How Jude Law turned down Superman
Actor Jude Law explains how he turned down the role of Superman after wearing the suit for two minutes.
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Two minutes in the Superman suit in a hotel bathroom was all it took for Jude Law to decide he didn't want to play the man of steel.
British, balding and hardly built, the debonair actor seems an unlikely choice to play a superhero. But in an interview on Stephen Colbert's Late Show, Law revealed he'd was tapped to play Superman in 2006's Superman Returns.
Super uncomfortable ... Jude Law tried on the spandex Superman suit at the behest of Superman Returns director Bryan Singer, but got it off as soon as he could. Photo: Francois Durand
"I was approached and at the time it just didn't float my boat," Law told a baffled Colbert on Thursday. "I just didn't really want to go there. I'm an Englishman and it just didn't seem to fit. I was really worried about the outfit and I just didn't fancy it."
The role ended up going to American actor Brandon Routh and grossed $US391 million ($527 million) at the box office worldwide.
"This director (Bryan Singer) was very keen to meet and impress it upon me. I was actually then out in California and he said 'You've got to try this suit on. The suit's amazing. We've revamped the suit'. I was like 'Okay, send the suit over'.
Brandon Routh played Superman in Superman Returns.
The suit arrived at Law's hotel room complete with a burly guard.
"Oh yeah, there's a guard, a big guard! I was like, 'I'm not going to try this on in front of you. I'm going to go into the bathroom'," Law said.
"I'm putting it on and I look around in the mirror and suddenly I'm Superman. Then the music kind of comes in."
British actor Jude Law in 2006, around the time he was approached to play Superman. Photo: KIN CHEUNG
But for Law the thought of his body plastered on posters around the world in the spandex suit was far too unsavoury and he pulled the coveted blue suit off as soon as he could.
"I'm stood there and then I have this picture of me in that costume on posters all around the world and I was like 'No way!' and I unzipped it."
When Colbert asked whether Law documented the experience with a selfie, the actor said the memory was all he needed.
"I was Superman for two minutes. That's enough!"
It seems Law's intuition served him well. Routh appeared as Superman just once in the film which was panned by critics.
English actor Henry Cavill took up the baton in 2013's Man of Steel and again in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
