This ‘Superman and Lois’ Star Turned Down ‘Twilight’ for Baseball

Before he was a Kryptonian, and even before he was a werewolf, Tyler Hoechlin was almost a vampire. The Superman & Lois star was offered a role in the first Twilight film, but turned it down to play baseball for UC Irvine. Hoechlin discussed the near-miss casting with Michael Rosenbaum in a candid Clark Kent-Lex Luthor chat on Rosenbaum’s podcast, Inside of You.

At the time, Twilight was a success on the bestseller charts, but nobody knew what a cultural phenomenon it would become. Hoechlin auditioned for the lead role of Edward Cullen; it was eventually won by Robert Pattinson, but Hoechlin was instead offered the role of Emmett Cullen, Edward’s adopted vampire brother. However, to accept it, he would have to miss the first four weeks of the baseball season. After consultation with family and friends, he called director Catherine Hardwicke personally, letting her know that he was turning the role down. Even the movie’s infamous “vampire baseball” scene couldn’t change his mind. Ultimately, Hoechlin’s baseball career was ended by a hamstring injury, and he returned to acting. His big break, ironically, came in another teen supernatural romance series: On MTV’s Teen Wolf, he played werewolf Derek Hale in the show’s first four seasons.

Who Is Emmett Cullen?

Emmett Cullen was created by Stephenie Meyer in the first of her Twilight supernatural romance novels. Born in 1915, Emmett was mauled by a bear in Tennessee in 1935. He was discovered by the vampire Rosalie Hale, who brought him to her adoptive “father,” Carlisle Cullen, to be turned into a vampire, thus saving his life. The easy-going, light-hearted Emmett had some difficulty adjusting to the vampire lifestyle, but bonded with his vampire “siblings” and eventually married Rosalie. He eventually came to welcome Bella Swan into their family, and helped her learn to fight in preparation for their clan’s climactic battle with the Volturi, the ruling caste of the vampire world. After Hoechlin turned down the role in the film, Kellan Lutz was brought in to play the character, and played him in all four of the film’s sequels.

After leaving Teen Wolf, Hoechlin was cast as Superman in The CW’s Supergirl series; he was eventually spun off into his own series, Superman & Lois, with Bitsie Tulloch playing his wife, Lois Lane. The series ended last year after four seasons.

Superman & Lois is now streaming on HBO Max. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

Superman & Lois

Release Date

2021 – 2023

Network

The CW

Showrunner

todd helbing

Directors

Gregory Smith, Sudz Sutherland, David Ramsey, Elizabeth Henstridge, Tom Cavanagh, Diana Valentine, Elaine Mongeon, Alexandra La Roche, Lee Toland Krieger, Eric Dean Seaton, David Mahmoudieh, Amy Jo Johnson, David Giuntoli, Stewart Hendler, Rachel Talalay, Norma Bailey, Michael Cudlitz, Melissa Hickey, James Bamford

Writers

Max Cunningham, George Kitson, Max Kronick, aaron helbing

• Geoff Johns

  Self – Executive Producer, Superman & Lois

• Greg Berlanti

  Self – Executive Producer

• Marc Guggenheim

  Clark Kent / Superman

Source : collider.com