Christopher Reeve was initially unsure about landing the role of Superman when he heard that Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman were going to appear in the movie. Since he was not as famous as these actors, he doubted his chances of getting the role. Working with Brando was a big deal at the time. However, in an interview, Reeve revealed that he did not enjoy working with him.
Christopher Reeve’s career quite literally went skywards with his appearance as the DC superhero Superman in the eponymous 1978 movie. His first professional screen appearance as an actor came with his role as Ben Harper in the 1974 CBS soap opera Love of Life. He did not appear in a Hollywood movie until 1978 when he starred in Gray Lady Down. He once told David Letterman the reason behind the hostility between him and Brando after working in Superman.
Christopher Reeve on What It Was Like Working with Marlon Brando
Brando had established himself as one of the best Hollywood actors by the time he was cast in Superman. He was cast as Jor-El, the biological father of Kal-El (Reeve) in the movie. Speaking of his experience of working with Brando, Reeve honestly revealed that he was not impressed about working with him.
While promoting his 1982 movie Deathtrap on Late Night with David Letterman (via @ATRightMovies on X), Reeve said:
“I don’t say this to be vicious but I don’t worship at the altar of Marlon Brando. Because I feel he’s copped out in a certain way.”
The Julius Caesar star did not have much screen time in the movie because his character died in the very beginning. However, he continued to appear in the movie through the Fortress of Solitude as his recorded messages helped his son to become the ideal superhero.
Christopher Reeve on His Disappointment Regarding Marlon Brando
Christopher Reeve had impressed the Superman casting director Lynn Stalmaster so much that Stalmaster unsuccessfully tried to make the producers select the actor three times. It was only after the casting director pleaded with the producers that a meeting between Reeve, director Richard Donner, and producer Ilya Salkind was arranged. The Bostonians star’s screen test went well and the rest, as they say, is history.
Explaining his disappointment in working with Marlon Brando, Reeve told Letterman:
“He could really be inspiring a whole generation of actors by continuing to work. But what happened is the press loved him whether he was good, bad, or indifferent. Where people thought he was this institution no matter what he did.”
