Brandon Routh Discusses the Trauma He Experienced Coming Out of His Role in SUPERMAN RETURNS
Brandon Routh has had some great roles in projects like Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, Chuck, and many more, but he rose to stardom playing Clark Kent in the 2006 film Superman Returns. This was a great role for Routh, and he even got to revisit it in the recent Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths. But this was not the return to the character that he expected after being in the feature film. He thought he would get a sequel, and when that didn’t happen, he spiraled a little.
In a recent episode of Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast, Inside of You, Routh opened up about the trauma he faced during that time in his life. He explained:
"I would say that the end of my run as Superman in Superman Returns that did not pan out the way I thought it was going to, the way everyone around me thought it was going to. I had to really come to terms with a lot of that," Routh said. "There was no sequel, the movie was widely well-reviewed, people liked the movie, but it, you know, made almost $400 million worldwide but that wasn't enough. And it was a very slow fizzle out of the possibility of a sequel over the next two, three years and I did everything that I could do, that I thought, in my world to help make it happen."
Routh then fell into addiction. But not the typical kind. He started playing World of Warcraft compulsively, but says his wife, Courtney Ford, was able to help him emerge on the other side.
“She knew me best then, she knows me best now and so going through that whole trauma of Superman Returns, the end of Superman Returns was a long drawn out process of me in denial for much of it and thankfully, I guess, I didn't lean on drugs or alcohol, partying. I played World of Warcraft endlessly ... it wasn't helping me. It was a coping mechanism but it wasn't teaching me things until I finally came, you know, had several experiences where I had to come to terms with that and she was part of that.”
That’s rough. Luckily he was able to bounce back and have a fulfilling career, including being able to revisit the character later on. Though it may not have been the path he had imagined, it all turned out all right. Check out the full interview here, and let us know if you would have liked to have seen Routh in the role for another film.