In a recent interview with GaydarRadio.com, famed romance author Jackie Collins revealed that actor Matt Bomer may have been turned down the role of Superman in 2006 simply for being gay.
“Matt Bomer, who is the most gorgeous guy..” she said. “..was up for the role of Superman. He had not come out of the closet but people in the know knew he was gay. He lives down the street from a friend of mine. She knew, and I knew. His audition tape went in and they called up the agent. Somebody didn’t like him and told them he was gay. They said, ‘No, no. We can’t cast you’. The reason he didn’t get cast was because he was gay.”
Collins’ claim comes under strange circumstances. After all, the director of 2006’s Superman Returns, Bryan Singer, as well as the film’s writers Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris, are all openly gay. What’s even more strange is that Bomer went on to be cast as the caped crusader in a Prius commercial in 2009.
Matt Bomer is best known for his leading role in USA’s White Collar, which had a successful run from 2009 to 2012. He’s also appeared alongside Justin Timberlake in 2011’s In Time , run from Leatherface in 2006’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, and stripped for nearly everyone’s pleasure in this year’s Magic Mike. He came out perhaps the most publicly in February of this year, although he’s made no real effort to disguise it. He has thanked his partner Simon Halls, along with his three children, on multiple occasions and on multiple television shows. Jackie Collins equates Bomer’s failure to secure the role of Superman to simple celebrity politics.
“I think it should change but there are women out there who want to worship somebody,” she said. “If Justin Bieber said he was gay, he’d lose all his little girl fans. It’s a sad fact of life. So a lot of them get married, have a couple of kids and pretend to be straight.”
Bomer’s denial in Superman Returns proves that the overall system in Hollywood still has its share of grey areas. While most consider it to be the epicenter of liberal-minded actors and actresses, Matt Bomer’s case shows it is still a place where marketing, economics, and what women want determine the roles actors are given. Jackie Collins’ comments do seem to make the most sense. After all, it would be odd to imagine someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jason Statham as gay given the type of audiences they’ve earned. With the amount of idolatry Superman represents, it’s fair to lump him into the same category and with a similar audience (albeit a bit geekier).
While you’re attempting to make sense of it all – as we all are – take a look at Matt Bomer’s brief role as Superman in Toyota’s Japanese Prius commercial in 2009 and think of what might have been.
