Apologies To The 400+ People Who Auditioned To Play Superman After James Gunn Had Already Latched Onto David Corenswet

The title role of Superman in James Gunn’s new movie was in such high demand that even the guy who eventually played the villain tried to score it. We always knew that David Corenswet had beaten out a lot of people to score the role, but it’s absolutely wild when you realize how many actors auditioned for the part that they ultimately had already lost out on.

James Gunn has spoken before that he knew David Corenswet was a strong contender as soon as he saw him audition. However, it turns out that this happened on the first day of auditions.

The Twisters actor was one of the first people to audition for the role of Clark Kent/Superman, which meant that Gunn had his star early, but he continued to see actors. According to GQ, there were about 400 people the director saw after Corenswet, who had no idea they were competing with him for the part. Gunn said…

One imagines that in any casting process, a director is going to be comparing any performance against whatever the best one they’ve seen so far is, but that doesn’t always mean the powers that be are sold on somebody from the first read. In this case, that appears to be the case, though. If James Gunn had just quit after seeing David Corenswet, we would have gotten exactly the same movie, and a bunch of actors who never really had a chance could have saved some time.

However, it was important to see as many actors as possible to really make sure they got the right guy.

What makes the story even more remarkable is that essentially the same thing happened with Lois Lane. Gunn saw Rachel Brosnahan very early, and he simply found himself in shock that he had seemingly found his power couple that quickly. He continued…

James Gunn may have known who he wanted to play Lois Lane early, but he certainly gave others a chance. David Corenswet himself thought Emma Mackey likely had the role, considering the work they had done together as part of the process.

Gunn’s reaction here actually may help understand why he continued to audition actors after already liking what he saw with David Corenswet. Part of it was surely due diligence. The possibility of seeing somebody even better was always there. But beyond that, he might have felt unsure of himself for feeling like the process was so easy.

Gunn says that a handwritten letter from Corenswet following the audition also factored into him getting the part, which does indicate the director hadn’t made a final decision yet. He was still leaving himself open to another actor rising to the top, but nobody ever did.

In the end, one of the others who auditioned for Superman would ultimately still find his role. Nicholas Hoult tried to be Clark Kent, but found himself as Lex Luthor instead. Hoult himself also realized early on that Corenswet was right for the part. Everybody else went home empty-handed, which was always going to be the case with a role as high-profile as Superman. But it’s remarkable that, out of 400 people, the person who would get the role was seen on day one.