JOE MANGANIELLO ALMOST PLAYED SUPERMAN

Joe Manganiello

was almost offered the role of Superman in ‘Man of Steel’. The 40-year-old actor has revealed he got as far as being measured for the famous superhero costume in preparation for taking on the role in the 2013 movie - which eventually cast Henry Cavill as Clark Kent and his lycraclad alter ego - but claimed his commitments to the HBO supernatural drama ‘True Blood’ kept him from being offered the role. Speaking during an interview for MTV’s ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast, Joe said: “I met with Zack [Snyder, the movie’s director]. I had an hour and a half long meeting with Zack, which is what was causing all the trouble ... I went ahead and met with casting, and then they all brought me over to meet Zack. I met the producers, I met with Jon Jashni and Thomas Tull at Legendary, I met everybody - everybody involved - and then finally sat down with Zack for an hour and a half and had a big conversation about the character and where it was going, et cetera. Then they called the ‘True Blood’ costume shop for my measurements to build my suit and that’s what caused - that’s when it stopped.” Although Joe missed out on the chance to play Superman, he hasn’t been banned from the DC Comics universe completely, as it was previously announced he would be taking on the role of Deathstroke in ‘The Batman’ alongside Ben Affleck. He said about his role: “I’m very excited. I just started kung fu, qigong and cutting with a live katana blade. That’s been a lot of fun. “I grew up rooting for the villain. These characters mean so much to so many people and there’s a real opportunity to polarize an audience or have them walk away maybe not agreeing with my character but understanding why he does what he does. That’s a really fun challenge.”