Brandon James Routh pronounced rhyming with
mouth; born October 9, 1979) is an
American
actor and former
fashion model. He grew up in
Iowa before moving to
Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, and subsequently appeared on several television series throughout the early 2000s. In 2005, he was cast as the
titular hero of the 2006 film
Superman Returns.
Biography
Early life
Brandon Routh, the third of four children,
was born in
Des Moines,
Iowa, on October 9, 1979, the son of Katie, a teacher, and Ron Routh, a carpenter; both of his parents play music in their spare time.
His brother Rhett is a Des Moines Police officer; his older sister Sara is a singer traveling through Europe, and his younger sister Carolyn lives in Wisconsin. Routh's family, which is
Methodist,
has
German,
French,
English, and
Native American ancestry.
Routh grew up in
Norwalk, Iowa, which is located approximately south of
Woolstock, the hometown of
George Reeves, the first actor to play
Superman on television.
During his childhood, Routh thought that a full-time acting career was unrealistic, citing his small-town background.
In his spare time, he played the
trumpet and the
piano.
Routh attended Norwalk High School,
where he played sports and participated in music and theatre. He describes himself as a "momma's boy" and not "the most popular kid" during his school years.
Routh has also noted that during his younger years, he was fond of the Superman films and comic books.
Routh attended the
University of Iowa for a year, aspiring to be a writer.
During this time, he modelled and acted in order to earn his tuition fee.
Routh has said that he was often told that he bore a physical resemblance to
Christopher Reeve, who had previously portrayed Superman.
His former manager signed him on because of the resemblance, telling him that he thought Routh would be cast as Superman if there was another film in the series.
Early career
In 1999, Routh left the University and moved to New York City and then Los Angeles, where he pursued a full-time acting career, first appearing as an extra in
Christina Aguilera's music video for "
What a Girl Wants".
He was cast in his first major role in 1999, in an episode of the short-lived
ABC television series,
Odd Man Out. In 2000, he had a four-episode role on the third season of
MTV's nighttime soap opera,
Undressed. Routh subsequently appeared on the
WB's
Gilmore Girls (in a February 2001 episode, "Concert Interupptus", playing an attendee of a
Bangles concert), and earned steady work on the
soap opera One Life to Live, playing Seth Anderson from May 23, 2001 until April 17, 2002.
Routh's later primetime credits include guest roles on
CBS's
Cold Case,
NBC's
Will & Grace as a gay boyfriend, and
Fox's short-lived series,
Oliver Beene. During this time, he worked as a
bartender at a popular
bowling alley in Hollywood, Lucky Strike Lanes, and shared an apartment with his sister.
Superman
Prior to Routh's casting as
Superman,
Warner Bros. had spent over a decade developing a plan to relaunch the
franchise, with possible stars including name actors
Nicolas Cage,
Josh Hartnett,
Brendan Fraser,
Paul Walker,
James Marsden,
Ashton Kutcher, and
Jim Caviezel and planned directors including
Tim Burton,
Wolfgang Petersen,
Joseph McGinty Nichol,
Brett Ratner and
Shekhar Kapur. When director
Bryan Singer came aboard the project, however, he insisted that an unknown actor be cast in the part, in the tradition of the casting of the best-known film Superman,
Christopher Reeve.
Routh, then 24, had previously already auditioned for director McG
and was spotted by Singer after he viewed Routh's videotaped audition.
Singer, who since noted Routh as being the embodiment of "our collective memory of Superman",
was impressed by his resemblance to the comic book icon and found the actor's humble
Mid-western roots perfect for the role, as well as his "combination of vulnerability and confidence" that Singer said reminded him of Christopher Reeve.
Singer decided to cast Routh after the two met on August 13, 2004, but did not tell Routh until two months later, when Routh's casting was announced in October 2004,
making him an "instant celebrity".
Before filming began, Routh bulked-up for the role, gaining 22 pounds to reach approximately 215 pounds. Filming for
Superman Returns began in Sydney in February 2005. The film was released in the U.S. on June 28, 2006, and was a box-office success, grossing $200 million in the US.
Routh has already signed on to appear in two potential sequels to the film.
Routh has commented that he feared his performance would too closely resemble that of Christopher Reeve. Routh has said that he hopes to "remind people of Christopher while at the same time making them feel like they're seeing a totally new Superman".
Reviews of Routh's performance were generally positive, with
Newsweek noting that he "effortlessly lays claim to the iconic role".
On the other hand, film critic
Roger Ebert noted that he thinks "Routh lacks charisma as Superman, and I suppose as
Clark Kent, he isn't supposed to have any".
At the 2006
Spike TV Awards, Routh won the award of "Best Superhero" as Superman in
Superman Returns, beating out among others,
Hugh Jackman as
Wolverine.
In August 2008, Warner Bros. officially announced they intended to reboot the Superman franchise and take it in a "darker" direction due to the success of
The Dark Knight. Routh is still set to reprise the role, according to
DC Comics president
Paul Levitz. In 2009, however, Routh's contract to play Superman in another film expired, but he says he would like to return if given the chance.
[www.moviehole.net/200919730-routh-talks-superman-sequel]
Current projects
After the release of
Superman Returns, Routh signed on to play CIA agent
John Clark in
Without Remorse under the direction of
John Singleton with a screenplay by
Stuart Beattie. Routh would be the 3rd actor to portray the character after
Willem Dafoe and
Liev Schreiber. The film was intended for a late-2007/early-2008 release. However,
Paramount Pictures recently put the film into
turnaround. Routh's future participation on the project is unknown.
Routh recently wrapped filming in the ensemble film
Life is Hot in Cracktown and stars in the independent drama
Fling (formerly titled
Lie to Me) co-starring his wife
Courtney Ford.
Routh was signed to star in
The Informers, a film based on the
Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name. He joins
Kim Basinger,
Amber Heard, and
Billy Bob Thornton,
but his scenes ended up scrapped with the decision to excise the "vampire" subplot from the film entirely.
He has signed to play
Dylan Dog in the 2008 film
Dead of Night.
The movie is based on the Italian comic series created by
Tiziano Sclavi.
At Comic Con 2008, it was revealed that Routh has a cameo in the
Kevin Smith comedy
Zack and Miri Make a Porno and will serve as a judge on
Platinum Studios' 2008
Comic Book Challenge. In addition, he has a cameo where he plays himself in the
Bollywood film
Kambakkht Ishq.
In January 2009, Routh was officially announced as playing the role of Todd Ingram in the upcoming
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, based on the
Scott Pilgrim series by Canadian artist
Bryan Lee O'Malley.
In season 3 of
Chuck he will be playing a spy who takes control as the new leader of Operation Bartwoski, becoming a mentor to Chuck and a rival in his affections for Sarah.
In August and September 2009, Routh took part in numerous screentest for the title role of
Conan for director
Marcus Nispel's re-imagining of Robert E. Howards Conan The Barbarian stories. Routh is apparently the top choice of Nispel and producers
Avi Lerner and
John Thompson.
Personal life
On August 23, 2006, Brandon became engaged to his girlfriend of 2½ years, actress
Courtney Ford;
the couple married on November 24, 2007, at the El Capitan Ranch in
Santa Barbara.
He knew actor
Kal Penn, a co-star in
Superman Returns, for several years during the time he lived in Los Angeles.
Routh and Penn were both also featured in the
The Lonely Island's
Awesometown MTV pilot
music video "The Avon Lady".
Routh's sister, Sara, has a musical track entitled "You're Never Gone" on
Sound of Superman, the companion soundtrack of the film. Routh is a fan and player of the
video game World of Warcraft.
During the 2008 Presidential Election, Routh toured college campuses campaigning for Democratic Candidate Barack Obama.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
