Former Supermen Henry Cavill and Tyler Hoechlin showed support for David Corenswet as he took on the renowned role in James Gunn’s new Superman, but the two actors were reluctant to give him any explicit advice on how to tackle the part.
At the London premiere of the DC Studios film, the actor revealed in an interview with Heart that he’d spoken with both Cavill and Hoechlin, but both of the former Superman stars didn’t give him “any tips” on how to approach his film.
“I had the pleasure of exchanging letters with two previous Supermans, Henry Cavill and Tyler Hoechlin. Both of them, interestingly, sort of said in their own words, ‘I’m not gonna try to give you any tips,’” he said, via Beat 102 103. “And I think that’s a very Superman thing — Superman’s not so much for giving advice or dictating how other people should be.”
While both actors were reluctant to give Corenswet specific suggestions on how to best portray the Man of Steel, they did send him encouragement.
“They really just conveyed to me an encouragement and a sense of, you know, have fun with it, which I think is Superman’s way of doing it too,” he explained. “They were very encouraging and we had a lovely exchange.”
The Twisters actor added that while he hasn’t met with Cavill and Hoechlin face-to-face quite yet, “I’m excited to meet them one day, it’ll be great when we can all get in a room together.”
Gunn’s Superman will hit theaters on July 11, serving as the first time Corenswet will portray the iconic superhero. Cavill starred as Clark Kent in Zack Snyder’s 2013 Man of Steel, 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017’s Justice League, while Hoechlin starred as the character in the CW’s TV series Superman & Lois from 2021 to 2024.
Of choosing Corenswet to lead his Superman film, Gunn said that he had a great chemistry test with Rachel Brosnahan, who is set to star as Lois Lane. He explained, “David had better chemistry with Rachel [Brosnahan] because she’s a very controlled actor, and David is a little bit more, you know, loose, and that creates a different type of dynamism on-screen.”