Issue Date: June 18, 2006
Homegrown Hero
He's Hollywood's latest man of steel. Find out how actor Brandon Routh went from a Clark Kent existence to being the newest Superman.
By Josh Gajewski
Brandon James Routh, 26, sits behind the wheel of his girlfriend's Honda Civic on a sun-splashed Hollywood afternoon. A cellphone is pressed against his ear. A mother's excited voice filters through.
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"One of her kids brought in a figurine of my likeness today at school," Routh later says of his article-clipping, memorabilia-saving mom, who is a first- and second- grade teacher. "She pressed a button on the back and air blows out of it or something. She's like, 'Where did you get this?' "
A certain red cape soon will flutter across the silver screen for the first time since Christopher Reeve's 1987 "Superman IV." And when "Superman Returns" hits theaters June 30, the familiar accessory will grace the strapping shoulders of Routh, a relative unknown.
"Being a part of this legacy is really great because it's such a collaborative process," says Routh (rhymes with "south"), who's now sitting at a table outside a coffeehouse. "You have artists, writers and actors who have portrayed Superman for almost 70 years now... We've all created Superman together, really. What you're going to see is that, plus who I am."
And who, exactly, is that? Here's what we learned about him:
Origins. Routh was born and raised in the tiny, Smallville-esque town of Norwalk, Iowa, where he acted in community plays, read many books and played various sports -- to go along with a fair share of Nintendo.
Occupations. His teenage employment history includes one summer spent making corn dogs at the Iowa State Fair and the following summer at said fair picking up trash. Years later, Routh worked as a bartender at the trendy Lucky Strike bowling alley in Hollywood, where he won $100 in a Halloween costume contest dressed as Clark Kent. His biggest acting gig until now was a yearlong stint on the TV soap "One Life to Live."
Status. Also at Lucky Strike, he met his own Lois Lane. "She's brunette, beautiful, smart, sassy, a good businesswoman and strong-willed," Routh says of his girlfriend of three years, Courtney Ford.
Fortune. In 2003, Routh met "Superman Returns" director Bryan Singer, impressing him with his comic-book good looks and Superman-like past. Shortly thereafter, Singer told Routh he had landed the iconic role.
Asked if he's ever imagined being in his very own comic, such as the one DC Comics rendered exclusively for this issue, he chuckles, dimples flashing. "No, never. It's still a little bit weird to see yourself on the cover of a magazine that's in everybody's Sunday paper."
Don't worry, Superman. By the time you read this, Mom probably will have this one clipped and put away, too.
Josh Gajewski is a freelancer who hopes to one day write for the Daily Planet.
Cover story photographs by Robert Sebree for USA WEEKEND
Grooming by Natalia Bruschi, The Wall Group; styling by Samantha McMillen, The Wall Group. Cover clothing: shirt by American Apparel; jeans: Levi's; sneakers: Adidas; clothing inside: shirt: 96 hours by Neil Barrett for Puma; pants: James Perse
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