Brandon Routh: From Superhero to Superhero
VANCOUVER, Canada – Aside from Supergirl (featured in
The STAR late last year), the invited journalists from around the world also visited the set of Legends of
Tomorrow in the sprawling Warner Brothers Studios at the outskirts of Vancouver. The new seasons of both adventure series are available on HOOQ.
In DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, time-travelling rogue Rip Hunter (played by Arthur Darvill) is tasked with assembling a disparate group of heroes and villains to confront an unstoppable threat — one in which not only the planet is at stake but all of time itself. The question is: Can the ragtag team defeat an immortal threat unlike anything they have ever known?
On the set, some of the actors were pulled out for “quickie” interviews (lasting no longer than three minutes) between takes, among them Brandon Routh whom The STAR interviewed back in 2006 when he was launched as the new Superhero in Superman Returns. Asked at that time about the “curse” on actors playing the role, Routh, now 37, said, “I don’t look at it as a ‘curse.’ In fact, I think it’s a blessing. I’m excited to be this character for as long as I have the opportunity. Maybe the ‘curse’ is a superstition. I don’t believe in superstitions. What occurs to other people on the set will not necessarily occur to everyone.”” A blessing, indeed! Since then, Routh has played other characters in other movies and TV shows, including playing recurring character Ray Palmer The Atom on DC-related projects
Arrow and The Flash (in which the characters make veiled references to his turn as Superman), and is currently playing Palmer in Legends of Tomorrow.
Asked if the experiences of Palmer, a positive character, will change his eternal optimism, Routh smiled, replying before he rushed back before the cameras, “I do. I think there’s a different level of positivity that Ray starts to evolve into as the season moves forward. It’s not that he loses his positive outlook, he just becomes more grounded and more balanced understanding the other sides of life. He realizes that you still can remain positive, but it’s also important to get a better understanding about where everyone is coming from with their point of view.”
The Atom is just as iconic as Superman is, and that makes Routh happy. He still looked as hunky as he was back then, included by people magazine as “One of the 1200 Most Beautiful People in the World,” an honor that he found “pretty nice,” and adding, “I guess, I suppose” when asked how he felt about being called a sex symbol.
And, asked also at that time what part of him did he find sexiest, he smiled, “My voice. My mom and dad did a great job, so I thank them for my genes.”
That same voice, so friendly and so gentle, easily won the journalists over on the set of Legends, never mind if the encounter with Routh can best be described as, well, fleeting. (E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo. com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com.)