Matt Bomer has claimed he lost out on playing Superman after being outed as gay.

The Magic Mike actor believes he lost out on playing the Man of Steel in the axed 2003 superhero movie Superman: Flyby because of his sexuality.

“It looked like I was the director’s choice for the role,” Bomer said on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. “I signed a three-picture deal at Warner Bros.”

When asked if his sexual orientation affected his casting, the White Collar star replied, “Yeah, that’s my understanding. That was a time in the industry when something like that could still really be weaponised against you. How, and why, and who (outed me), I don’t know.”

Bomer, who publicly came out as gay in 2012, was so sure about his Superman role that he was written out of his soap opera Guiding Light.

“I went in on a cattle call for Superman, (which) turned into a one-month audition experience where I was auditioning again and again and again,” he recalled. “On Guiding Light, there was a killer in town… so the executive producer, very kindly, wanted to free me up just in case the (Superman) job came through. So (the Guiding Light producer) said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be the killer. We’re writing you off the show; go with my blessing.’ So, I basically got fired, but in a generous way.”

Superman: Flyby, which was supposed to be directed by J.J. Abrams, was never made. The superhero ultimately made his film comeback with Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, starring Brandon Routh, in 2006.

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