Superman star Alan Tudyk says he was dropped from I, Robot press because audiences liked his motion capture robot more than Will Smith’s human protagonist: "My name was not mentioned"

Alan Tudyk as Sonny in I, Robot.

Alan Tudyk says he was dropped from doing press for the 2004 sci-fi pic I, Robot because test audiences preferred his (surprisingly emotional) robot to Will Smith's detective protagonist.

"A lot of people did not know I did Sonny the Robot in I, Robot, and there is a reason,” Tudyk said on an episode of the Toon'd In Podcast. "They were doing test audiences for the movie, and they score the characters in this kind of test screening. I got word back: 'Alan, you are testing higher than Will Smith.' And then I was gone. I was done. There was no publicity, and my name was not mentioned."