Patrick Schwarzenegger auditioned for Superman before landing his ‘White Lotus’ role

By Joe Allen Published March 2, 2025

The casting call for James Gunn’s new Superman cast a pretty wide net, and included plenty of people who were not already well- known stars. In a recent interview on Happy Sad Confused, White Lotus star Patrick Schwarzenegger revealed that he was one of the people who auditioned for the role, although he clarified that he didn’t get very far in the process.

When Schwarzenegger was asked whether he’d auditioned for many superhero films, he said that he’d only auditioned for Homelander on The Boys, Golden Boy on Gen V (a role that he booked), and for James Gunn’s Superman. When host Josh Horowitz asked if he’d gotten into costume for the audition, Schwarzenegger said that he hadn’t and that the audition was a self-tape.

“No, I don’t think I got any feedback. I think it was like, ‘No, not for you,'” he explained. David Corenswet was ultimately cast as Superman, and Schwarzenegger went on to get a spot in the cast of the third season of The White Lotus, where he’s playing a man who is in many ways the opposite of Superman.

Schwarzenegger also explained that, following the pandemic, almost every audition he’s had has been over Zoom.“It’s just one person on the screen and when they talk, they’re on it and then you talk and it switches to you,” he explained. “So, it’s really weird doing a scene with someone because sometimes they’ll be mid talk and you say something, and it’ll switch to you and then it’s really distracting and weird.”

The White Lotus is now airing on Sundays on HBO and Max.