The new Superman stars David Corenswet as a new, vulnerable, dog-loving Man of Steel.
He brings a fresh energy and perspective to the role, but he didn’t just fly out of the sky — he had a very impressive acting resume prior to his role in the James Gunn blockbuster.
Here are five other roles in which David Corenswet stood out.
The Projectionist in Pearl
David Corenswet played a smarmy projectionist in Pearl who plays a key role in the budding serial killer’s awakening.
The Ti West horror masterpiece — part of his X trilogy — feels like a dark twist on the Technicolor charmers of the past.
Corenswet not only shows Pearl (Mia Goth) her first banned movie, but speaks perhaps the most memorable line in the film: “You’re scaring me, Pearl.”
River Barkley in The Politician
In Netflix’s Ryan Murphy co-created comedy-drama series The Politician, Corenswet has an 11-episode arc across both seasons as River Barkley, a student at Saint Sebastian High School who has, at different times, romantic relationships with Payton Hobart (Ben Platt) and Astrid Sloan (Lucy Boynton).
River is a popular boy at school, but he feels empty inside.
We won’t spoil anything more here.
David McDougal in We Own This City
In this six-episode HBO crime drama, Corenswet played Investigator David McDougall of the Harford County Narcotics Task Force.
The show follows Jon Bernthal as Sgt. Wayne Jenkins of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force, which is being investigated for corruption.
We Own This City covers true events, and is based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Baltimore Sun journalist Justin Fenton.
Reed in House of Cards
Though he only appears in one episode of House of Cards, it’s worth mentioning here because it’s the penultimate episode of the entire series — and it has a lot to do with the past of Madame President Claire Underwood (Robin Wright).
In a flashback, Corenswet plays Reed, Claire’s former boyfriend when she was 20 years old.
Though Reed urged her to turn down a proposal from Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey), Claire turns him down and marries Frank in the hopes that he will open doors for her.
For better or worse, he does.
Jake in Look Both Ways
In this recent Netflix romantic comedy, Corenswet appears opposite Lili Reinhart’s Natalie as Jake, the guy she could have been with if she had moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams instead of getting pregnant by her good friend Gabe (Danny Ramirez).
The movie looks at both ways Natalie’s life could have turned out if that one life-changing moment had gone differently.
If you liked this list, you may also look back at this list involving another Superman actor: 5 Roles Christopher Reeve turned down after playing Superman.
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Main image: David Corenswet in The Politician. Netflix.