Brendan Fraser Talks About Losing Out On Superman Role Due To Studio Politics

Brendan Fraser is on the comeback trail with his list of accolades for his performance in The Whale, even receiving his first Oscar nomination for his performance. Fraser's tale of being blacklisted in Hollywood is something that's been the talk for over a decade as it was something that cost him role after role.

In the early 2000s, Warner Bros. was attempting to revitalize its Superman movie franchise after its last attempt with Tim Burton's Superman Lives fizzled out in the late 1990s. The studio hopped around directors, including McG and J. J. Abrams who was coming off his Dark Angel hit with Fox. Fraser had auditioned for the coveted role, but ultimately, as we know, didn't get the part.

"I felt disappointed that there was an amazing opportunity and it didn’t come to fruition," Fraser tells Variety. "It had to do a lot with some shenanigans and studio politics. And probably, inherently, in my screen test. I think that's why you test…they could kind of see I was only there like 98%."

Fraser said that every leading man at the time was reading for the part. "Like, again, we're testing I think six or seven guys in 2002/2003. Paul Walker, I remember Paul Walker was before me. They were like the usual suspects." Also in the mix were future Men of Steel Brandon Routh and Henry Cavill.

The actor would eventually land the superhero role of Cliff Steele aka Robotman in the critically acclaimed Doom Patrol series on HBO Max. He would later land the role of Firefly for the now-canceled Batgirl movie, making him a rare breed in comic book movies playing a hero and villain in the same universe.