United Kingdom, Aug. 12 -- Alan Tudyk claims he was removed from I, Robot promotional materials after "testing higher than Will Smith" with fans.

The 54-year-old actor - who played robot Sonny in the 2004 blockbuster, which starred Will as Detective Del Spooner - has admitted he was "so shocked" by the decision, which came after trial audiences were shown the movie.

He told the Toon'd In with Jim Cummings podcast: "A lot of people didn't know I did Sonny the robot in I, Robot, and there's a reason for that, actually.

"They were doing test audiences with the movie and they score the characters and I got word back, 'Alan, you're testing higher than Will Smith'.

"And then I was gone. I was gone. There was no publicity and my name was not...