Who is David Corenswet? Meet the new Superman for James Gunn's DC Universe
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Is it a bird, a plane? No, it's David Corenswet.
The star of Ryan Murphy's Hollywood and key supporting player in The Politician is poised to don Superman's red cape (and Clark Kent's glasses) in James Gunn's new take on the Man of Steel, Superman: Legacy.
On Tuesday, Gunn, the film's director and co-chairman of DC Studios announced Corenswet in the role of Clark Kent, a.k.a. Kal-El, a.k.a. Superman opposite Rachel Brosnahan's Lois Lane. And not just because the guy kind of looks like a younger version of the previous Man of Steel actor, Henry Cavill.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty; DC Comics David Corenswet will star in the title role of 'Superman: Legacy'
Though the actor has received acclaim for his breakthrough role on Netflix's The Politician, he's not as widely known yet. So get to know him and his work before Corenswet is all anyone will be talking about.
First of all... He knows you think he looks like Henry Cavill
When Corenswet first broke out on The Politician, the internet was abuzz with his resemblance to then-Superman Cavill. It was something he was aware of well before social media started pointing it out and a contributing factor in his desire to play the Man of Steel himself one day.
"I am officially not taking a position," Corenswet told EW in 2019, when asked if he thought there was a resemblance between him and the British actor. "I think that's the way to go. But it has come to my attention. It actually came to my attention before the internet got a hold of me, and my sort of pie-in-the-sky ambition is definitely to play Superman."
While he praised Cavill's take on the role, he expressed a desire to return to Superman's roots in a more vibrant take (a fact that seems to bear itself out in Gunn's early reports of Superman: Legacy as an origin story focusing primarily on Clark Kent and Lois Lane's work at the Daily Planet newspaper).
"I would love to see somebody do a really upbeat throwback," he said. "I love the Henry Cavill dark and gritty take. I would love to see the next one be very bright and optimistic."
His love of Superman
Corenswet has long had a soft spot for Superman. "Superman is an amazing character, a classic American character," he told EW. "He's been done right and he's been done wrong. It's time for another right one." Little did he know that the next (hopefully, right) one would be starring him.
"The cool thing about Superman is the thing that everybody says is the problem with the character, which is that he's invincible," he adds. "That's the most interesting thing abut him. What a difficult position for a person to be in. There's so much to be mined there, and deal with the drama that's inherent in somebody who doesn't have any problems and can't die."
To be honest, we're not sure that Corenswet doesn't have superpowers of his own given the manifestation that occurred in our 2019 interview. He also suggested the notion of an origin story, focused equally on Lois Lane.
"It should start with Lois Lane," he posited. "And then Superman can just come in as the love interest."
Where you've seen him
Corenswet has been acting semi-professionally since he was nine years old and graduated from Juilliard in 2016, after which he promptly started booking guest starring roles on television.
His first appearance of note was on a 2017 episode of Elementary with a few more guest star gigs sprinkled in before his major breakout as River on The Politician in 2019. Corenswet's character's death by suicide and secret relationship with Ben Platt's Payton was the inciting incident for the series, and the role was intended to be another brief gig. But then Corenswet got upgraded to series regular, appearing in flashbacks and as a spectral conscience for Payton in both season 1 and 2.
"It's the difference between feeling like you're getting to do your job and you're not getting to do your job," he said of the change The Politician made for him. "It's a deep and profound feeling when you feel you can do a job, but you're not getting the opportunity to do the job. Any chance I get to do my job is good enough for me."
He parlayed that experience with Ryan Murphy into an even bigger role on the showrunner's next project, Hollywood, a limited series combining real and fictional figures in a reimagined and more progressive 1940s Hollywood. Corenswet showed off his Golden Age of Hollywood vibes as Jack Costello, an aspiring actor who finds more success as a gigolo for mature, powerful women than as a leading man.
2022 proved a big year for Corenswet. He starred opposite Jon Bernthal and Josh Charles in David Simon's latest HBO original series about corruption within the Baltimore police force, We Own This City. He starred as Lili Reinhart's love interest, Jake, in one of two possible realities in Netflix rom-com Look Both Ways. And he also played a projectionist in cult horror fave Pearl opposite Mia Goth.
The House of Cards connection
Lois Lane and Superman share an unlikely connection to the backrooms of political wheeling and dealing. Or at least, the actors behind them do.
Both Brosnahan and Corenswet guest starred on House of Cards, several years apart. Brosnahan appeared in 19 episodes from 2013-2015 as doomed call girl Rachel Posner. Corenswet was in a single 2018 episode in a flashback as Reed, the other man and college boyfriend in Claire's (Robin Wright) life before she threw her lot in with Frank.
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