This photo of Brendan Fraser wearing a Superman costume has been making the rounds online recently. This was a photo taken for a screen test when he was up for the role in J.J. Abrams’ unproduced film, Superman: Flyby.
Fraser previously talked about the experience he had with this project, which was courting all of the biggest names in Hollywood at the time.
Fraser said: “Everyone in town was reading for Superman. 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.”
While Fraser realized that landing the role of Superman would be “a life-changing amazing opportunity,” he also “had to reconcile with, ‘Okay, say you do get the job to be the Man of Steel, it’s gonna be chipped on your gravestone, are you okay with that? I mean, forever more known as the Man of Steel.’”
He continued: “There was a sort of Faustian bargain that went into it. I think inherently, I didn’t want to be known for only one thing because I prided myself on diversity my whole professional life and I’m not a one-trick pony.”
When talking about losing the role, the actor said: “I felt disappointed that there was an amazing opportunity and it didn’t come to fruition.
“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%.”
In the end, Superman: Flybay didn’t take flight at Warner Bros. anyway.
