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David Corenswet on How He Prepared Physically for His Role as "Superman"

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<div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1750739204737_KWE5579aa.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Peter Safran, Rachel Brosnahan, David Corenswet, and James Gunn | Photo by Kim Wee Ebol</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>The world tour of the new and highly anticipated film <strong><em>Superman</em></strong> officially kicked off in Manila, Philippines, on June 19, 2025. Leading man <strong>David Corenswet</strong> (Superman/Clark Kent), co-star <strong>Rachel Brosnahan</strong> (Lois Lane), co-producer <strong>Peter Safran</strong>, and writer/director/co-producer <strong>James Gunn</strong> made a grand appearance at the film&#x27;s red carpet event held at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall, marking the first stop of their global promotional campaign.</p><p>During their press conference in Manila, David was asked about his physical and emotional preparation to become Superman, mentioning the feeling of “being alone” when he was working out.</p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1750741314819_KWE5572a.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">David Corenswet | Photo by Kim Wee Ebol</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Preparing for the role </strong></div><p>With the actors and writers facing a strike during the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, David had no script and no contact with James. <strong></strong> “The gym was the first place I started,” he began, adding that it was his own decision to put on as much weight as he could “reasonably and healthily.“ “James has kindly said, ‘You’re in good shape, but work on your shoulders.’ That sounded to me, like, a pretty minor request. He didn&#x27;t say, &#x27;Look, you&#x27;re a skinny guy, and you&#x27;ve got to put on a lot of weight.&#x27; But that was my thought.”</p><p>This gave David the motivation to bulk up to suit Superman&#x27;s cape better because “he always felt a little bit skinny.“ He trained five or six days a week, spending up to three hours a day in the gym. In those hours spent in the gym, he opened up, “But in that new level of... gym commitment, five, six days a week, two and a half hours, three hours in the gym, which I&#x27;ve never done before in my life, all my time was spent eating, or thinking about eating, or digesting, or in the gym, or sleeping after the gym. But in the gym, in my 90-minute or two-hour mark, I felt deeply alone.“</p><p>He added, ”Because in that moment, it is just you and the weights. And I had a great trainer, but he was only on FaceTime, so I could turn him off if I really needed to. But ultimately, when you take on a physical transformation like that, it&#x27;s just you against your own mind. And whether you&#x27;re going to get that extra rep in, or do that extra set, or stay those extra 20 minutes to do your shoulders at the end of a long push day, in that moment, you feel very alone, even while you&#x27;re at the gym with other people.”</p><p>The solitude that David felt during training helped him connect with the superhero. Clark Kent/Superman desperately wants to be a part of humanity and relate to his loved ones, such as his adoptive parents, Lois Lane, and his colleagues.</p><p>”And so that was the first moment that I felt like I tapped into a central thing about Superman, which is that he struggles with feeling lonely, and feeling isolated and alienated from the people he loves the most, and the people he wants to be closest to. Lois and his colleagues at the Daily Planet, his adopted parents, his birth parents, and ultimately, humanity. He desperately wants to be a part of them, and to be connected to them, and he knows and feels that he ultimately isn’t quite like them, and fears that he isn’t connected to them,” David said about that ”universal human experience.” ”That was my first way into the character.” </p><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-22" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKPyx37pGJJ/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=810&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A22%2C%22os%22%3A13422514.199999988%2C%22ls%22%3A230485.59999999404%2C%22le%22%3A230489.09999999404%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="881" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-22" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-24" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DImcVV4TLj9/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=810&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A24%2C%22os%22%3A13718109.099999994%2C%22ls%22%3A230485.59999999404%2C%22le%22%3A230489.09999999404%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="566" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-24" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Discovering the emotional core of Superman </strong></div><p>In those moments of silence, David discovered the emotional core of his character. The powerful figure of Superman that we all know also struggles with deep loneliness and a desperate need for connection, while carrying the knowledge that he never fully can.</p><p>The fear of being different that Clark Kent/Superman struggles with was the first thing David related to in the character.</p><p>“It’s not that the origin story isn’t important in the film,” he noted. The film talks about three years into Superman&#x27;s journey. As mentioned by David, although the background is important, the audience is already aware of Superman’s backstory. It is the action that is happening in the middle of his story that the new film is capturing.</p><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-26" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKSXgo1yyeL/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=810&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A26%2C%22os%22%3A14086646.099999994%2C%22ls%22%3A230485.59999999404%2C%22le%22%3A230489.09999999404%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="881" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-26" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-28" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DICWiP-TkFJ/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=810&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A28%2C%22os%22%3A14337931.199999988%2C%22ls%22%3A230485.59999999404%2C%22le%22%3A230489.09999999404%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="510" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-28" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Development of the hero</strong></div><p>“Like Oppenheimer—you know who he is when the story starts. So we just jumped into the middle of the fight. That’s where the drama is,” David shared.</p><p>With the knowledge of Superman&#x27;s backstory, the film dives deeper into the character—how Superman deals with his emotions and personal struggles behind the cape, and how his character is developed given all his crises.</p><p>It was clear from the way David spoke that this was more than just a role. It was a personal mission to honor Superman’s story on a deeper level.</p><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-32" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DKiVT9CMD-2/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=810&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A32%2C%22os%22%3A14718526.900000006%2C%22ls%22%3A230485.59999999404%2C%22le%22%3A230489.09999999404%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="881" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-32" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><div><br/></div><p>He ended his answer by thanking James for giving him the privilege to play the character authentically and show Superman on a deeper level through this film.</p><p>By the time fans lined up in Manila to see their Superman in person, they weren’t just meeting a man who trained hard. They were meeting someone who dug deep—someone who found the loneliness in the legend and used it to bring a new kind of hero to life.</p><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-34" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLHjOBbJ3ph/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=810&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A34%2C%22os%22%3A15490581.699999988%2C%22ls%22%3A230485.59999999404%2C%22le%22%3A230489.09999999404%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="857" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-34" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></div><div><em>Joining Corenswet, Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult in the cast are Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, María Gabriela de Faría, Wendell Pierce, Alan Tudyk, Pruitt Taylor Vince, and Neva Howell.</em></div><div><em>Superman will soar into theaters and IMAX nationwide on July 9, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.  </em><strong></strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Lead photo by <strong>Kim Wee Ebol</strong></p>

<p>Here's how David Corenswet tackled "Superman" writer-director-co-producer James Gunn's directive for him to work on his shoulders and vulnerability. </p>

Here's how David Corenswet tackled "Superman" writer-director-co-producer James Gunn's directive for him to work on his shoulders and vulnerability.

Becoming Superman: How David Corenswet Prepared for His Role Physically and Emotionally

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Becoming Superman: How David Corenswet Prepared for His Role Physically and Emotionally

Mariana Xerez-Burgos

Published Jun 24, 2025 02:00 PM PHT

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Updated Jun 24, 2025 02:31 PM PHT

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