Matt Bomer Says He Lost Superman Role Due to His Sexual Orientation

Matt Bomer was once poised to portray the Man of Steel on the big screen, but the opportunity was apparently taken away from him due to his sexual orientation. Bomer recently opened up about the lost Superman casting — during an episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast — saying that he was loosely attached to the part during his time on Guiding Light in the early 2000s.

“This is a very early iteration of Superman written by J.J. Abrams, called Superman: Flyby, I think is what it was called, and it never came to light,” the recalled, noting that the casting seemed so certain, his Guiding Light producers wrote his character off the show because they believed he’d landed the role.

“It looked like I was the director’s choice for the role,” Bomer revealed. “I signed a three-picture deal at Warner Bros.” Bomer — who publicly came out in 2012 as an openly gay man — was then asked if his sexuality was a reason for his firing, and he replied, “Yeah, that’s my understanding.”

“That was a time in the industry when something like that could still really be weaponized against you,” the American Horror Story continued. “How, and why, and who, I don’t know, but yeah, that’s my understanding.”

PEOPLE reached out to a representative for Warner Bros, but they did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

While Bomer’s chance to play Clark Kent/Superman in a live-action movie was unfairly snatched away, he did get the chance to voice the character in the 2013 animated film Superman: Unbound. He has since gone on to lend his voice to another DC Comics character: The Flash. To date, Bomer has voiced The Flash/Barry Allen in five animated movies.