This past weekend at the Fan Expo Canada convention in Toronto, a rare gathering of Superman actors was held between Tom Welling, Brandon Routh, Tyler Hoechlin and voice actor George Newborn to talk about their experiences playing the Man of Steel with interpretations unique to each of them.
Welling starred as Clark Kent throughout the 10-season run of Smallville depicting Clark in high school where he learnt about his powers and alien heritage while slowly becoming Superman. Routh was Superman in Superman Returns, a continuation of the original Christopher Reeve and Richard Donner films, and returned to the role 15 years later in The CW’s Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths which also saw Hoechlin back as his Supergirl guest role as Superman before leading his very own series in Superman & Lois. Newborn, meanwhile, voiced the hero for several years in the animated series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited as well as animated films and video games.
All four have played very distinct versions of Superman, particularly Welling as a young Clark Kent and Hoechlin as an older Superman who was not only married to Lois Lane but raising two teenaged boys in his attempts to balance his family and superhero lives. One commonality that drew them all to the character was Christopher Reeve’s iconic portrayal in his series of films, who even after several different actors taking on the role is still seen atop the pedestal of Superman actors.
“There’s a part of it back then that he was Superman,” Welling said of Reeve. “If you wanted to see Superman you saw Chris. That was it. Now there’s a lot of different versions and whatnot, you have access to all these different things, but when people ask what I think of when I think of Superman, I think of Chris.” It should be noted that of all the actors who have gone on to play Superman since, Welling is the only to act opposite Reeve after a couple of guest appearances in Smallville which was seen as a passing of the torch moment.
Routh likewise was pulled into Superman’s orbit through Reeve. “My relationship with Superman was as a kid in Iowa watching Chris’ Superman: The Movie at family movie night when I was 5, 6 or 7 in my pajamas jumping around, excited to see the movie. I was so excited I made myself sick, have a migraine and spent half of the movie throwing up, but watching it lying down on the couch! I don’t even know if I remembered the whole movie the first time I watched it, but it looked great.”
Taking flight with the ‘S’ and cape can come with a tremendous amount of pressure, but was also a surreal moment when it dawned on each of them they were playing this iconic and beloved superhero. The moment it hit Newborn is a heartfelt one when his son was dressing up as Superman. “It was when my son was running through the house with a little cape and the ‘S’ on his chest,” he explained. “He’d push it and it’d be my voice going ‘Get to the Watchtower, let’s go!’ I thought I’ve made it, I’ve absolutely made it now.”
One of the most interesting aspects of seeing a new actor play Superman is which part of his personality or identity they latch onto the most. Fans will know there are multiple ‘roles’ Superman plays like the superhero face he puts on for the public, the bumbling disguise he acts out at the Daily Planet as Clark Kent, or the real Clark Kent that’s something of a mixture of the two when he’s with Lois or his parents in private. Each of the actors have a particular personality they identify with or utilized the most.
“For me, one of the things I kept reminding myself in the series was I played a character who didn’t know who he was going to be,” Welling said of Smallville‘s prequel-like nature. “He was a teenager in high school trying to figure out these weird abilities he has and his purpose.”
SEE ALSO: Smallville cast talk series’ legacy at Fan Expo Canada
Newborn, however, felt closer to Clark’s homegrown roots as he explained “I’m from Arkansaw and I have an olive ranch, I make olive oil on my farm so I relate to the farmboy Clark Kent.”
With the exception of Hoechlin, who recently ended his tenure as the Man of Steel earlier this year in the fourth and final season of Superman & Lois, it has been several years since they starred as Clark Kent or Superman yet fans continue holding them in special regard. Welling explained this was something he didn’t have time to comprehend until after Smallville when he began to really understand the impact the show had for a new generation of fans.
“Honestly, one of the things with the cons is you get to meet people and hear their stories and how it affected them,” he said. “When I was filming, you aren’t thinking about how it’s going to land for fans. That’s more the producers and writers and directors jobs and whatnot. You’re playing your characters and then meeting people who have gone to war and the only thing that gave them solace was when they came back from that day and watched and episode of Smallville, gave them an escape to move on. There’s no way to do that, you can’t manufacture that. I think that’s the thing about what we do that’s so special is we do it and put it out there and then it’s up to you guys.”
This was a sentiment Hoechlin also understood as he starred in The CW’s Teen Wolf series adaptation long before Superman & Lois, which also garnered quite a large fanbase. “When you’re in the midst of something, you’re not really sure you can feel proud of it yet because it’s still happening. But when you have time away from it you can see the reach that its had and hear the stories about it affecting people, all of a sudden it becomes ‘Oh that’s okay, I can be proud of it.'”
SEE ALSO: A Better Tomorrow: Why Superman & Lois is among the best representations of the Man of Steel
Routh, however, got a unique chance to reprise his Superman Returns role in Crisis on Infinite Earths, even wearing the Kingdom Come version of Superman’s suit and that particular logo style before David Corenswet in this summer’s Superman. “It was a really different and wonderful experience to revisit the character 15 years later,” Routh said of his return. “I definitely felt more capable playing Superman and standing in all that he is and who I continue to create in my head. I had a lot more appreciation for the fact I was able to do this a second time and was more of an achievement than it was the first time in some ways.”
Who among this group is your favourite Superman? How has each of them affected you as a fan? Let us know on our social channels at @FlickeringMyth…
Ricky Church – Follow me on Bluesky for more movie news and nerd talk.
