Face-to-face with Brandon Routh, the new Superman

As you read this, I should be at a function room of a five-star hotel in L.A. face-to-face with Brandon Routh, the new Superman being launched in Warner Bros.’ Superman Returns (opening in Metro Manila June 28). Judging from his photos showing him in the famous blue tights, with the menacing letter "S" emblazoned across his chest, Routh looks so strikingly like the late Christopher Reeve (as Clark Kent/Superman), from his profile to his stance, you would think he’s Reeve’s twin brother, even if Routh was born in 1979, one year after Reeve premiered in the title role of Superman in 1978.

Like most everybody, I think the first question I would pop at Routh is this: What do you think of the so-called Superman "curse"? (It’s really a misconception spawned by the misfortune suffered by Reeve who broke his neck when he was thrown off by his horse, an injury that confined him to the wheelchair until his death last year. When last heard of, Reeve’s leading lady, Margot Kidder, was reported to have been hit by a lingering depression as her career took a nose dive, described by a US newspaper as a pitiful sight while seen wandering aimlessly at a neighborhood in L.A.)

Of course, I have a long list of other questions for Routh, the answers to which you will have to read in a future piece on my Sunday’s Conversations with Ricky Lo (and watch in an episode on the GMA Saturday late-night showbiz-docu show Showbiz Stripped).

According to the Warner Bros. press bulletin, Superman Returns is not a sequel to the Christopher Reeve films, although its director, Bryan Singer (X2: Men United, X-Men), said that the new movie does follow in their spirit and draws on design elements from the earlier franchise.

Singer is said to have felt an emotional affinity for the character and has a precise vision of where he wants to take the superhero, famously known as The Man of Steel, in this new film, saying, "Superman and I share the fact that we were both adopted. I was an only child and he was an only child. For those very basic reasons, I have always felt a real connection to him and that is why he is my favorite superhero... that is why it’s important for me to tell my Superman story my way."

Screenwriter Michael Dougherty said that Superman Returns is the spiritual descendant of Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie and Superman II and it utilizes elements of Marlon Brando’s performance as Jor-El.

"We feel that everyone, whether they realize it or not, knows the origin of the story," said Dougherty. "Everyone knows who Superman is to different degrees. We are simply trying to continue that story."

But not everyone knows who Brandon Routh is – a virtual "unknown" like Christopher Reeve was when he bagged the coveted role.

For a starter, here’s some background information about Routh, which I got from the Internet:

A towering 6’2.5" "mucho-macho" hunk, Routh was born on Oct. 9, 1979 in Des Moines, Iowa, and raised in nearby Norwalk which is about 100 miles south of Woolstock, the hometown of TV’s original Superman, George Reeves. Sometimes professionally known as "BJ," Routh was a swimmer in high school who also played soccer and starred in theatrical productions. After a year at the University of Iowa, he went to Hollywood in pursuit of the big break.

He got his first major role in 1999 in an episode of the short-lived ABC sitcom Odd Man Out, followed in 2000 by a four-episode stint on the third season of MTV’s sexually-charged night-time soap Undressed. He was also featured in Christina Aguilera’s What a Girl Wants video. His other TV appearances were in the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live (originating the role of Seth Anderson) from 2001 to 2002; and guest stints on the CBS crime drama Cold Case, the hit NBC sitcom Will & Grace and Fox’s short-lived Oliver Beene.

In 2003, Routh was said to have won a Hollywood Halloween costume contest dressed as Clark Kent, Superman’s alter-ego who he’s now playing in Superman Returns. Casting for the movie began in 2004 and Routh bested such heavyweight contenders as Josh Hartnett, Ashton Kutcher, Jude Law, Brendan Fraser, Jim Caviezel (who portrayed Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ) and Smallville star Tom Welling.

That should suffice for the time being.

So, mark the name: BRANDON ROUTH. Now, a mere name. Soon, a legend?

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