5 Actresses Who Almost Played Lois Lane in Superman Movies & Shows

Where would Superman/Clark Kent be without Lois Lane? This intrepid Daily Planet reporter is a determined soul embodying how even ordinary human beings can stand up against tremendous evil. Plus, the romance between her and Clark has also made audiences from all walks of life swoon for ages. Even through her most memorable quotes like “You’ve got me?!? Whose got you?!?” she’s contributed to various pieces of Superman media solidify Lois Lane as an essential part of this character’s mythos.

It’s no wonder, then, that each new era of Superman cinema delivers a new Lois Lane. Seminal performers like Margot Kidder, Rachel Brosnahan, and Amy Adams have been tasked with portraying this character in live-action. In the process of casting such an important Superman figure, though, several artists have come incredibly close to taking on this role. Five actresses, in particular, stand out as compelling “what if?” scenarios in what they could’ve brought to the role of Lois Lane.

1) Zoe Saldaña in Man of Steel

Yes, Zoe Saldana nearly added the DC Extended Universe to her expansive list of genre movie exploits. In 2019, Zack Snyder divulged that, while Amy Adams was his top choice for this Man of Steel role, a fierce second option for the character was Saldana. For Snyder, this Avatar veteran had a similar compelling energy to Adams that matched his unique vision of Lois Lane. Since Amy Adams embraced the role, though, Zoe Saldana missed out on anchoring Man of Steel. This did, however, open up the door for her taking on Gamora in another mid-2010s superhero film, Guardians of the Galaxy.

2) Keri Russell in Superman Returns

If there’s a misfire in the pantheon of movie versions of Lois Lane, it’s in the Kate Bosworth version of the character in Superman Returns. That’s no reflection of Bosworth’s talents, though. The mopey Returns just doesn’t give Lane anything substantial to do beyond react to Superman and her secretly super-powered son. Perhaps it’s for the best Keri Russell lost out on the role. This performer was long attached to and auditoning for this part across the various directors Returns and its earlier incarnations went through. In the end, Russell lost out on the part, an outcome she saw as a blessing considering how time-consuming these productions were.

3) Stockard Channing in Superman (1978)

Back in the late 70s, the role of Lois Lane for the first Christopher Reeve Superman film was a hotly-contested one. One of the two finalists for the role was Grease veteran Stockard Channing, who got far enough into the casting process to play opposite Reeve in an extended chemistry test. Margot Kidder, of course, eventually won the role. Channing ended up anchoring a legendary 1978 movie even after missing out on this role thanks to her work as Betty Rizzo in Grease.

4) Samara Weaving in Superman (2025)

The process of casting Superman was not an easy one, especially since this project was meant to both kick off the DC Universe in the cinema realm and provide something starkly different to Man of Steel. As part of the extensive casting hunt for the production, a slew of names were considered for Lois Lane before Rachel Brosnahan secured the part. One of those figures was actress Samara Weaving. Given that the conviction she brought to roles in movies as varied as Ready or Not and Babylon, it’s easy to see why, even if she never got the part, why James Gunn would’ve strongly considered her for the part of Lois Lane.

5) Sandra Bullock in Superman Lives

One of the most infamous unrealized superhero movies in history, Tim Burton’s Superman Lives promised to deliver a radically new vision of the titular superhero starring Nicolas Cage as Superman. A slew of major names were being considered for the key supporting roles in this production. That included Sandra Bullock as Lois Lane, a casting choice that producer Jon Peters claims he aggressively pursued. In the mid ’90s, when Superman Lives was in pre-production, Bullock was beginning to take off as a movie star in the wake of 1994’s Speed.

Scoring her for the co-lead of Superman Lives would’ve been a massive coup. However, this casting never came to pass because the entire project fell apart. The first of many jettisoned Superman movies before 2006’s Superman Returns, Superman Lives still endures as a tantalizing, unrealized concept. The concept of what Bullock could’ve looked like as Lois Lane is certainly a key reason why this project won’t die.

Superman is now playing in theaters.

James Gunn Explains Why He Turned Down Directing Superman at First