Christopher Reeve defined Superman, and Superman defined Reeve. Here are five roles the actor passed on — and one he wanted but couldn’t get.
But First
Christopher Reeve tried to avoid typecasting by branching out into very different roles. But he was also always conscious of not taking roles that might tarnish the character for which he was best known.
In his 1998 memoir, Still Me, Christopher Reeve looked back on his life before and after the horse-riding accident that paralyzed him in 1995. He recalled that after the success of Superman in 1978, “some producers would not cast me because I had played Superman, others cast me because I had.”
Here are five roles he passed on.
American Gigolo
Reeve recalled that he was offered the lead of American Gigolo at Paramount after John Travolta bailed out. He passed because the film wanted him in under a week, and “I wanted time to prepare.” The role went to Richard Gere, who would later snatch another role Reeve wanted… as you’ll soon see.
American Gigolo later returned, of course, as a Showtime series, with Jon Bernthal taking on the role of the enigmatic Julian Kaye. It was canceled after a season.
The World According to Garp
“Then I was offered Roberta, the ex-football player who’d had a sex-change operation in The World According to Garp,” Reeve wrote. He wrote that he passed because it would have been an “enormous stretch—for both me and my audience—after Superman.” He noted: “The role made my friend John Lithgow a star.”
Body Heat
He was also offered the lead in Body Heat, but didn’t think he “could be convincing as a seedy, small-town lawyer.” William Hurt was. “My friend Bill Hurt, of course, was brilliant in the role.”
Kathleen Turner was also spectacular, in a 1980s update on ’40s noir femme fatale, and it’s fun to imagine how she would have played off the resolute Reeves, who was so good at giving off an aura of incorruptibility.
The Bounty
He also turned down the part of Fletcher Christian in the 1984 Mutiny on the Bounty remake The Bounty. “I agonized for a week about joining an all-British cast in a role that had already been played by Clark Gable and Marlon Brando, opposite the distinguished Anthony Hopkins, who I thought would probably blow me off the screen,” he wrote in Still Me. The role ultimately went to “a young Australian named Mel Gibson.”
The Running Man
The now-sadly defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner reported in 1985 that Christopher Reeve was also initially cast as the lead in The Running Man. Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in the 1987 dystopian classic. Though it may not be one of Schwarzenegger’s best known roles, it’s aged as well or better than countless ’80s action films by wittily anticipating the rise of exploitative reality TV.
Interestingly, The Running Man is being remade with Glen Powell, currently starring on Netflix’s Hit Man.
Meet the New Superman
As you may have heard, there’s a new Man of Steel — David Corenswet, who looks quite a bit like Reeve. Here are five roles to see him in before he puts on the cape and tights.
That’s him above in A24’s Pearl.
The One That Got Away
Richard Gere again appeared in Reeve’s life when Reeve wanted Pretty Woman — but was turned away. The film, of course, was a massive hit, and launched the super career of Julia Roberts.
Despite the roles he turned down, playing Superman secured Reeve’s legacy forever.
Liked This List of Roles Christopher Reeve Turned Down After Superman?
For a look at the other side of the street, you might also like this list of the Best Superhero Movies Before the MCU — at least one of which stars Reeve. Hint, hint.
Main image: Christopher Reeve in Superman. Warner Bros.
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