Regé-Jean Page Responds To Rumors He Lost A Major Role Because He’s Black

An April 6 report from The Hollywood Reporter claims that DC Entertainment didn’t cast Bridgerton breakout star Regé-Jean Page in Syfy’s Krypton because of his race. Before he was cast in the Netflix period drama as the Duke of Hastings, he had auditioned to play Superman’s grandfather, but the former DC chief creative officer Geoffrey Johns allegedly said Superman’s grandfather could not be Black.

On April 7, Page seemed to have indirectly addressed the rumor on his Twitter, writing: “Hearing about these conversations hurts no less now than it did back then. The clarifications almost hurt more [to be honest]. Still just doing my thing. Still we do the work. We still fly.”

The claim is one of the many that emerged from THR's profile of actor Ray Fisher, who went into detail about his negative experiences working with DC executives and director Joss Whedon — whose actions he described as “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable” — on the set of 2017's Justice League. And even though sources said that the DC executives behind Krypton reportedly were “passionate about doing some nontraditional casting,” they also claimed that Johns had also vetoed the idea of making character Adam Strange gay or bisexual. (A representative for Johns told THR that "Geoff celebrates and supports LGTBQ characters.")

In response to Fisher's allegation about Page, Johns' rep justified his thinking by explaining that he "believed fans expected the character to look like a young Henry Cavill." In a statement to BuzzFeed News, the rep also denied the claim outright: "Geoff never said Superman can’t have a Black ancestor or be Black. ”

DC eventually cast Cameron Cuffe, who is white and British, in the leading role, which aired in 2018.

In any case, it seems like Page dodged a (speeding) bullet.