From the second David Corenswet walked onto Ryan Murphy’s The Politician, it was obvious he had a certain pizazz about him. By the time he graced Hollywood with those leading-man looks and old-school charm, it wasn’t just clear—it was written in the stars: this man was destined to fly.
Sure, Corenswet dreamed big enough to send in a self-audition tape for Superman, but even he doubted he’d land the role.
david corenswet’s superman audition !? pic.twitter.com/k0ZrT7qWzg
— lola (@ClNEMANYA) August 23, 2025
Sweet, humble, self-deprecating… excuse us while we collectively roll our eyes at how adorably modest he is. Because honestly, who else could step into those boots and fill out that cape quite like him?
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Now, that fateful audition tape has finally been released, and suddenly the entire internet understands what James Gunn saw from day one. The viral clip shows Corenswet sparring lines with his wife in a domestic scene that takes a turn when Clark Kent shifts seamlessly into Superman. The voice drops, the presence changes, and it’s a straight-up homage to Christopher Reeve’s iconic transformation. Chills. Literal chills.
If Corenswet had doubts, Gunn sure didn’t. In fact, the director admitted to GQ,
“From the very beginning, he was the guy to beat, frankly.”
James Gunn had braced himself for a long, exhaustive Superman search—400 auditions, endless screen tests—but none of them could eclipse the man he’d already clocked in. Day one, tape one, boom: Superman was found.
Even Corenswet’s wife seemed to know it before he did. In an interview with BBC Radio 1, the actor recalled,
“My wife did say very sweetly at the time ‘I think you might be the person to play this part’ and I was like ‘that’s very sweet of you to say, but obviously not’.” Fast-forward a couple of months, and the agents’ phone call proved her spousal intuition was spot-on: “They want you to screen test for Superman.”
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Not only did he deliver a flawless performance, but Corenswet also sent along a handwritten letter with his tape—because apparently being tall, charming, devastatingly handsome, and talented wasn’t enough. That letter, sharing his personal thoughts on Superman after rewatching the films with his wife, was one of the things Gunn said sealed the deal.
Corenswet’s humor, too, became his secret weapon. Forget broody caped crusaders—this Superman has wit. “James has told me that the one thing that surprised him, that meant something to him initially, was the humor that I brought to that first scene,” Corenswet told GQ. Influenced by the timing and patter of Singin’ in the Rain and His Girl Friday, Corenswet infused his Superman with a golden-age sparkle that lined up perfectly with Gunn’s vision.
Fans on X are already obsessed, with one user quipping: “It’s so funny to me that David was fully convinced he wasn’t gonna get the role when he sent this self tape 😭.” Relatable, since the rest of us never had a single doubt.
“Getting into Juilliard was a bigger, clearer path change than when I got the role of Superman. […] When I got the call that I had gotten into Juilliard, that was the moment when I was like ‘okay, I’m gonna be an actor… at least for a while.'” pic.twitter.com/zJSzDlefIN
— david corenswet archive (@corenswetmedia) July 10, 2025
And clearly, audiences agree. With Superman soaring past $331M to become the highest-grossing Man of Steel movie in the U.S. just a month after release, the hype train is unstoppable. The film just dropped digitally, giving fans another excuse to swoon all over again before Peacemaker makes his return to HBO Max for season two.
From Murphy’s golden boy to Gunn’s Kryptonian hero, David Corenswet didn’t just put on the cape—he embodied it. And now, watching that self-tape in hindsight, it’s not just destiny fulfilled. It’s confirmation that some roles aren’t cast… they’re inherited by sheer inevitability.