The actor is the protagonist of the new Superman adventure on the big screen, directed by James Gunn.
When we talk about comic book adaptations on the big screen, it is often impossible not to mention the various physical transformations that actors undergo to get into character (and costume). And it is not at all easy for an ordinary human being to adopt the appearance of the great icons of the comic book world. In addition to radical changes like that of Chris Pratt, who drastically modified his body to wear Star Lord’s boots in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, if one character left us with almost impossible evolutions, it was Superman; specifically the one played by Henry Cavill who went from the lean and ultra-defined body of Immortals to being a real tank of muscles in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.
But be careful, because if Cavill left us speechless, his successor promises to be up to the task. David Corwenswet, who will play Kal-El in James Gunn’s Superman, confessed on the Manly Things (Sort Of) podcast that when filming began on the first movie in the new DC Universe, he didn’t fit in well. “I wasn’t 240 pounds when we started shooting. I was 240 at my heaviest. I couldn’t even fit into a pair of pants.”
Corenswet, who noticed he had ballooned to a 2XL when he wore a hoodie to a read-through — when he reached his heaviest weight — said it was difficult to maintain his heaviest weight during filming, in part because his body was no longer in shape and he had to adjust to all the extra weight he had gained in terms of muscle mass. “That was my peak size. Then I slowly lost weight before we started shooting. I started shooting at about 220, 225 pounds… I knew I wanted to take this opportunity to see what it felt like to gain weight.”
A few months ago, his trainer Paolo Mascitti shared a photo on Instagram praising the actor’s work. In May, Mascitti, the personal trainer for the entire Superman cast, shared a photo of the film’s main star that, in addition to his gigantic biceps, included the following text. “David Corenswet has worked incredibly hard; I can’t wait to share more about the training we’ve done to prepare him to play this iconic character.”