David Corenswet’s ‘Superman’ Audition Shows A More Composed Version Of The Film’s Interview With Lois
David Corenswet’s auditions for Superman have been released, and they show the actor bringing a different energy than he often displayed on the big screen in the summer blockbuster. He’s more composed, well-groomed, and isn’t surly or triggered the way he was in key scenes such as the interview with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan).
RELATED: ‘Peacemaker’ Ratings And ‘Superman’ Digital Success Aren’t What They Seem — Is The DCU In Trouble?
In the video below, Corenswet plays the interview scene against a green background (with a scene partner who is obviously not Brosnahan), and the way he comes across could divide viewers. More than that, his audition will surely leave anyone disappointed with the Man of Steel’s mood swings in the film, wishing James Gunn had let his actor approach the scene differently (i.e., the way Corenswet does in the video).
As Superman and Clark Kent, Corenswet doesn’t “pout” or get irritated when asked pointed questions about his intervention in Boravia. He plays the whole thing cool and reminds us a lot of Christopher Reeve in a similar scene from the 1978 Richard Donner film. The Internet is fawning over the audition, and so did James Gunn, according to Corenswet.
The actor told GQ, “James has told me that the one thing that surprised him, that meant something to him initially, was the humor that I brought to that first scene. I immediately read it in the terms of the movies that I grew up on, which are Singin’ in the Rain and His Girl Friday, and the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies. Just the timing and the patter and the style of humor – and it turned out that that was what he was imagining.”
This makes us wonder why Gunn asked for a more temperamental depiction against Corenswet’s instincts. Behind-the-scenes footage released over the summer showed the actor questioning Gunn’s judgment relating to the speech about humanity to Lex Luthor in the finale. The exchange between Gunn and Corenswet got negative feedback and was taken down, at least as far as Warner Bros. is concerned. Unfortunately for them, the clip can still be found as the Internet is forever.
Corenswet’s audition was good, but clearly not good enough for Gunn to repeat beat for beat in the film. Had he been more hands-off, and freed Corenswet to play the hero as he saw fit for a few scenes, it’s possible the performance would be more universally acclaimed. Some feel it wasn’t true to the character and his legacy, and reeked of a self-insert by a would-be auteur.
