Superman star Alan Tudyk says he was dropped from I, Robot press because audiences liked his motion capture robot more than Will Smith’s human protagonist: "My name was not mentioned"

News
By published

Alan Tudyk played the titular robot in the 2004 sci-fi pic

Alan Tudyk as Sonny in I, Robot
(Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

Alan Tudyk says he was dropped from doing press for the 2004 sci-fi pic I, Robot because test audiences preferred his (surprisingly emotional) robot to Will Smith's detective protagonist.

"A lot of people did not know I did Sonny the Robot in I, Robot, and there is a reason,” Tudyk said on an episode of the Toon'd In Podcast. "They were doing test audiences for the movie, and they score the characters in this kind of test screening. I got word back: 'Alan, you are testing higher than Will Smith.' And then I was gone. I was done. There was no publicity, and my name was not mentioned."

Continued Tudyk: "I was so shocked," he continued. "I was like, ‘Wait, nobody is going to know I’m in it!’ I put a lot into it. Because I had to move like a robot. At the time, I was very upset."

Lauren Milici
Lauren Milici
Senior Entertainment Writer

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.