Monday, June 19, 2023
Warner Bros. Studios — Burbank, California
Inside the massive Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, what was probably the most important audition for the new DC universe was taking place.
It was almost nine in the morning.
One of the studio's soundstages had been reserved exclusively for that day's final casting tests.
A soundstage was essentially a gigantic soundproof studio specifically designed for film and television production. Places where they could control absolutely everything: lighting, sound, artificial weather, and set construction. They were also ideal for advanced casting tests like this one.
Inside, nearly everything was already prepared: professional cameras aimed at different sets built for the scenes, technicians finishing lighting adjustments, microphones, video monitors, and perfectly calibrated sound.
In front of all that, observing the prepared stage, sat a fairly intimidating table of executives and creatives.
James Gunn was there, leaning against a table while watching everything.
Beside him stood Peter Safran, immaculate suit, coffee in hand, expression focused.
Also present were John, Michael De Luca, and Pam Abdy, one of the most important executives currently within Warner.
Safran checked his watch before looking back at Gunn, "He should be coming out any minute now."
Gunn immediately nodded, "This is exciting," he said, rubbing his hands together with genuine geeky anxiety.
Owen Ashford had arrived at the studio around eight in the morning.
He was the first to do the test. Not by coincidence.
Out of all the candidates, he had been the most heavily discussed internally. The most high-profile and unpredictable, and probably also the one with the most potential to completely redefine how audiences perceived the new DCU.
For nearly fifty minutes, Owen had been inside a makeup and wardrobe station.
There, an entire Warner and DC team worked on him: makeup, hairstyling, and especially the Superman suit. It was still a prototype, of course.
A very advanced one, but still a test version subject to final design changes.
Even so, it already represented almost the definitive vision of the character, and that was exactly what had Gunn so excited.
Because beyond being an executive or director, he was still an obsessive comic book fan.
He had written this version of Superman and imagined this entire new universe.
And now he was about to see, in live action, how one of his main candidates looked wearing the full suit.
A production assistant appeared near the table and spoke quietly.
"Owen's ready."
Gunn straightened his posture slightly.
Safran slowly set his coffee cup down on the table.
Even some of the technicians subtly turned their heads toward the side entrance of the soundstage.
A few seconds later, the door finally opened and Owen walked onto the set, guided by an assistant.
The reaction was silent.
The suit, despite being an advanced prototype, already visually conveyed almost the entire final identity of the character: bright blue, a vivid red cape falling from the shoulders, the "S" symbol emblazoned across the chest, and the return of the iconic red trunks over the suit.
A detail that immediately made this version feel different.
Zack Snyder's Superman with Henry Cavill had completely removed the red trunks in search of a more modern and serious tone. The same had happened with Tom Welling's version in Smallville.
Owen had his own thoughts about the suit as he walked toward his mark on the set.
He immediately noticed the contrast with Snyder's darker, more "military" Superman design.
This one was brighter and more classic. Closer to the optimistic spirit of the comics. He liked that. Because to Owen, Superman had to convey exactly that: hope.
Not just intimidation.
The character needed to feel approachable, human, and friendly even while being practically an alien god.
That being said, the red trunks themselves still didn't completely convince him.
He completely understood the intention behind the design and even believed the trunks helped make the character visually less intimidating.
But he wasn't sure they were actually necessary. Visually, he still didn't love them.
'If I get the role, that can probably be changed later,' Owen thought as he adjusted the cape over his shoulders.
To Gunn and the others, Owen looked surprisingly good in the suit.
His dark hair was brushed back naturally, with a few strands falling slightly over his forehead. The makeup was almost nonexistent, they wanted him to look realistic, not artificially perfect.
And physically, he fit the role far more than several people had expected.
Tall, sharp jawline, light-colored eyes, broad shoulders even without having gone through an extreme physical transformation yet.
He still didn't have the monstrous size he would probably reach during formal preparation for the role, but he already carried presence.
'He could work…' Gunn thought while observing Owen carefully.
To Owen, Gunn could actually imagine him even better as Clark Kent than as Superman.
Because that was where his acting range could explode far more than the other candidates'.
Clark was where he could truly separate himself.
With Superman, meanwhile, Gunn still saw something perhaps a little too much like a movie star.
That clashed slightly with his original vision for a more restrained and humble Superman.
Even so, there was something undeniable: Owen radiated presence, and that couldn't be ignored.
John watched in complete silence, almost expressionless, though internally he approved quite a lot of how the suit worked on him.
Pam exchanged a quick glance with De Luca. Even several technicians and assistants were staring for longer than normal.
Owen had already greeted Gunn and the others earlier that morning, so there were no introductions or formalities.
He simply walked to the mark taped on the floor while the crew finished the final adjustments for camera, lighting, and sound.
Then Gunn picked up the script resting on the table and finally spoke.
"Alright, let's do the first scene."
Owen took a breath and waited silently.
Three cameras were recording him from different angles: one tight frontal shot, another wider shot capturing his full body in the suit, and a side camera focused mainly on expressions and profile.
The first scene belonged to the final stretch of the movie.
Superman had just defeated Lex Luthor and was finally responding to the argument that had haunted the character throughout the story: the idea that he wasn't truly human.
Owen had already read the full script, or rather, an extremely advanced version of it, under a very strict NDA.
During the first stage, he had only received isolated scenes.
In the second, he was given more information: emotional arc, tone, and even creative conversations with Gunn.
Now, having reached this stage, he practically had access to the entire script.
"Three… two… one… action!" Gunn called out.
"You piece of shit alien!" the professional actor off-camera read as Lex Luthor.
The reading was functional, relatively neutral, without trying to steal focus from the audition.
Then Owen responded.
"That is where you've always been wrong about me, Lex!"
His voice came out strong, firm, loaded with emotion, but not from anger.
It was something more human and painful.
He pointed slightly forward while speaking, breathing heavily, his body still conveying the physical exhaustion of a massive fight that had just ended.
"I'm as human as anyone."
He made a small gesture encompassing everyone around him.
"I love… I... I get scared."
Everyone noticed that Owen seemed to have the lines completely internalized.
It didn't feel like someone performing a speech. You genuinely believed him on an absurdly natural level.
Technically that was an actor's job, but here it felt almost too believable. There was no exaggerated dramatics. No artificial theatricality.
He looked like someone trying to explain something he had kept buried for far too long.
The room remained completely silent as he continued speaking.
Everyone already knew how good he was at acting.
The self-tape had proven that.
The first in-person test had too.
But even so, it was still surprising to watch him live.
'There's a reason he won Best Actor at Cannes…' Gunn thought while staring at him intently.
He had seen Good Will Hunting and already understood why many people were saying it would become a film with multiple Oscar nominations, including Best Actor for Owen, something enormous, considering he would become one of the youngest actors in history to receive that kind of nomination.
"I wake up every morning and despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other… and I try to make the best choices I can," Owen continued, his voice losing just a little strength at the end of the sentence, not from weakness, but from honesty.
"I screw up all the time… but that is being human," Owen added, nodding ever so slightly after saying it, almost as if Superman himself were accepting it in real time.
Finally, he concluded in a calmer, warmer tone.
"And someday… I hope, for the sake of the world… you understand that it's yours too."
The scene ended, and for a second no one spoke.
Actually, it was more than a couple of seconds.
Owen remained still, looking toward where Gunn, Safran, and the others were sitting.
He had switched off that mental "switch" he always activated when stepping into character, and the silence continued.
Until Owen finally spoke, "Isn't this usually when someone says cut?" he asked, breaking the silence.
Several people let out small automatic laughs.
Gunn blinked, almost as if he had only just returned to reality, "Right… cut!" he said with a soft laugh.
He hadn't gone silent out of shock or anything like that.
More than anything, he had been thinking, analyzing the scene, the lines, and which tone had worked best.
But he had also reacted slowly in part because of Owen. He wasn't particularly used to working with actors at that level.
Yes, he had worked with highly respected and talented actors before.
But Owen had something different. A strange mix between extremely serious prestige cinema and massive blockbuster presence.
The audition continued for approximately an hour.
They performed four different scenes in the full suit, including different versions and tonal adjustments constantly requested by Gunn.
Owen adapted to everything almost immediately.
One of the scenes Gunn liked the most was a far more physical and intimidating one.
Luthor had kidnapped Superman's dog, or more specifically, Kara's dog, Superman's cousin's dog, and the scene showed a more aggressive version of the character reacting to the kidnapping.
The point was to show physical presence, posture, and intensity in the eyes.
The feeling that Superman was trying to stay calm, even though he could clearly destroy the entire place if he wanted to.
After that, they took a short break and moved on to two Clark Kent scenes that lasted around twenty minutes, where Owen no longer wore the suit.
That part ended up being particularly important for Gunn.
Because that was where he wanted to see whether Owen could turn off that natural movie-star aura and transform into someone more ordinary, awkward, and human.
As expected, it worked extremely well.
Finally came the last stage: chemistry tests with Lois Lane.
Two scenes were performed with each of the finalist actresses:
-Rachel Brosnahan
-Emma Mackey
-Jenna Ortega
They weren't especially long scenes. Each block lasted approximately fifteen to twenty minutes.
In total, Owen spent nearly three hours inside the studio from the moment he had arrived that morning.
And when everything finally ended, he calmly said goodbye to Gunn and the rest of the team before leaving the soundstage.
He walked away with a good feeling.
But Owen returned later that same day. It was around 6:15 p.m.
He didn't go back inside the studio. He simply parked near the exterior exit of the Warner Bros. lot and waited.
A few minutes later, he saw Jenna walking out.
Jenna opened the passenger door, got into the car, and practically collapsed into the seat while letting out a long exhausted sigh.
"Long day, huh?" Owen said while looking at her with slight amusement, since he knew she was exaggerating her reaction.
"Very long," Jenna replied, resting her head against the seat.
She had spent practically the entire day inside Warner.
From eight in the morning until now. The funny part was that she hadn't actually spent that much time acting.
Between the scenes with the Superman candidates, including Owen, and her own individual Lois Lane tests, she had probably only done around two real hours of acting.
The rest had been: waiting, makeup, wardrobe changes, catering, touch-ups, production movements, and endless pauses between setups.
Something completely normal during major Hollywood screen tests.
Owen grabbed a coffee he had bought from Starbucks
out of the center cup holder and handed it to her.
"Your favorite."
Jenna looked at the coffee and immediately smiled in recognition.
"Thanks," she murmured, taking the cup with both hands.
Owen started the car as they slowly pulled out of the parking lot.
Then he glanced at her sideways.
"So, how were the scenes with Corenswet and Hoult?" he asked, trying to sound casual. "Did you sabotage them?"
Owen already knew perfectly well who his main competitors were:
-David Corenswet
-Nicholas Hoult
He obviously already knew Hoult.
Corenswet, not as much. He had done some research over the past few days.
David Corenswet could still be considered a low B-tier actor within the industry. Promising, yes, but still far from the level of recognition needed to lead a gigantic blockbuster purely off his own name.
Most of his recognition came from specific streaming projects, especially The Politician and Hollywood, both Ryan Murphy productions on Netflix.
Because of that, he would also have a much lower salary quote than Owen. A point in David's favor and against Owen, but it didn't really worry him.
As for Hoult, he could be considered either a high B-tier or a supporting A-tier actor. An extremely respected and versatile performer with more than twenty years of impeccable career experience, capable of moving between major studio blockbusters and prestigious auteur films.
His face was already recognizable to international mainstream audiences thanks to massive franchises like the X-Men saga, and he was also coming off Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for the acclaimed dark comedy series The Great.
To Owen, honestly, Hoult was the real rival.
Because in certain ways, he had something dangerously similar to himself: huge acting range, major experience, and very strong physical screen presence.
Owen knew he had a more naturally perfect or photogenic face for Superman, more model-like, but Hoult compensated heavily with height, elegance, and a very commanding on-screen presence.
"That would be ethically wrong," Jenna said before taking another sip of coffee, "and dangerous if Gunn and the others realized I intentionally acted worse."
Owen let out a faint smile while driving, "That's why we're actors."
Jenna glanced sideways at him, "Did you sabotage Rachel and Emma?"
But she didn't even let him answer.
"I doubt it," she continued. "You could've sabotaged me during The Spectacular Now so Sophie would get the role, and you didn't."
At the time, Sophie had been Owen's girlfriend, and he actually had considered doing exactly that.
Owen looked at her for a brief second before returning his eyes to the road.
"Mm, true."
After that, they started talking about impressions and how the other candidates had been.
Both of them ended up reaching practically the same conclusion: their best tests had been the scenes together.
Mainly because they already had shared history, natural eye contact, comfortable silences, and real physical chemistry.
They had played romance before, and on top of that, they were a real couple. Competing against that was difficult.
Although Owen admitted he felt he had very strong chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan too, and it wasn't accidental.
He already knew her from before.
Rachel had reached the final stage of the casting for Skylar in Good Will Hunting. In fact, Derek had come fairly close to choosing her before ultimately leaning toward Emma Watson.
And so, two days passed.
Meanwhile, Good Will Hunting kept growing in theaters and expanding into more screens with increasingly massive numbers for a drama of that kind.
Owen could barely stop thinking about Superman, and the more he replayed the audition in his head, the more confident he felt.
Gunn's silent reactions. The looks from the executives. The atmosphere after some of the scenes.
It all kept coming back to him constantly. Though alongside the confidence, something else also appeared:
Anxiety.
Because now all that was left was waiting for the call.
Finally, Wednesday afternoon, while working in his office inside Second Take Films, his phone vibrated on the desk.
Larry.
Owen answered immediately.
"Hey, Larry. What's up?" Owen said, trying to keep his tone neutral.
"Hey, I've got news from DC..." Larry replied. Owen couldn't really read or predict anything from his tone.
"Shoot," Owen said a little faster than he intended.
Larry only took another second before speaking.
"I'm sorry, Owen. You didn't get the role of Superman."
Owen went completely still, staring forward as if his brain needed an extra second to process what he had just heard.
Then he frowned slightly, his mouth parting with genuine disbelief, and finally spoke:
"What?"
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