LUCIFER Star Tom Ellis Reveals He Auditioned To Play Reed Richards in THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS
Fans of Lucifer know Tom Ellis as the charming and devilish Lord of Hell, but the actor recently revealed that he auditioned for the role of Reed Richards, a.k.a. Mister Fantastic, in Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
When Marvel began casting for its Fantastic Four reboot, a flood of big names reportedly tested for the lead roles. For Reed Richards, names like Matt Smith, Adam Driver, and Dev Patel were among the top contenders. As it turns out, Ellis was also in the running.
Talking with Square Mile, Ellis shared, "There was a select group of people that got asked to tape for Reed Richards. I had been waiting for the right thing, timing-wise and character-wise, to come along. And I remember looking at the photo of Richards in the comics and going, 'This could be the one.' We look quite similar."
He sent in his audition tape, but eventually learned that Pedro Pascal, known for The Mandalorian and The Last of Us, had been cast as the leader of Marvel’s First Family.
Ellis joked, "I mean to be fair, he's not in much. He's great, though. He is great. I'm looking forward to seeing it. The trailer looks quite fun."
When asked how it feels to miss out on such a high-profile role, Ellis offered a grounded perspective. "I understand that to a certain degree, although I really enjoy doing the jobs. But it’s what we live for. We live for the what if-ness of it.”
He went on to reflect on the creative spirit that drives actors: "We’re all in this industry because we all dreamt about doing it one day. I think we’re still all dreamers, and the people who say they’re not are either too cynical or they shouldn’t be doing it anymore."
As for Pascal, his portrayal of Reed Richards has been widely praised, marking another win for the ever-busy actor. Reflecting on his journey through massive franchises like Game of Thrones, Star Wars, and The Last of Us, Pascal previously said:
"Each time you step into one, and you feel like this can't be scarier, you find out, oh, this is scarier. Going into Game of Thrones, going into DC, going into Star Wars, and then the entire gaming world that introduced itself like an atom bomb to me. And in the best way, because I learned very, very quickly the incredible medium of storytelling that's happening within gaming."
He added, "Then the kind of crown, top of the mountain feels like stepping into something like this. That’s why the lucky thing is to anchor yourself so completely to a partnership, to your colleagues, to the original kind of authorship of this particular telling of the Fantastic Four — under, you know, basically the best in the business. It holds you and really, really can be the perfect antidote to the fear and to the pressure and stuff like that. You just wrap yourself around that."
While Ellis didn’t get to stretch his talents as Mister Fantastic this time, maybe one day he’ll get cast in a role that will being him into the MCU.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now available on Digital, 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD, with a Disney+ release expected soon.