Get to Know New Superman David Corenswet by Streaming These 3 TV Shows

Dave Nemetz
·3 min read
2

He’s about to don a red cape on the big screen, but David Corenswet has already been flexing his acting muscles on the small screen.

The actor has officially landed the coveted role of Clark Kent/Superman in the highly anticipated DC Studios film Superman: Legacy, directed by James Gunn. (Fellow TV veteran Rachel Brosnahan, of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fame, will star alongside him as Lois Lane.) Now many comic book fans may be unfamiliar with Corenswet’s body of work — although anyone with eyes can see he has the requisite chiseled good looks — but Corenswet is no newcomer.

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Over the past few years, he’s been building an impressive résumé of roles on prestige TV series, working with iconic producers like Ryan Murphy and David Simon. Corenswet has had his eye on Superman for a while now, too, telling Entertainment Weekly back in 2019 that playing the superhero was his “pie-in-the-sky ambition” and hoping to bring a “upbeat, throwback” vibe to the role: “I would love to see the next one be very bright and optimistic.”

So read on for an introduction to Corenswet courtesy of three key TV roles, all of which are available to stream now, and then hit the comments and tell us if you think Corenswet was the right choice to play the Man of Steel.

The Politician (Netflix)

After one-off roles on shows like Elementary and House of Cards — which Brosnahan also appeared on, by the way — Corenswet first broke out in 2019 on Ryan Murphy’s Netflix high school dramedy as River, a high school student running for class president against his ambitious pal Payton, played by Ben Platt. Yes, River had poster-boy good looks, but he was also humble and kindhearted, and Corenswet infused the role with a surprising empathy that cut through Murphy’s acid-tongued satire. River tragically died by suicide in the very first episode, but he appeared to Payton as a ghost throughout Season 1, even returning for Season 2 when Payton went to college in New York City.

Hollywood (Netflix)

Following his breakout role on The Politician, Corenswet reunited with Murphy in 2020 for this glamorous miniseries set in 1940s Tinseltown. He played Jack Castello, an aspiring actor who moves to L.A. to break into showbiz — and ends up working as a gigolo at a gas station to make ends meet. Jack perseveres, though, and ends up making it big in the movie business, even earning an Oscar nomination. Corenswet managed to shine alongside luminaries like Darren Criss, Jim Parsons and Patti LuPone, propelling him to his own version of a Hollywood ending.

We Own This City (HBO)

We Own This City (HBO)
We Own This City (HBO)

After a string of more polished roles, Corenswet went the gritty route last year with this crime drama co-created by The Wire‘s David Simon and George Pelecanos. (He grew a beard and everything!) It was a hard-hitting look at the corruption surrounding the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force, and as Maryland drug cop David McDougall, Corenswet more than held his own in a talented ensemble that included standout turns from Jon Bernthal, Josh Charles and Wunmi Mosaku. It proved that Corenswet doesn’t need to rely on his matinee-idol looks to make an impact — and pointed the way forward to a very bright future for the young actor.

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