The Bear star Jeremy Allen White had a chance to appear in a “Marvel-y” movie – but for what it’s worth, he doesn’t regret blowing it.
White talked about the meeting in a profile with GQ that posted on Tuesday, which takes a look at the actor as he remains on the rise. After breaking out on Shameless, White got a lot more attention – and an Emmy nomination – for his lead role on FX/Hulu’s The Bear, which was just renewed for a third season. With his next film, A24’s The Iron Claw, coming out this December, he just keeps getting more opportunity – so that must mean a Marvel movie is next on the list, right?
That was the question on Riz Ahmed's mind, anyway, as White said that the first question the actor asked him when they met was, “When are you going to do a Marvel thing?”
“I had a meeting for a kind of Marvel-y movie, and I had an attitude,” White said. “I think I played it all wrong.”
Apparently, White wasn’t begging for a superhero role – instead, he approached the execs with an attitude of “Tell me about why should I do your movie.”
“They were like, ‘Fuck you,’ ” he went on. “And I was like, ‘Right on.’ ”
White went on to add that he’s “confused at how the pinnacle of an actor’s career has ended up in that place.” Still, meeting with GQ later, he offered the superhero genre a bit more credit, saying “They get really good filmmakers to do those movies and obviously they get really good actors to do those movies.”
“I played it the way I wanted to play it,” he added of the “Marel-y” meeting.
While it would be fun to see White in a major blockbuster, it’s also hard to blame him for being skeptical. Both the DCU and the MCU are in odd places, to say the least, with the former gearing up for James Gunn’s revamp after several box office disappointments, and the latter reportedly struggling internally in attempts to return to its glory days.
As the profile goes on to note, White remains more interested in mid-budget movies, like his The Iron Claw, which debuts on Dec. 22.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
