Aaron Pierre explained that he nearly didn’t get his role as John Stewart in HBO’s Lanterns series due to a gnarly bicep injury he sustained mere months before filming.
Pierre shared the shocking story at the official Lanterns panel at San Diego Comic Con, saying he went to his final callback while his arm was still in a brace while he was recovering from surgery.
“Just before we started filming, my tendon separated from the bone,” he said, drawing sympathetic gasps from the audience. “My bicep went all the way up to my shoulder. This was right at the point where I was gonna finally meet Chris and Damon and Tom. I remember my team gave me a call and said, ‘Look, you have this opportunity. You are in the final two or three.’
“I just had surgery and I’m walking around like this,” he continued, mimicking his arm in a sling. “I can’t fully extend my arm. They said, ‘You still wanna do it?’ I said, ‘Don’t ask silly questions.’ I went into the callback in my brace.”
Throughout the panel, Pierre made his love for the Lanterns extremely clear, even wearing a custom letterman jacket emblazoned with ‘In brightest day, in blackest night’ on the back (as well as some special Green Lantern-themed kicks). For him, playing John Stewart was so important that he would do anything — even show up to his final callback in a brace to prove his dedication to the part.
“I just wanted the role so much,” he said. “I love John so much. I think in that moment — this isn’t hyperbole — I was like, ‘What would John do?’ I walked in there and gave it my best. I got the role, and I had a matter of months to rehab. I had a fantastic team.”
Pierre isn’t alone is suffering a grisly bicep tear; Ryan Hurst, formerly cast as Kratos in Prime Video’s God of War series, was forced to leave the project after tearing his bicep filming a stunt for the show. The role will now be recast, with filming projected to resume in 2027.
HBO’s Lanterns streams on August 16, 2026.
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
