The Suicide Squad: Why Michael Rosenbaum Had to Turn Down a Role - Talking Shop

Pairing an impressive level of talent with a high-quality personality has worked in Hollywood for Michael Rosenbaum. The actor best known to mainstream audiences for his role as Lex Luthor on Smallville almost took on a different DC Comics property thanks to a friendship which James Gunn. It would have brought his acting chops to the table, once again, and been an opportunity spawning from their friendship. Rosenbaum, who recently appeared in Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (and should be returning for the third), had himself a role in Gunn's The Suicide Squad movie but had to turn it down for personal reasons which he opened up about on ComicBook.com's Talking Shop.

"It was close, I was supposed," Rosenbaum said. "Let's just say I supposed to be in it, but I had neck surgery and I couldn't do a role. I couldn't do the roll because it was too physical at that time, and I couldn't jeopardize my neck, but there was, there was the role." Unfortunately, for now, this role is going to remain a secret. Perhaps this could be a good sign of him playing it somewhere down the road?

"I won't say the role, but there was the role," Rosenbaum said. "James is always so gracious and kind and reached out and so I think when the time's right, look it's nice when your friends think of you, it's nice when your friends have a part."

Rosenbaum has blossomed quite a few deep relationships with top actors and filmmakers across Hollywood. In hosting his Inside of You podcast with guests ranging from Stephen Amell to Michael Rooker or Kristen Bell, Rosenbaum has brought out the vulnerable sides of celebrities and connected with them while also allowing listeners to relate. His well-known acting abilities paired with these friendships is a recipe for networking his way into awesome roles in comic book films, though he humbly credits those opportunities to the people around him who are kind of enough to consider it.

"When they have the power to do something, and they're like, 'Well he's talented as hell, and I have the ability to put him in something,' you hope they do it, right?" Rosenbaum explained. "And not everybody does it. So it's, when I directed my movie back in the day years ago, I tried to put a lot of my friends in it. I tried to, even when I had my show Impastor, tried to put some friends in it. When I was in Smallville, my friend had a song, I got her song in it. Like eight years after, she goes, I've made $20,000 off that song you put in Smallville."

Rosenbaum's message, it seems, is be kind and take care of others and they might just take care of you, as well. In this case, it would have landed him a role in The Suicide Squad but, for now, we will long for the day he returns to a live-action DC Comics property.

Watch the full episode of Talking Shop in the video above! Do you have a DC Comics character you would like to see Rosenbaum play? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram and Twitter!

Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast is available now, with the most recent episode featuring The Flash star Grant Gustin.

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