As we know, Matt Bomer was a finalist to play the Man of Steel back in the 2000s in an early incarnation of the project that would ultimately become Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, and the actor believes he missed out on the role for one very specific reason.
We had heard that Bomer came very close to landing the part, but it sounds like he had all-but signed on to play the iconic DC Comics hero in "Superman: Flyby," which was going to be helmed by J.J. Abrams.
“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,” the Doom Patrol star explained during an interview with THR. “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 didn't publicly come out as gay until 2012, but the actor's sexuality was well known in certain circles, and he feels that being "outed" ultimately cost him the opportunity to suit-up as the Man of Tomorrow.
“Yeah, that’s my understanding,” he responded when asked if his sexuality was a factor in the studio’s reluctance to hire him. “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.”
Back in 2012, author Jackie Collins told Gaydar Radio that Bomer being outed as gay prevented him from being hired to play Clark Kent.
"Matt Bomer, who is the most gorgeous looking guy and the star of White Collar, he had not come out of the closet, but people in the know knew he was gay,” Collins said. "His audition tape went in and he called up the agent and somebody 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.”
This has been disputed over the years, however, with some claiming that Bomer simply lost the part when the project's original director, Brett Ratner, was replaced. It's said that the studio wanted a bigger star for Abrams' version of the film, which is when the likes of Brendan Fraser, Josh Hartnett and Paul Walker were eyed.
At 46-years-old, Bomer remains a fan-favorite pick to play an older take on Superman. The actor did get the chance to voice the character in direct-to-DVD animated movie Superman: Unbound in 2013.