Why The Actor Who Plays Superman In James Gunn's Movie Looks So Familiar

If you aren't already familiar with "Superman" star David Corenswet, get ready to start seeing more of him. The early reactions to "Superman" are all saying the same thing, and fans can probably expect Corenswet to wear the iconic red-and-blue suit for a long time. In 2019 the actor even told Entertainment Weekly, "My pie-in-the-sky ambition is definitely to play Superman."

When Corenswet talked about that lofty dream, he'd already been acting for years. He started out in television in the 2010s, and his first recurring role was as one half of a comedy duo in the series "Moe and Jerryweather." The same year that Corenswet spoke to EW, he started a successful run as River Barkley in "The Politician." Then the 2020s came and gave Corenswet the roles that you probably recognized him from when you sat down to watch "Superman" for the first time.

Corenswet's decade started with his appearance in the Ryan Murphy miniseries "Hollywood," where he played famed Hollywood actor Jack Castello. Two years later he starred in the HBO miniseries "We Own This City" alongside Jon Bernthal, then landed a role as a seedy projectionist in Ti West's and Mia Goth's "Pearl." That whirlwind start to the 2020s carried Corenswet right into 2023, when he auditioned for "Superman" in front of James Gunn and DC Studios co-chairman Peter Safran and got the part as DC's most iconic superhero.

There have been so many live action versions of Superman that the search for a new actor to play him was no easy task. James Gunn considered hundreds of different actors for the role, but David Corenswet had an early lead in the audition process. "From the very beginning, he was the guy to beat, frankly," Gunn said in an interview with GQ. Maybe Gunn was just picking up on the energy that Corenswet had been manifesting for years, going back to his 2019 declaration that he wanted to play the last son of Krypton.

When DC announced Corenswet's big role in the summer of 2023, he was in the middle of filming for "Twisters," and his coworkers celebrated him becoming Superman online. "Twisters" wasn't the only big project that Corenswet had between landing the "Superman" part and the film's eventual release date. In 2024 he also starred in the Hulu film "The Greatest Hits," and guest-starred in the Apple TV miniseries "Lady in the Lake." Corenswet's superhero debut may be his first time as a leading man in a film, but if you want to hear why the future of the DCU is looking bright, check out our review of "Superman."