In the era of the superhero blockbuster, where a single role can keep you working in films for years, it’s difficult to believe that anybody would actively avoid a role like that. But that’s exactly what The Knick's Michael Angarano did, as he had to be practically forced to screen test for George Miller’s Justice League movie.
The former Will & Grace child star spoke with The Huffington Post about his career in front of the camera, including his experience testing for an unnamed role that he really didn’t want. Back in 2007, when Warner Brothers was trying to get Justice League: Mortal off the ground, Angarano was called in to screen test with George Miller himself. While many movie fans would have jumped at the chance, the actor wasn't as enthusiastic. Having already been in a superhero movie of sorts with Disney's Sky High, the up-and-comer didn’t really want to play that sort of role again.
Angarano says he was "almost physically forced to do it" by his friends and family, though now he now regrets the way he acted. While he doesn’t seem frustrated that he didn’t get the part, Michael Angarano does wish that he’d given George Miller the attention he deserved during said audition. His behavior, at least according to Angarano himself, can be chalked up to being an "arrogant, choosy actor" at the time, which is dangerous at any age - but especially when you're 18 years old and starting to break out.
While it’s easy enough to look at this situation and wonder what Angarano was smoking to not want to work with George Miller, we can’t entirely fault him. This audition would have been around 2007 or earlier, and the first Iron Man, which would ring in the new era of the cinematic superhero, was still a year or more away. There was no way to know how big, or important, the genre would become. Interestingly enough, since his ill-fated George Miller experience, the young actor has attempted to get back into the superhero movie business.
Most notably, Angarano screen tested for Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man, though as we all know, that role eventually went to Andrew Garfield. Why the change of heart? Well, Angarano now says that being in a superhero movie is one of the things that an actor needs to do as part of playing the game in Hollywood. The other two items are being in a hit television show and/or part of a breakout independent film. Seeing as he's landed the former, he'll buy himself more time to work on one of the others.
Michael Angarano is now starring in the second season of The Knick on Cinemax. The Justice League will move on without him, or George Miller, when Justice League: Part One hits theaters in 2017.
