James Gunn’s Superman is here, and it’s certainly making quite the impression. While the first film in the DCU’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters is already seeing excellent receipts, it’s also receiving praise for its A+ ensemble of stars. The talented David Corenswet leads the Supes cast, and he’s far from the only one who shines. Lois Lane actress Rachel Brosnahan is also a force to be reckoned with. Believe it or not though, before witnessing Brosnahan’s A+ audition, Corenswet believed another actress would land the role.
It would be an understatement to say that much of Superman wouldn’t work if the actors playing Clark Kent and Lois Lane didn’t have chemistry. James Gunn had to audition quite a few actors for the roles and had to screen test them as well. When CinemaBlend caught up with David Corenswet while visiting the set of the superhero movie, the affable star recalled that process. He specifically remembered reading with a certain Barbie alum who was closing to playing the Daily Planet’s smart and spunky reporter:
Rachel and I read once together. I read with Emma Mackey four or five times for several hours. We rehearsed together. (She’s) a wonderful actress, fantastic actress. We were working together, and we did the screen test, and shot the scene that we did – which is a pretty close version to a scene that's in the movie – for a couple of hours, as though we were shooting it for the movie. Then I went and did basically a stunt assessment. … And then almost as an afterthought, they said, ‘We want to bring you in and have you read with Rachel.’ Rachel was operating, I think, on zero sleep. She was on Broadway, and she had (taken) a red eye to L.A. the night before, and had gotten in that morning and had been working with Nick Holt in the morning.
Back in 2023, Emma Mackey was reported to be one of the actresses who was in the running to play the DCU’s Lois Lane. Not only that, but Mackey emerged as something of a favorite among fans as casting reports on the film (which was then known as Superman: Legacy) emerged. Mackey has certainly proven herself to be a true talent on the rise, and I could certainly see her as Lois. However, based on David Corenswet’s recollection of his reading with Rachel Brosnahan, she was destined to play Lane:
So we read together once, and it was quick, and somewhat of a whirlwind. I think I probably blacked out for most of it. I don't really remember, because I was thinking – and I think we were both thinking – that we were going to have a couple goes at it. So the first time, you're just remembering the scene, and getting each other's rhythms. And so when they said, ‘Alright, cool, that's great.’ I was like, ‘Oh man, I would've loved to get to do that a couple more times.’ But, apparently, what James and other people saw was this moment where two different energies, and kinds of actors, just crossed at the right moment where there was something really interesting.
The rest, of course, is now movie history, as Rachel Brosnahan eventually got the call (while she was in the bathroom) that she’d been cast. CinemaBlend was also able to hear from the actress herself when visiting the set earlier this year. She went on to explain that she didn’t feel like she had a “grasp” on the character right away. As Brosnahan explained, that came on her first day filming with David Corenswet, who also mesmerized her with his work. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel icon described the experiences as follows:
I often have this experience where I feel like I don't completely have a grasp on who the person is until they call action on that first shot. You can do all the prep, do all the homework, have all the costume fittings and hair and makeup tests and chemistry reads, but it's really not until they call action on that first shot where you just cross your fingers and hope that all that work shows up, and comes out. That first day of shooting, we shot a very big scene. It's nearly 10 pages long. It was a crazy experience to finish that first day of shooting and be like, ‘I think we just shot a 10th of the movie.’ We dove into the deep end. There was no soft launch of this character, no shot of her in the background staring into the distance. It was a real talker of a 10 page scene, and I think after that first day, David and I just looked at each other and we were like, ‘Okay, we're in it!’
All in all, James Gunn had a herculean task ahead of him when casting the latest iterations of Lois and Clark. The filmmaker’s efforts seem to be paying off, though, considering the positive thoughts critics are sharing about Superman. Also, the actors had some big shoes to fill, with Rachel Brosnahan following in the footsteps of Margot Kidder, Amy Adams and more. Now, Brosnahan’s in a position in which she could play Lois for years to come and, at this point, it seems the sky’s the limit for how she could grow in the role.
Superman is now playing in theaters nationwide. With the DCU just getting started, be sure to stay in the know when it comes to upcoming DC movies.
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