Believe it Or Not….

Whilst chatting to the actor today about his role in Will Gluck’s “Fired Up”, actor Eric Christian Olsen revealed that he was set to play cinema’s Ralph Hinkley.

For those not old enough to recall, Hinkley was the central character in the smash-hit 80s superhero series, ‘’The Greatest American Hero”. In it, William Katt played Hinkley, a schoolteacher who discovers a magical super-suit and becomes a disinclined hero.

Most of us were glued to the TV when it aired (from 1981-1993); great little show it was.

Unfortunately, financing fell through on “The Greatest American Hero” movie before 31-year-old actor Olsen even got to try on the legendary crimson ensemble.

“I booked that movie”, says Olsen, after I suggested he’d be good for it. “I went in for it right after Fired Up. They were like ‘This is our guy’ but they didn’t have financing in place. But yeah, I booked it – but because the budget was so huge they couldn’t get the money.”

Stephen Herek (“Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”, “The Mighty Ducks”)was set to direct the movie, with production originally scheduled to get underway last July.

“It was a really funny script – about a reluctant hero who gets in way over his head – and it had a lot of really cool stunts”, Olsen says. “I had a blast working with all of those guys. Then we get a phone call just as we were starting the deal to say they hadn’t got the financing. I’m not attached anymore”.

Olsen, a big superhero fan, says he’s a little disappointed he never got to try on the suit. “Nope, never got to that place – only got to reading the original contracts; no super suit”.

Olsen, who also tells me he’s about to start work on the new Jennifer Lopez movie “Plan B” (which starts off in a month, with filming due to take place in L.A and New York), is confident he’ll get to play a superhero sometime – even if it isn’t Ralph Hinkley.  ”We’ll see what happens – there’s a couple I’ve almost done”, says Olsen.

Don’t doubt he will get something in a super jaunt – he has a great look.