So the rumors were not true: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and True Blood star Christopher Meloni did not play Lex Luthor in Man of Steel in what fans speculated to be a closely-guarded secret. Instead, Meloni played Colonel Nathan Hardy, one of the many American soldiers faced with dealing with a battle of super-beings.
Henry Cavill was certainly a known actor before he was cast as Superman in Man of Steel, but there is something about playing one of the world’s most famous and beloved fictional characters that pushes “known actor” to international superstar.
When ‘Seasons’ by Chris Cornell plays over a scene in the beginning of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, you know that we’re in the era of a new Superman.
I’m no casting agent, but I have pegged Michael Shannon for a super-villain role for years. Still, I never thought Shannon — who has never really appeared in any blockbuster — would ever be tapped to star in such a role.
Though Russell Crowe is no stranger to beefing up for a role, it had been some time since he had to do so before he agreed to portray Superman’s Kryptonian father Jor-El in Man of Steel. Crowe is following in the footsteps of Marlon Brando, who played Jor-El in 1978’s Superman (and again nearly thirty years later in Superman Returns, which featured unused footage from the original).
Henry Cavill almost played Superman several years ago while Warner Bros. was developing the project that would eventually become Superman Returns. Though that ultimately didn’t work out, opportunity ended up knocking for Cavill when he was selected to portray Superman in director Zach Snyder’s Man of Steel, a new origin movie of the world’s first superhero.
Michael Shannon’s big movie this year is undoubtedly Man of Steel, in which he plays the Superman villain General Zod, but those who enjoy Shannon in his dark roles are also looking forward to his role as real-life serial hit man Richard Kuklinski in The Iceman.
The three-time Oscar nominated Amy Adams is so beautiful that if she wanted to she could have made an entire career out of starring as the ditzy, pretty face lead in cheesy romantic comedies. Thank goodness she didn’t, because along with cute family films like Enchanted and The Muppets, Adams has starred in heavy dramas like Doubt, The Fighter, and perhaps the most challenging role of her career, The Master.
Shannon reveals how he manages to pull off such an intense role and whether he brings that same method to his other roles.
“Henry walked out and no one laughed. He exuded this kind of crazy, but calm confidence that just made me go ‘Wow. We’ve found our Superman.”
