Bryan Singer
Interview By: J.P. Mangalindan
JPMangalindan@TheCinemaSource.com
As comic book fans will argue, watching a Bryan Singer film isn't just a blas' event'it's an experience. The 40-year-old NYU drop-out, whose directorial credits run relatively short'nine, according to IMDB'is widely-acknowledged by peers and critics as a gifted storyteller.
Singer's 1995 contemporary who-dunnit, The Usual Suspects, kept viewers guessing (Who was Kaiser Soze'), making actor Kevin Spacey a bonafide name. Under Singer's sensitive tutelage, the X-Men films, a project that could easily have become a cringe-worthy joke (eg. Daredevil, Elektra), became an engrossing human case study'and a moneymaker to boot. To him, Professor Xavier, Wolverine, Jean Grey and co., weren't just two-dimensional caricatures and archetypes, but human beings with a complicated, if unique, set of existential and everyday dilemmas.
Singer likens his characters, and human beings, to onions. 'You peel back layers and layers of them and you see there's always something different. ' I think the complexity of people is what interests me. Movies or TV shows that appear mainstream and yet deal with that complexity, I think that's something that I'm proud of: I kind of blur the line between 'independent film' and mainstream moviemaking.'
The latent epiphany has served him well over an 18-year career, but none more so than with X-Men or his newest project, the much-anticipated Superman Returns
'I learned a lot of that doing the X-Men films, that there's a certain kind of history that came before me and that will live long after me. It's kind of my responsibility as a custodian of the Superman universe that I have to be respectful of that. And then at the same time, I try to bring my own point of view to the character.'
Singer worked with writers Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty on a 'return' story for the Man of Steel, taking the series in a new direction while honoring its origins ('We always kind of viewed the first movie as very much the story of Moses: they send the child away down the river to find his destiny.'). Thus, we find our favorite tights-donning homeboy returning to Earth after several years of being MIA. While dealing with the apocalyptic schemes of newly-bald Lex Luthor (Spacey), Superman must also face the fact that life continued in his absence: Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), not only has a new man in her life, but also a son.
As with the Batman franchise pre-Chris Nolan, the Superman films seriously needed a new lease on life after the oddly political, heavily-maligned Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, in which ol' blue eyes campaigns for nuclear disarmament. The 'Returns' moniker with Singer's project not only signals a return to the comic's roots, but a return of the superhero from a much-needed hiatus.
With a solid plot, the next, perhaps more important issue was, Who to cast as the Man of Steel himself'
The film's tortured development process reveals a carousel of actors were considered or attached at one time or another, from Nicholas Cage (comb-over Clark Kent') to Josh Hartnett, but each project, like their director, eventually dissolved in developmental hell. But when Singer agreed to direct, he knew exactly what he wanted: an unknown face.
'I've always viewed Superman as larger than the actor and I think if a known actor, a famous actor were to play the role of Superman, he would be 'such and such as Superman,'' he explains. 'And it has always been my intention to cast an unknown: he has to feel like he's stepped out of the collective consciousness or memory of who that character is. A lot of that has to do with the cartoon, the George Reeves television series, the Christopher Reeves portrayal, Smallville, and just an overall image of Superman that everyone has in their head.'
Enter fresh-faced model-cum-Hollywood bartender Brandon Routh, who hit things off with Singer immediately.
'I looked at a lot of guys on tape, but for me it's very much in the meeting. I can't say casting is the favorite part of my job, but I've developed a little bit of a knack for it over the years and I've had a lot of success with lesser-known actors in central roles in my films.
'Brandon and I met in a coffee house before I was flying to Australia to do a location scout and I kind of knew. I kind of rule out things even in the first few minutes of meeting somebody: 'OK, this is not going to be the guy.' And little by little in the conversation, and our interaction, and from what I could glean from his personality, his character, voice and general appearance I knew he would embody this role, that I could mine aspects of his own personality that corresponded with the way I saw Superman for this movie.' Eventually, Singer cast the entire group: Bosworth would play spunky reporter Lois Lane, James Marsden her new love interest, and Spacey would reunite with the director for the first time to channel Lex Luthor.
Glowing feedback on early screenings indicates another success for Singer which should bode well for the inevitably sky-high box office expectations. The director, however, remains characteristically humble of his latest achievement.
'I'm not in any way trying to reinvent the wheel'I'm just trying to reinvigorate it.'
Spoken like a true fan boy.
