When I directed the pilot for 'Smallville,' I knew that making Clark Kent relatable would be the key to audiences believing in him as a hero. 'Arrow' is a different show - darker and harder-edged - but it's the same core idea.
Superman didn't become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears - the glasses, the business suit - that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent. He's weak... he's unsure of himself... he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race.
Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent. He's weak... he's unsure of himself... he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race.
The 'Smallville' pilot is the one I get a lot of attention for. I did a couple of earlier ones, but the 'Smallville' pilot is the one that got things really rolling.
By no means am I as moral as Clark Kent, by no means at all. I made a lot of mistakes and done a lot of things that are in no way, shape, or form Superman- or Clark Kent-esque. But generally, I live my life that way and try to.
On losing the opportunity to star in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman 'You know what? It happened for the right reason. Although I would have made a good Clark Kent. I look better in glasses.
To me, Clark Kent in a phone booth and Houdini in a packing crate, they were one and the same thing," he would learnedly expound at WonderCon or Angoulême or to the editor of The Comics Journal . "You weren't the same person when you came out as when you went in.
One of the best decisions we made on the 'Arrow' pilot was to have the Deathstroke mask. Within 30 seconds, you knew you were watching a DC comics show.
Clark Kent, I suppose, had a little bit of Harold Lloyd in him.
I would say George Mitchell was like Clark Kent sometimes with his horn rimmed glasses and his very quiet manner. People say, well, he's just a quiet leader, but then he emerges as super hero and begins to move this legislation. He led by example.
I used to wear Clark Kent glasses, ever since I was in college. I used to have those Army-issue glasses, and they used to be those black glasses Clark Kent used to wear. And I wore those for years.
Every job I've had since 'Smallville' has wanted me to have red hair, so I have to thank 'Smallville' for that. But, just the fact that it was so different was appealing to me. As an actor, you want to be able to play a lot of different things.
The baptism of the spirit will do for you, what a phone booth did for Clark Kent, it will change you into a different being.
I don't know if God would agree with me, but believing in God is kind of unimportant when compared to believing in yourself. Because if you go with the idea that God gave you a mind and an ability to judge things, then he would want you to believe in yourself and not worry about believing in him. By believing in yourself you will come to the conclusion that will point to something.
The audiences are really different in general. Even in the same country or in the same city, from one venue to another, the audiences can be totally different.
I've found that the common humanity of people is the most relatable thing, and even if your stories are very specific about a different place, if you have a relatable core of humanity, people will go along with it.
For me, Superman's greatest contribution has never been the superhero part: it's the Clark Kent part - the idea that any of us, in all our ordinariness, can change the world.