Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with about 10 minutes of one on one time I had with Brandon Routh while adventuring in Las Vegas during ShoWest.
I was one of the select few to be allotted time with the SUPERMAN star and I was set up in the lavish and busy green room before the big presentation. I got to watch Las Vegas' important and wealthy trophy wives get free Coke (the soda), any alcohol of their choice and follow around the famous people. There was a rather amusing moment as Laurence Fishburne was being walked through the green room, surrounded by security guards, as an ex-Showgirl looking middle aged woman in an expensive dress followed close at their heels, screaming for a picture with the man.
Entertainment Weekly (or was it TV Guide? One of the two) was first up to chat with the Man of Tomorrow. I sat at this weird little goth-clothed table, trying to avoid the already tipsy Vegas richers. I had a brief chat with one of the guys who runs the theaters in the Palms Casino, theaters which I knew well from attending the CineVegas Film Festival there a few years back.
When the Entertainment Weekly/TV Guide guy was done with Routh, he threw the man at me while taking the lovely and still stunningly beautiful Natalie Portman for himself, the bastard. "We love you Natalie!"
What struck me first when Routh came up to the table was just how big this guy is. I top out between six foot and 6'1" and Routh had to be at least 4 inches taller than me. He introduced himself and we sat down to chat. We only had 10 minutes, but I got a very positive impression of the man. He seemed very down to earth, humble and just an overall nice guy.
Enjoy the chat!
QUINT: So, with the movie just a couple months away now it looks like they're just starting to put you through the ringer leading up to release...
BRANDON ROUTH: Yes. (laughs) This is ringer number one today.
QUINT: I noticed the Weta Collectible SUPERMAN RETURNS statues just popped up online and have seen a lot of the merchandising for the movie previewed out of Toy Fair. Is it weirding you out to see yourself starting to pop up all over the place?
BRANDON ROUTH: Yeah, it's crazy. I've seen some of the stuff online and some of the things look like me and some of the things don't really look so much like me. (laughs) Like they had to make the jaw bigger because it has to fit on the neck joint on these things. I've heard these things, I understand. Maybe it's good that not everything looks like me. But it's pretty crazy, especially those Weta things. I know Bryan (Singer)'s really excited about those things happening. I'm eager to actually see one in person.
QUINT: I just saw the footage WB brought to ShoWest...
BRANDON ROUTH: Oh! Was it great? I haven't seen it.
QUINT: Oh, man... It looked fantastic.
BRANDON ROUTH: Cool. Good.
QUINT: I mean, I was psyched by the Comic-Con footage... that had you up in that Alex Ross pose up in the...
BRANDON ROUTH: Up in space...
QUINT: Yeah, just kind of floating there... I thought it was great. Classic Superman pose... but then this footage they just showed had so much more of Superman in action...
BRANDON ROUTH: Good.
QUINT: The highlight of the footage was the airplane sequence. Do you think that sequence will be the centerpiece of the movie?
BRANDON ROUTH: It's very intense. There's... there's more than that. Definitely more than that, but that is an incredibly intense scene and... I tell ya'. We did so much work on that. That was the bulk of my green screen work was making that look real. We shot and reshot that stuff.
But it's incredible. Kate (Bosworth) did such an amazing job. She's getting thrown around in that thing. I had no idea because I'm off in another stage and she's in one sound stage getting thrown around in a 777 and I'm floating on green screen. But that definitely kicks the film off.
QUINT: Was that your favorite sequence to shoot?
BRANDON ROUTH: There's a day, actually... I can't really... I don't know how much you saw, I don't know how much is in there, so I won't talk about it too much, but one of the best days I had, one of the most fun days I had flying was shooting that plane sequence. I went flying down onto the plane and they actually had me elevated at a weird angle up above a piece... They actually threw me down onto it and I had to grab ahold of it, which is really cool.
A lot of stuff was just me flying around with nothing there. That was a hands on thing that was just fantastic.
QUINT: Besides the plane sequence, which scene are you most anxious for the fans to see... I'm talking about the scene that'll play to the midnight audience, first show... Which scene would you be waiting to see them react to if you were standing at the back of the theater?
BRANDON ROUTH: Well, I can't really talk about it, but it's towards the end of the film. It's very...
QUINT: Can you hint at it... at least throw a landmark out there so people who read this will know which scene you were talking about after they see the movie?
BRANDON ROUTH: It's basically my... When Superman has his confrontation with Lex.
QUINT: Kevin Spacey is such a great pick for Lex Luthor...
BRANDON ROUTH: Incredible presence. It's great, I mean the presence of that guy. I mean, I didn't have to do any sense memories for that. (laughs) He brought it every day. Everybody will know when they see that. And from then the film... nobody is going to blink from that point on in the film.
QUINT: What's next for you? Obviously if Superman does well you're in for a sequel...
BRANDON ROUTH: Superman's definitely been opening up a lot of doors for me. As opposed to two years ago when I was knocking on doors. I don't have to knock on doors now, it's just about finding a role that'll be different enough from Superman to continue my career... you know, for the rest of my life.
QUINT: Christopher Reeve did that really well, I thought.
BRANDON ROUTH: Yeah! That's the challenge. Been reading lots of scripts.
QUINT: You are open to the Superman sequels, right?
BRANDON ROUTH: Well, I'm sure when the film comes out and if Warner Bros is really happy... they're really happy now, but I'd be really excited to do another movie. We've got it down now. We've got it down.
QUINT: What's your favorite dirty joke?
BRANDON ROUTH: The only joke I remember... A mushroom walks into a bar and asks the bartender for a drink. The bartender says, "I'm sorry, sir. No." So, later the mushroom asks again. "I'd like a vodka on the rocks." And the bartender says, "No, sir. I don't, ah... I don't serve your kind." The mushroom says, "Why not? I'm a fungi (fun guy)!"
That's the only joke I remember... Not a dirty one... well, mushrooms are dirty. They're down in the ground and they get lots of dirt on 'em... You have to wash them off before you eat 'em, so... you know. Kind of dirty. (laughs)
And there you have it, squirts. The whole enchilada. I only edited out the part where I asked what color my underwear was. "I like yellow-ish brown very much, Quint." You can understand why I cut that part, I'm sure.
I can't tell you how weird it was talking to Routh... hearing Christopher Reeve come through in his speech patterns and vocal tones at odd moments (the one that got me the most when transcribing this interview was from the dirty joke... '"No, sir. I don't, ah... I don't serve your kind."' Sounded so much like Reeve it was a little creepy.
Routh could go out and smack up women and shoot up in run down bathrooms for all I know, but again... the impression he left with me from out brief chat was of a really nice guy, decent to the core. That combined with his fairly striking physical stature could make for the perfect Superman. The real test will come at the end of June when we see if he can carry the film and pull off one of America's most recognizable icons.
Before I go, check out this supposed SUPERMAN RETURNS billboard. We got sent this pic on the 1st, so it's possible it's a phoney, but I think it's a nice (and studio safe) design. Check it:
And a closer look at the image itself:
Neat, huh? I have one more interview to transcribe before I'm all caught up... that is if I don't get tired of hearing this guy's voice go on and on... Shut the fuck up, Donnie! Anyway, 'til then this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
