{"id":2260090,"date":"2026-01-31T18:46:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T18:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2260090"},"modified":"2026-01-31T18:46:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T18:46:05","slug":"wonder-man-stars-yahya-abdul-mateen-ii-and-ben-kingsley-reveal-biggest-lies-they-told-in-auditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wonder-man-stars-yahya-abdul-mateen-ii-and-ben-kingsley-reveal-biggest-lies-they-told-in-auditions\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWonder Man\u201d stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley reveal biggest lies they told in auditions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/tv\/yahya-abdul-mateen-ii-wonder-man-marvel\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Wonder Man;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>Wonder Man<\/em><\/a> actors <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/yahya-abdul-mateen-ii\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Yahya Abdul-Mateen II;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Yahya Abdul-Mateen II<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/ben-kingsley\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Sir Ben Kingsley;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Sir Ben Kingsley<\/a> are now major Marvel stars, but they still remember what it was like to be a struggling actor so desperate to land a role that you&#8217;d do anything in auditions &#8230; even lie.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In the new MCU series that <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/wonder-man-creators-explain-josh-gad-joe-pantoliano-cameos-11893966\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:takes a meta look at the Hollywood industry;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">takes a meta look at the Hollywood industry<\/a>, Abdul-Mateen II&#8217;s character Simon lies in his audition for the fake <em>Wonder Man<\/em> movie-within-the-show. And it&#8217;s an experience that Abdul-Mateen II found all too relatable, because it reminded him of the massive lie he told that helped him get his previous comic book role.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;In the <em>Aquaman<\/em> [movie] series, I said that I could swim, and I could not swim,&#8221; Abdul-Mateen II tells <em>Entertainment Weekly<\/em> with a laugh. &#8220;I could not swim to save my life! But they asked me if I could do that. &#8216;Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure. Absolutely.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div style=\"max-height:none;overflow:visible\"><i>Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in &#8216;Wonder Man&#8217; <\/i><\/p>\n<p>Courtesy of Marvel Television<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Thankfully, it all worked out \u2014 Abdul-Mateen II secretly taught himself how to swim for a few weeks before filming began on the first <em>Aquaman<\/em> film. Looking back on it now, he doesn&#8217;t regret being dishonest in that pivotal audition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">And listening to his <em>Wonder Man<\/em> costar&#8217;s story sparked a similar memory for Kingsley, who reprises his MCU role of Trevor Slattery in the series.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;He just reminded me of something, I actually lied [in an audition] as well,&#8221; Kingsley says. &#8220;When I was a theater actor, I also had lovely opportunities to bounce in and out of television. It wasn&#8217;t an episode of <em>Coronation Street,<\/em> but around about that time, early BBC drama. They said, &#8216;Can you ride a scooter, a motor scooter?&#8217; &#8216;Yeah.&#8217; I crashed it. And they had to get the stunt driver in immediately. But I got the job!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong><em>Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/ew-dispatch-newsletter-11812417\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:EW Dispatch newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">EW Dispatch newsletter<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Both Kingsley and Abdul-Mateen II agree that as an actor, sometimes you have to do whatever it takes to get the job.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;That&#8217;s the most important thing, you get the job,&#8221; Abdul-Mateen II says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Kingsley adds, &#8220;You could swim and I could ride the scooter. It all worked out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Their aspiring actor characters would be so proud.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Wonder Man<\/em> is now streaming on Disney+.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/wonder-man-yahya-abdul-mateen-ii-ben-kingsley-reveal-biggest-lies-they-told-in-auditions-11895843\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Entertainment Weekly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wonder Man actors Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sir Ben Kingsley are now major Marvel stars, but they still remember what it was like to be a struggling actor so desperate to land a role that you&#8217;d do anything in auditions &#8230; even lie. In the new MCU series that takes a meta look at the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2260091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[352136,365679,434010],"class_list":["post-2260090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-sir-ben-kingsley","tag-wonder-man","tag-yahya-abdul-mateen-ii"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Wonder-Man-stars-Yahya-Abdul-Mateen-II-and-Ben-Kingsley-reveal.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2260090"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2260092,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2260090\/revisions\/2260092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2260091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2260090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2260090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2260090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}