
Bomer, age 46, was recently interviewed on Awards Chatter podcast hosted by Scott Feinberg. In the episode, Bomer recalled his grueling audition process for Superman: Flyby — a live-action film about the DC superhero directed by J. J. Abrams, which never came to light — while Bomer was still working on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light.
"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 explained. "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 gonna be the killer. We're writing you off the show; go with my blessing.' So, I basically got fired, but in a generous way."
While this decision freed up time for Bomer to be fully invested in Superman: Flyby, things quickly went south for the actor. "It looked like I was the director's choice for the role," Bomer said. "I signed a three-picture deal at Warner Brothers."
When asked if Bomer's coming-out story hurt his chances of being in a Superman film playing the titular superhero, the actor replied: "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."
Abrams' Superman: Flyby was never actually made or released, as previously mentioned. Still, Bomer was apparently the frontrunner to play the titular character in the film but was dropped as an option after being outed as gay — way before the project as a whole fell through.
Following the scrapping of Flyby, Superman's revival on the big screen ended up becoming 2006's Superman Returns directed by Bryan Singer and starring Brandon Routh as the Kryptonian hero.
Bomer would've been a pitch-perfect choice to play Superman, and it's a shame that his efforts during that audition process all went down the drain because he was outed as a gay man.
Fellow Travelers is now streaming on Paramount+ With Showtime.