If there’s one actor who deserved a significant run in a superhero movie, it’s Brendan Fraser. The actor is so charming and talented that, shockingly, no studio tried to scoop him up to represent their brand.
It turns out that DC has tried to get the actor involved twice, even going as far as shooting an entire movie with him, but that will never see the light of day. Seeing someone burned by a studio twice in such strangely brutal ways is wild.
In a recent conversation with Howard Stern, Fraser opened up about his career and dove into his rocky track record with DC, starting with the infamous Tim Burton Superman movie. After the Death of Superman comic, everyone wanted to revamp this character for a new generation. We saw two versions almost come to life, the previously mentioned Tim Burton’s Superman Lives starring Nicolas Cage and the J.J. Abrams-penned, Brett Ratner-helmed Superman Flyby.
We all know Jude Law and Josh Hartnett were set to play Superman and Batman respectively at one point, but neither wanted the long-term commitment. The studio would reportedly hunt for the Man of Steel role, testing actors including Paul Walker, Ashton Kutcher, Joel Edgerton, and Brendan Fraser.
Fraser confirmed in the Howard Stern interview that he was up for it and “everyone in town was reading for Superman” But the project would never come, and Fraser would get a taste of what was to come in his career.
Fraser tells Stern that he had to mourn the loss of getting such a ‘life-changing’ role. “Of course, it’s a life-changing, amazing opportunity, but I had to reconcile with, ‘Okay, say you do get the job to be the Man of Steel. It’s going to be chipped on your gravestone. Are you okay with that? You will forevermore be known as the Man of Steel,” says Fraser.
He adds that being attached to such an iconic role forever seemed daunting, looking at the legacy of superhero actors after their iconic roles. He tells Stern, “There was a sort of Faustian bargain that went into [the] feeling, and I think inherently, I didn’t want to be known for only one thing because I prided myself on diversity my whole professional life. I’m not a one-trick pony.”
He adds that the hustle of landing such a significant role, the dirty politics involved, helped him walk away from it with ease, “[it] had to do with 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%.”
Turning to his most recent attempt at entering the cinematic world of DC Comics, Fraser seemed so heartbroken about the cancellation of Batgirl, the now-shelved DC movie starring Leslie Grace. Fraser was set to star as Ted Carson/Firefly, the film’s main villain.
The actor tells Stern that Batgirl “didn’t even really get a fair shake.” He says while execs may have their own feelings, everyone that saw it in the “funeral screening” they had months ago loved it.
“They all say really good things about it. But the thing about it was is it was screened in a garden variety test screening. It was a director’s cut. First cut. It wasn’t finished. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I don’t eat half-baked cake. I don’t want to see something that’s not ready yet,” he said. “And the sad thing is, I don’t know if it was judged on merit. It wasn’t shown in the best light that it could have been.”
What hurt Fraser was seeing actress Leslie Grace lose out on a star-making role; he calls Grace “really terrific” and a “dynamo.” He adds that he wanted to see an actress like her step into such an iconic role and get to represent. “Little girls are going to have to wait longer now before they can see a Batgirl who they can identify,” he said. “That says, ‘Hey, she looks just like me, too,’ in Leslie Grace.”
As usual, the actor seemed humble about all these and seemed to have no real ill will towards DC and anyone involved. Fraser has made a splash on a DC television series, owning the role of Robot Man on the cult series Doom Patrol.
You can find the full interview below…
Brendan Fraser was most recently seen in his Oscar-nominated turn in The Whale, while next up is Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.
Originally published February 9, 2023. Updated February 10, 2023.
