Matt Bomer Claims Being Outed Cost Him The Role Of Superman

Showrunner Ryan Murphy has a type when it comes to casting, and that type is guys who look like Superman. It's no surprise, then, that the new Superman will be played by David Corenswet, alum of Murphy's shows "Hollywood" and "The Politician." Yet Corenswet isn't the first Murphy favorite to come close to the role of Clark Kent. In the mid-2000s, Matt Bomer (who would later go on to appear in "American Horror Story" and its spinoff, "American Horror Stories," along with other Murphy shows like "The Normal Heart" and "Glee") had a three-picture deal with Warner Bros. to be the new Man of Steel.

Speaking on the Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast, Bomer was asked by host Scott Feinberg whether he could confirm or correct a rumor that he left the soap opera "Guiding Light" because of an opportunity for a certain major movie role. Bomer replied that this was "partly right," elaborating:

"Basically I went in on a cattle call [audition] for Superman, and then it turned into a four-month audition experience where I was auditioning again and again and again and flying out to New York and doing chemistry reads and flying out to L.A. doing chemistry reads, flying back to New York, flying back to L.A. to do a screen test, and it looked like I was [director Brett Ratner's] choice for the role. This was a very early iteration of Superman written by J.J. Abrams called 'Superman: Flyby' [...] and it never came to light."

Since "Guiding Light" had a serial killer storyline going and was in need of a character to expose as the murderer, an executive producer "very kindly" decided it would be a good opportunity to free Bomer up for the Superman role, telling him: "We're writing you off the show, go with my blessing." Unfortunately, Bomer's Superman never took flight.

Matt Bomer married his partner, publicist Simon Halls, in 2011. His sexuality was already something of an open secret, but Bomer came out publicly (in an understated way) when he thanked his "beautiful family" in a 2012 awards acceptance speech, naming Halls and their three children. At the time of the "Superman: Flyby" casting, however, the movie's producers apparently weren't aware he was gay until someone told them with malicious intent. We first heard this story from author Jackie Collins, who spoke about the prejudice against gay actors in a 2012 interview with Gaydar Radio.

"[Bomer] had not come out of the closet, but people in the know knew he was gay. 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."

Of course, Hollywood rumors should always be taken with a grain of salt (for starters, Bomer makes it clear that things got a lot further than a single audition tape). However, when asked on Awards Chatter if this version of events is accurate, Bomer said that it matches his knowledge of what went down.

"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."

Speaking with his old friend and fellow gay actor, Andrew Rannells, in an interview for Out magazine in 2017, Bomer said that "one of the ways I learned how to act, really, is by having secrets, and having to function as a kid in a public school in suburban Bible Belt Texas." Before he embarked on his acting career he worked on a gas pipeline where "there were ex-cons with us. It was not an environment where it was safe to be gay [...] It was literally acting of the highest stakes."

It was a different matter in Hollywood, however. On the Awards Chatter podcast, Bomer said that his public coming-out in 2012 wasn't particularly dramatic because he hadn't actually been keeping his sexuality a secret:

"I wasn't closeted on any of my jobs with the exception of one where I felt like it was, it really wasn't safe. There was language being used on the set and things that were really offensive. And I just thought, I need to just hunker down here and get through, soldier through. But other than that, I was really always open and honest about myself with other actors and people in the industry, so I wasn't living some kind of closeted life. I just didn't really have anybody, audience-wise, to come out to."

Though he acknowledges that being openly gay closed doors for him as an actor, Bomer adds that "as many doors that closed, there were just as many that opened in other regards." The planned "Superman: Flyby" movie never came to fruition ("Superman Returns" released a few years later, with Brandon Routh in the title role). However, Bomer himself went on to play not just one superhero, but several — including Superman.

Matt Bomer is now firmly embedded in the world of DC animation, having voiced Barry Allen, aka The Flash, in several animated features. His first voice acting role for DC, however, was none other than Superman in the 2013 film "Superman: Unbound." Speaking in a Comic-Con interview at the time, Bomer said, "It's intimidating, you know. It's a character that's been so influential to me and every kid I've ever known. It was a blast to do and a great part to get to cut my teeth on in terms of voice over acting."

Bomer's best-known DC role is a mix of voice acting and on-screen performances as Larry Trainor aka Negative Man in "Doom Patrol" (a role he reprised for another live-action DC show, "Titans"). Larry is an Air Force test pilot whose body became fused with a mysterious and highly radioactive spirit during an accident that otherwise would have killed him. He's left with burns all over his body, and has to wear special bandages at all times to avoid inflicting radiation sickness on the people around him. 

Prior to his accident, Larry was leading a closeted life with his wife and kids while secretly having an affair with an Air Force comrade. Speaking to Digital Spy, Bomer explained that playing a gay character comes with its own challenges. "There's something about being a gay man, and getting to play a fully realized gay character," he said. "You're able to access experiences you've had that are very unique to you, but that cost you something to translate onto the screen."

As far as Bomer is concerned, though, that's just what it takes to be an actor. "Any performance has to cost you something."