American actor Brendan Fraser, starring in “The Whale”, returned bluntly to his failed audition in the early 2000s to play Superman.
Brendan Fraser is back at the top of the news with Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, in theaters today. A feature film in which the American plays a man suffering from morbid obesity, a performance which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
During the promotion of The Whale, Brendan Fraser, known worldwide for his role as adventurer Rick O’Connell in the saga The Mummy, reflected on a defining moment in his career, when he came very close to playing Superman in the screen. In the early 2000s, the actor indeed auditioned to play the DC character in a version developed by JJ Abrams. An audition that didn’t really go well…
If Brendan Fraser missed his tests, it is because he probably did not want, deep down, to play the iconic superhero. “Everyone was casting for Superman back then”he says at the microphone of Howard Stern. “In 2002 or 2003, they were testing six or seven guys (including an actor from the Fast & Furious saga, editor’s note). Of course, playing this character is life-changing, it’s an amazing opportunity, but I was also like, “Realize what it’s like to be chosen to be Superman. It will be engraved on your grave. Is- “Are you okay with that? You will forever be known as Superman.”
And the 54-year-old actor, who will soon star in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, continues: “A sort of Faustian bargain came into my thinking and I think, deep down, I didn’t want to be known for just one thing, because I was proud of the diversity that I had in my professional life. I don’t I only have one trick in my bag.”
Brendan Fraser: why he almost died on the set of The Mummy
Even if a part of him said no to Superman, Brendan Fraser still had a hard time with this failure. “I was disappointed that an incredible opportunity did not materialize”regrets the actor. “If I didn’t get cast, it had a lot to do with studio shenanigans and politics and probably, deep down, my audition. They could see I was only 98% there.” In the end, this Superman project will not see the light of day, replaced by Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns with Brandon Routh in the costume.
It should be noted to conclude that Brendan Fraser did not fail to play ONLY Superman! The actor has indeed gone very close to embodying another superhero in the person of Mr. Fantastic in The Fantastic 4. It is finally Ioan Gruffudd who will obtain the role of the man-elastic.
The trailer for “Superman Returns”, with Brandon Routh in the lead role: