Though he’ll always be remembered for “The O.C.” twenty years ago, the now in early 40s Adam Brody is having something of a career resurgence of late.
An acclaimed turn in “The Kid Detective” and strong supporting roles in “Ready or Not,” “Promising Young Woman” and FX’s “Fleishman Is in Trouble” along with appearances in the “Shazam” films, mean Brody’s been around of late.
The actor can now be seen in the direct-to-video reimagining of “The River Wild,” in which he essentially takes on the Kevin Bacon role from the original. Speaking with Marc Malkin on Just for Variety, he was asked if there were other roles he “really, really wanted” but didn’t get. He responded: “yes, there have been many,” before listing films like “Dumb and Dumberer” and “Elizabethtown” among others.
However, it’s two superhero parts he missed out on that he’ll be linked to. The one that we know is Brody, when he was 28, was officially cast and all set to play Barry Allen/The Flash in George Miller’s “Justice League” film in 2007 before it fell apart in pre-production due to financing issues.
The other is less well know. Turns out, a few years later, Brody auditioned for the role of Peter Quill/Star-Lord in “Guardians of the Galaxy” – a role which eventually went to Chris Pratt.
Brody said: “I wanted that one,” before adding that Pratt was a “better” fit for the part looking back in retrospect: “He is bigger, stronger, but tonally, I really dug it.”
Brody was just one of over 200 actors who auditioned for the part, with others like his “Shazam” co-star Zachary Levi also trying and missing out. Glenn Howerton (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) was revealed a while back as Gunn’s second choice after Pratt.
Talking about finally getting to slip on a cape to play the Shazamified version of Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) in those films, Brody says:
“It was a long time coming and I don’t know, it was fun. It was fun and it was a novelty, and I would definitely do more, but at this point in my life and my career — and at this point in the saturation of them — it didn’t feel like I’ve arrived. It was an interesting job, to be sure.”
The Brody-led “The River Wild” was released August 1st through Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
