| By Fred Topel
In Theaters June 28
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For a struggling actor, seeing yourself on any screen is a big deal. For the past seven years, Brandon Routh was happy to appear on a sitcom or in an indie movie. Now, he can see himself as the most famous comic book character of all time, in Imax no less. He plays the title character in Superman Returns.
“It’s weird,” Routh said. “We basically shot the film in chronological order for Superman anyway. So I think I actually feel that way about it. I feel more confident in the end of film. I think the character is actually making that journey in the film. Even though he’s only been gone for five years, he’s still kind of getting back in the swing of things. So I actually feel that emotionally when I’m watching it. It’s still weird for me to watch because I’m Superman because it’s weird. It’s much easier for me to watch Clark. I enjoy watching Clark and it was great fun to be able to play him.”
In this sequel to the original Christopher Reeve series, Superman has been exploring the ruins of Kyrpton for five years. When he returns to earth, he finds Lois Lane married and Lex Luthor freed on a legal technicality. Fans have been waiting nearly 20 years for a new Superman movie, and 25 for a good one, but Routh likes the high expectations.
“That can be quite a great thing, really. It’s fantastic to be able to share in such a positive future with the characters. Such a great character and positive being that I’m sure people will judge Brandon Routh as they will judge Superman and I can’t change how people think and feel. But I’m not scared of it because I intend to live my life well and positively and happily and be a good person. That’s my journey on the earth which is to learn and contribute as best I can so and the fact that I get to play this character is great.”
It helps that he’s over six feet tall, looks like Christopher Reeve, and employed all the modern exercise techniques to sculpt himself into the Milliskin suit. “I lifted weights obviously. I did Rope Yoga which is a mix between Pilates and Yoga and that my first trainer Gudni Gunnarsson created. It’s a great core building routine so that was put in place so that I could sustain myself with the wires and the harness for extended periods of time. So we did that early on. We got my body in shape to be in shape. I mean, I was in shape, I was an athlete before that. I did certain things, but never to this extent. By the time we got into Australia, two months into my training we starting hitting the weights really, really hard and building more mass and I put on 22 pounds for the film. It was fantastic to see my body change in five months time. I’ve dropped a little bit now because I’m not working out as heavy definitely now.”
Routh may have been destined to play Superman because he’s been dressing up as the Man of Steel all his life, as recently as a Halloween party a year before the film, going back to infancy. “I have this photo of my mother and I, and I’m in her arms at three months and I have pajamas on. I was born in ’79 and the film came out in ’78 so Superman was all the rage. My parent’s excitement about that definitely wore off on me as I grew up. That’s how I think it happens for every kid that their parents talked about Superman.”
Playing Superman has not ended well for many of the actors, such that people speculate about a Superman Curse. Routh is more optimistic than that. “I’m not superstitious and I don’t believe in curses. Everybody has their own journey and I don’t live my life out of fear. I think that it’s an interesting thing. I don’t know why people bring that up or why it exists in the world. Superman is such a positive character that I think we don’t need anything to hold him back. He should just be celebrated.”
And celebrate he has, including posing for photos in the suit with his girlfriend. “I’m carrying her in one. It was a nice little memento. She’s very excited. She loved Superman before and so she’s really excited that I have the ability to be this character and that we get to share in this journey and she can be a part of it. She never thought in a million years that she would be with Superman but she is.”
She may have to get used to sharing her man, as people started recognizing Routh long before the film came out. “I'm prepared to be prepared and I think that remains the same. There's no way to really know what it's going to feel like. I think for each individual it's different but as far as paparazzi, I will deal with that. Just being open to it. If I become defensive and upset right away, then that's going to adversely affect how I deal with it and it's probably not going to be good press for me and probably be bad just because I'm angry. Just be open and pleasant. I think it will be amazing where I find myself years from now because of this film. It's just amazing. I think everybody's going to know this film and because of it, me. It's crazy.”
Superman Returns opens June 28. |
