Brendan Fraser was nearly cast as Superman, and the entire world was robbed

Brendan Fraser's success in The Whale was the highlight of the latter half of 2022, with peers and fans paying their respects to the beloved actor and the "Brenaissance." Given that he stepped out of the spotlight for about a decade, radio host Howard Stern asked him about the "role that got away," and it turns out Fraser was in the running to become Superman.

Fraser had taken some time out of his acting career as a result of a number of personal events and also risks to his health. In George of the Jungle, the pressure that he felt to maintain that muscular physique caused him to starve himself, and the actor said he was once "put together with tape and ice" due to severe injuries on the sets of The Mummy movies.

Since the premiere of The Whale, Darren Aronofsky's adaptation of a psychological drama following an obese man reconnecting with his abrasive daughter, Fraser has been walking on air with the raucous reception to his performance. Speaking to Stern, the host pondered over how differently his career could have developed had Fraser secured the role of Superman in J. J. Abrams' Superman: Flyby, saying it was the "role that got away."

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"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," answered Fraser, adding that it would have been a "life-changing amazing opportunity."

Yet, there was a weight on his mind. "'OK, 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, forevermore known as the Man of Steel,'" relayed the actor. "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."

We know now that Abrams' take on the superhero never saw the light of day and Warner Bros. decided to reroute the adaptation into Superman Returns, which starred Brandon Routh as Superman.

"It had to do a lot with some shenanigans and studio politics," said Fraser of missing out on the opportunity. "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%."