CW’s new Arrowverse series titled “Superman & Lois”, which features the Man of Steel and his leading lady, has been gaining massive traction among fans and audiences alike. Former “Teen Wolf” actor Tyler Hoechlin and “Grimm” actress Elizabeth Tulloch have previously appeared in other Arrowverse programmes under the same character but are now finally having their own show.
Superman and Lois Lane are one of the most iconic DC Comic superheroes couple of all time and fans have been waiting to see their own storyline together. Adding family elements into the mix, “Superman & Lois” is a great viewing experience for family members and will surely tug the heartstrings of many.
The hunky actor has the looks, body, and attitude of Clark Kent and his superhero alias in what looks like a promising future now that the show premiered. Tyler Hoechlin actually kickstarted his acting career when he was just 11 years old upon when he was offered a small role in 1998 VHS-released “Disney Sing Along Songs: Happy Haunting”.
When he approached the age of 13, the actor had his first breakout role playing Tom Hanks’ son in the beloved 2002 movie, “Road To Perdition”. Hoechlin did his best for the role and managed to prove how skilful he is as an actor playing alongside one of Hollywood’s veterans. His outstanding performance resulted in awards and nominations.
Did you know at one point, Elizabeth Tulloch actually wanted to be a civil engineer? When it was time for high school, the actress became obsessed with literature and the fine arts. She ended up majoring in both at Harvard.
Believe it or not, Tulloch’s first appearance on film was in a mockumentary by none other than “Star Wars” director George Lucas himself. Weirdly enough, she was portraying R2D2’s girlfriend. The year 2014 was when Tulloch became more prominent as an actress when she was cast as Juliette Silverton (also known as Eve) in “Grimm”.
Getting the opportunity to gather some insights from both Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch in a roundtable session was a blast. The “Superman & Lois” actors provided feedback on what sort of ideas were used for Superman’s story in their own series, the joy of playing these iconic DC characters, what the story meant to them, and what would it be like to encounter Bruce Wayne/Batman.
1. Tyler, you’ve played Superman in Arrowverse for a while. You were first introduced in a couple of shows and now you have your own series. How does it feel like stepping into the role of Superman now? Did you feel any pressure to live up to any other iconic actors who have played the role like Henry Cavill, Brandon Routh, and Tom Welling?
Tyler: Yeah, it’s funny, from the very beginning, sometimes you can’t explain things. I have no real explanation of why it is this way. Maybe it has to do with the fact that in my first meeting with Greg Berlanti about the character, we just hit it off really well and I wasn’t even told that’s what our meeting was, it just eventually came up. We started talking about the character and then they made the offer for me to play the part and I think that just kind of gave me a lot of confidence that we saw eye-to-eye on what was really special about this character and what meant a lot to him and what he stood for.
I didn’t see any other iterations of it. I’ve seen maybe a couple of episodes of “Lois & Clark” when I was a kid with my mum and that’s about it. I was able to approach it with a clean slate, not compare what I was doing to anybody else. I just don’t have those comparisons in my mind. I’m able to approach it very instinctually and just from what I really feel like I connect with the character. I think both of us approach it with a tremendous amount of respect for what these characters meant to people for so long and what they continue to mean. I think we both hope that we just continue on with that legacy to contribute to it is a great way and stand for what it stood for a very long time.
2. What are some of the comic book story arcs that inspire your portrayal? Was it New 52, Rebirth, Pre-crisis on Infinite Earth, or Post-crisis?
Tyler: You know, honestly, the same answer. I asked the writers before we started up. I said what source material are you guys pulling from this if any and they sent me a few of the comics. I did some skimming through there, see what they were pulling from just to get an idea. But in the same way, I asked him, I said do you guys want me to be like really really on top of what’s going on in the comics or would you prefer me to just kind of like, be aware but then also be more malleable to what we’re gonna do with the show.
That was kind of the answer. I wanted to be familiar with it, but especially with the TV show where it’s going in its own direction. I wanted to be familiar but not overly familiar to the point that it kept me from being able to really see what we were trying to create on our own without too much influence. So some of the comics have obviously them with a family, and getting a feel for what that was but not going too far into it to where it was putting me in a box, so to speak.
3. What’s the challenging part for you both playing and shooting in “Superman & Lois”? Was the pandemic situation truly bad in the shooting?
Elizabeth: Yes, it’s definitely hard. The perfect example was that we were supposed to start shooting our pilot episode in March of 2020 and we didn’t start until October of 2020, so that was a seven months delay, which pushed our entire premiere. They had wanted us to premiere in the fall of 2020.
More than that, it takes time. There are a lot of Covid protocols that are strict that we need to adhere to in order to get the show done safely and everyone’s doing their best, the cast and crew alike. But it can be difficult. We are extremely grateful to be working at all. We’re extremely grateful to be bringing the world new content right now.
A lot of people have been home watching stuff for the last year because they are kinda stuck at home. If you’re lucky enough to be able to be stuck at home, a lot of people don’t have that choice. It has absolutely been a challenge, but mainly we just feel blessed to be able to keep working.
4. With a series that could go on for a very long time, what does it feel like to know that you can be Superman and Lois for a very long time? Does that excite you?
Elizabeth: Yeah, I love working with him! We love working together! I’ve said this before, it’s true. I do not take for granted how much I adore my co-star. When I look at the call sheet of all the scenes I have to film the next day, if I don’t see him on it, I’m like, “Aw shucks!”. We’re like brainstorming during the day, if he’s on a different unit, because sometimes we have the main unit and then we have the tandem unit which is almost like a second unit filming other stuff, we’re like checking in, “How’s it going over there?”, “What was for lunch?”.
Tyler: We talked way too much when we’re not working for two people that worked together all the time. We had so much fun. I think in this business, that’s not always the case. A lot of times we hear stories about people who have to work together for a really long time and they don’t get along at all. I don’t think we have that problem. If anything, we had too much fun, it’s always just in-between. Anything other than in-between, action and cut, is pretty much us just either making fun of each other or laughing with each other. Yeah, we had a blast. That sounds great to us.
5. Among all the other Superman and the shows about Lois, which one is your favourite and why?
Elizabeth: We don’t have a ton of exposure to the other versions of Superman and Lois Lane actually. He has seen a couple of episodes of the “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” with his mom when he was younger and I’ve seen Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder, I think two of them. I think that’s probably a good thing. I wouldn’t want to be sort of unduly influenced by all the other Lois Lanes because I feel like I could get in my head about it and be like, “Oh, what’s everybody doing? Should I be doing that too?”. As opposed to trusting the process and trusting the casting directors. There was a reason we were asked to play these roles. Whatever we worked sort of bringing ourselves and other-selves in the room is what they wanted to see.
Tyler: Yeah, sometimes I think it’s better to go on instinct. I actually remembered that there was a story, somebody pointed out something that I was doing, that I just kind of naturally do on my own and they kind of stopped me, “Oh wait. Did you do that on purpose?”. And I was like, “What?”. Then they pointed it out and they were like, “Oh wait, Christopher Reeve did that and all the things” and I was like, “Oh, okay. That’s cool”. But as soon as I was aware of that, I haven’t done it since. It’s just one of those things, all a sudden it becomes like you’re aware of these things and sometimes that can be more detrimental than it is helpful.
6. In this show Tyler, we see Superman grapple with something that it’s not about global destruction. One of his biggest enemies in this show is actually raising his kids and fatherhood. So what was it like for you to explore that kind of story about Superman on TV? While exploring it, did it give you any revelations about your own relationship with your father? Did you take anything from that? Can you show more about that?
Tyler: The thing I appreciate about it most, honestly it’s one of the things that excited me about this project and what it was gonna focus on. As I’ve gotten older, my appreciation for what my parents did for me and my siblings, what they sacrificed, what they contributed with the energy they gave, the times they were there, and the support that they offered. I think as I’ve gotten older, I realised that’s not always the case.
I was very lucky to have parents who were that committed to their kids and very much appreciate that. This for me is kind of a chance to pay tribute to them and really to see the areas where Clark is failing. It’s always interesting to me because it just points out to me more to places that my dad was so successful with us. So it really got me to examine that and it’s given me a new appreciation for the things that they did for us.
I love that that’s where we’re focusing on here is the relationship with the kids. I don’t have that from personal experience yet. I went to my friends who have children for that and asked them. I’ve 6 nieces and nephews who I love to death so I get a little taste of that. But yeah, a lot of it is drawing from my experience with my dad.
7. Tyler, we heard you wanted a Batman/Superman team-up in the future. How would you picture the scenario when forming a team or your first meeting with Bruce Wayne himself?
Tyler: I mean, who wouldn’t want to see that meetup. I think it’s always just such a fun team. I’m a big sports guy so I like ultimate rivalries and I like those kinds of Dynamic Duos as well. Honestly, I don’t know. I think the thought of it excites me so much I don’t really know what to do with it. <>
I wouldn’t know where to go next. I just wanted to meet and then I have no clue. Absolutely no idea, but I would like to see them maybe team up as opposed to square off.
8. Elizabeth, you’ve been focusing on your role as Lois Lane since 2018. Can we expect some women empowerment in the series later on?
Elizabeth: I think that Lois is all about empowerment, male or female. I think one of the things she’s trying to impart to her sons is, to be empowered, in and of themselves and, to treat someone with a lot of respect. But yeah, this is a character who has remained iconic for as long as she has because she is extremely uncompromising, and she is very much a badass. <>
She’s very committed to truth and justice, at whatever costs. That’s part of why she, without even thinking twice, throws herself into these dangerous situations because she’s like, I’m going to get to the bottom of this.
9. Tyler, how challenging was your Superman costume? Was it difficult when you wore it?
Tyler: They make it as comfortable as possible. Very grateful to the team, they worked really hard to do that and we’re always making adjustments here and there to make it perfect, as close to perfect as we can. The harnesses get a little bit uncomfortable and if I’m being quite honest, that’s gotta be the most challenging part of the suit.
But you know, it’s one of those things we’re always happy with the way it ends up looking on the screen, I think we’re all very proud of it. It makes it worth those maybe more challenging days.
10. Either of you could answer, what do you think is the relevance of releasing a superhero series during a time of pandemic?
Elizabeth: I think that our show has to do, in the character of Superman, the symbol that he wears represents hope and the world needs some hope right now. What a fabulous idea to just think like, you could summon someone to help rectify whatever you’re going through to help solve a crisis or medicate a crisis.
It would be great if you could quickly distribute vaccines all over the world. But I also feel like there should always be something timely and relevant right now to adjust to some of those subject matters that we addressed, whether it’s one of our sons having an anxiety disorder or dealing with unemployment, which a lot of people around the world suffered from the last year.
“Superman & Lois” premiered on 23rd February 2021 on the CW network. Despite only 1 episode, “Superman & Lois” has already been renewed for a 2nd season.
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