‘It Was So Sad’: Superman’s Engineer Actress Explained How She Missed Out On Working With James Gunn Earlier In The Suicide Squad

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María Gabriela de Faría played Angela Spicer, also known as The Engineer, and she was one of Lex Luthor’s key enforcers (and possibly a love interest) in Superman. The advanced nanotechnology within her made her a powerful opponent for David Corenswet’s Man of Steel in the 2025 film. Interestingly, de Faria almost collaborated with writer and director James Gunn on his earlier DC movie, The Suicide Squad. However, a difficulty with communication prevented that from happening.

During her interview on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, María Gabriela de Faría shared with the host – who famously played Lex Luthor in the TV show Smallville – that she recently told James Gunn she was completely “starstruck” by him during her audition for The Suicide Squad, and it caused her to perform poorly. The actress described the experience as “so sad,” and then explained:

Okay, so picture this: I’d just moved to the US, and I was still learning English – as an adult, which is *way* harder, let me tell you. My English wasn’t the greatest, so I was kind of pretending I knew what I was doing. Anyway, I get to the audition, and the director is immediately complimentary, saying he loved my self-tapes and wants me to play the character as a brat. I just said ‘You got it!’ – total bluff. Honestly, I had no clue what a ‘brat’ even *was*, but I didn’t dare ask! I was so worried he’d realize my English wasn’t perfect. So I just nodded and went with my interpretation. You could *see* the disappointment on his face – the polite ‘Thank you so much, that was great, thank you, bye.’ I practically ran to my car and Googled ‘brat’ – and let me tell you, what I’d done in the audition was *definitely* not that! It was a classic case of me trying to fake it ’til I make it, and it spectacularly failed.

It’s easy to see why María Gabriela de Faría hesitated to discuss her English skills during the audition process for The Suicide Squad. She was worried that any language difficulties might hurt her chances of getting the part. Ultimately, a misinterpretation of the word “brat” led to her not being cast. When looking at the 2021 DC movie’s cast, it’s hard to say which character de Faría was up for, especially since Daniela Melchior, who played Ratcatcher 2, doesn’t really fit the description of a “brat”.

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Regardless, things thankfully turned out much better for María Gabriela de Faría with the Superman audition, even though it wasn’t easy. She mentioned earlier in the interview that she was really upset after not getting a part in the Paramount+ series Landman, and it left her feeling “depressed.” So, when she had a chance to audition for The Engineer – a character she didn’t know the name of in the initial materials she received – she assumed she wouldn’t be cast, remembering her experience with the Taylor Sheridan-created series.

Enter de Faría’s husband, Christian McGaffney, who encouraged her, saying, “Lady, stop crying, get ready, and let’s film an audition tape.” They immediately did so, with de Faría performing the scene of The Engineer accessing the Fortress of Solitude’s computer. James Gunn eventually chose her as the ideal candidate for the part, leading to her being cast in Superman. She then had the opportunity to act alongside stars like David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult, and Sara Sampaio, among others.

Last time we saw Angela Spicer, in Superman, she was knocked out, and the story didn’t tell us what happened to her after the problems in Metropolis were fixed. Good news for her fans: she’s returning! María Gabriela de Faría will once again play The Engineer in the new DC film Man of Tomorrow, which comes out on July 9, 2027.

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2025-10-02 04:38