DC star reveals he auditioned to play Reed Richards in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but doesn't begrudge Pedro Pascal winning out: "To be fair, he's not in much"

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Mr. Fantastic could have looked very different

Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards in Fantastic Four
(Image credit: Disney)

Lucifer star Tom Ellis was one of the strongest contenders for the role of Reed Richards before Pedro Pascal got the part. In an interview, the actor revealed how he got close to starring in the MCU's The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which was released last July, but things didn't work out in the end.

"There was a select group of people that got asked to tape for Reed Richards," he said in a recent issue of Square Mile published earlier this year. "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."

The actor has a point – Pedro Pascal has become one of the busiest actors in Hollywood, with movies released in the past twelve months including Fantastic Four, Materialists, Eddington, The Wild Robot, and Gladiator 2, as well as The Last of Us season 2. He is also set to star in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and The Mandalorian & Grogu, potentially two of the highest grossing movies in 2026.

Mireia Mullor
Mireia Mullor
Contributing Writer

Mireia is a UK-based culture journalist and critic. She previously worked as Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy, and her work as a freelance writer has appeared in WeLoveCinema and Spanish magazines Fotogramas, Esquire, and Elle. She is also a published author, having written a book about Studio Ghibli's 'Kiki's Delivery Service' in 2023. Talking about anime and musicals is the best way to grab her attention.

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