Rachel Brosnahan was offered ‘Superman' role in a public restroom: ‘Prayed toilet didn't flush'
The actress, 34, revealed what she was doing when James Gunn called to offer her the role of Lois Lane in the new 'Superman.'
'I was in SoHo, in a public bathroom,' she said on 'Jenna & Friends' Wednesday. 'I had my phone in my hand and picked it up. It said, 'Maybe James Gunn.''
10 Rachel Brosnahan attends CinemaCon 2025.
Getty Images for CinemaCon
'I was like, 'I gotta get this. What do I do?' and just prayed that a toilet didn't flush behind me,' confessed Brosnahan. 'And he said, 'How'd you like to be Lois Lane?''
'I said yes,' she noted. 'And then a toilet flushed behind me.'
'Really glamorous,' she teased. 'All glamour all the time in Hollywood.'
10 Rachel Brosnahan and David Corenswet attend the 'Superman' premiere at the TCL Chinese theatre.
REUTERS
'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' star also admitted she was a bit apprehensive to play Clark Kent's colleague-turned-love interest.
'Stepping into shoes this big, we knew that the fans were counting on us to deliver,' Brosnahan told host Jenna Bush Hager and her guest co-host Dwyane Wade. 'I am excited for people to see it, and hopefully we've done that.'
'I also had said to James, and now he's told everybody, that usually I look for something scary in any role that I'm approaching,' she explained. 'And weirdly, the scariest thing about this one is that I think I understand her pretty intimately.'
10 Nicholas Hoult, Rachel Brosnahan and David Corenswet.
REUTERS
Brosnahan added that his role 'feels the closest to myself that I've ever played and that was brand new for me.'
'We're all drawn toward comfort naturally,' she continued. 'Of course, it's most comfortable.'
'One of the great gifts of being an actor is that we get to keep putting ourselves in situations where we feel like we're walking off the plank and that's part of the fun. It's good for us to keep challenging ourselves and find different ways to do that.'
10 Rachel Brosnahan in a scene from 'Superman.'
AP
Brosnahan stars opposite David Corenswet as the beloved superhero Superman in the upcoming action sci-fi remake.
This was also the actress' first time working with computer-generated imagery (CGI).
'We talked about fear,' Brosnahan quipped. 'That was one of those scary things. You never know what it's going to look like in post, or whether or not you can pull it off until you get inside it.'
10 Rachel Brosnahan and David Corenswet in a scene from 'Superman.'
AP
'I had one scene with the dog, Crypto,' she recalled. 'Because of some restraints of the set, we couldn't use one of the actors who was sometimes playing Crypto or the reference dog Jolene, who sometimes played Crypto. So, I just had to do it with nothing.'
Brosnahan teased that if the film is greenlit for a sequel, Gunn, 58, who is the CEO of DC Studios, will pay for mime school.
While at the 'Superman' premiere in London on July 2, 'The Amateur' vet opened up about some of her favorite moments from set.
Brosnahan recalled working with Edi Gathegi, who plays Mr. Terrific, on a scene with 'one of those balls for VFX.'
10 Rachel Brosnahan, Skyler Gisondo, and David Corenswet in a scene from 'Superman.'
AP
'Edi grabbed my arm and gasped and I thought something had gone wrong,' she told People, adding the actor, 46, 'was really misty-eyed and said, 'I just saw us in the movie.' '
'And it's one of those moments where, as long as the days can get and as challenging as things can sometimes be on a set, you're reminded that you're a part of something that makes you feel the magic that you felt as a kid who loved movies and I'm excited to be able to share that.'
Alongside Brosnahan and Gathegi, the movie stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl and Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern.
10 David Corenswet as Clark Kent / Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Just last month, Brosnahan doubled down on her gratitude for this project when she sat down with Amanda Seyfried.
'That's the thing about these movies: You can feel it when people are doing it with passion and grace and curiosity,' the 'Mean Girls' alum, 39, said in the Interview Magazine piece.
Brosnahan responded, 'I don't know why people say yes only to then turn around and complain about it. Look, I don't want to s–t on other actors, but there was a minute where it was cool to not like superhero movies and to look back on projects like this and pooh-pooh them.'
10 Rachel Brosnahan attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Warner Bros. 'Superman.'
WireImage
'Do it or don't do it, and then stand by it,' she added.
Seyfried, who has yet to star in a superhero film, praised Gunn for what he created.
'I honestly don't think you should call it a superhero movie ever again, because it isn't just that, and I think people are going to see that,' she expressed. 'It's really important to have this kind superhero, this guy who's just trying to do his best.'
'The cool thing about it is that it's what you expect, and then there's more,' Brosnahan concurred. 'Of course, there's great fighting and stunts and big monsters and good and evil.'
10 Rachel Brosnahan in a scene from 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.'
AP
10 Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam Maisel.
AP
Over the years, many stars have bashed their superhero films that have flopped.
Dakota Johnson didn't hold back her disdain after the 2024 Marvel movie 'Madame Web' performed poorly at the box office.
'I had never done anything like it before. I probably will never do anything like it again because I don't make sense in that world,' the actress, 35, told Bustle last year.
'And I know that now. But sometimes in this industry, you sign on to something, and it's one thing and then as you're making it, it becomes a completely different thing, and you're like, 'Wait, what?''
Christian Bale, meanwhile, starred as the villain Gorr the God Butcher in 2022's 'Thor: Love and Thunder.'
'I mean, the definition of it is monotony,' the 51-year-old told GQ of using a green screen. 'You've got good people. You've got other actors who are far more experienced at it than me. Can you differentiate one day from the next? No. Absolutely not.'
'Superman' hits theaters on Friday, July 11.
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