When David Corenswet won the role as the new Superman in James Gunn’s DC Universe reboot, he knew he had to make some serious gains and be able to fill out the suit as the Man of Steel.
The actor also wanted to be crystal clear about exactly how he made those gains and achieved his superhero physique. During a set visit to Cleveland last June, the actor spoke candidly about his fitness regimen to a group of reporters that included TheWrap and made a point to clarify misconceptions about his 40-pound weight gain for the role.
“I would appreciate anybody who wants to clarify in their writing that nobody is suggesting that I gained 40 pounds of muscle,” Corenswet said.
The 31-year-old actor was emphatic about his natural (i.e. “natty”) approach to the transformation, stating he achieved his Superman physique “without performance enhancing drugs and without killing myself.” Instead, Corenswet relied on an intense but sustainable training program that pushed him to what he described as “the edge of my physical capabilities.”
The “Natty or Not?” question has become common on social media, with experts noting that dramatic physiques achieved quickly and dramatically often spark speculation about performance-enhancing drug use, as TheWrap has previously reported. Corenswet set the record straight about the nature of his weight gain. “It was definitely not 40 pounds of muscle,” he said.
Instead, that 40-pound increase from July to November represented a combination of muscle, water weight and some body fat that is par for the course of a bulking program. “Over the course of shooting, I have been somewhere between about 25 and 30 pounds up from where I was initially,” he added, noting the weight fluctuations that came with the physical demands of filming. “When you shoot a week of fight sequences in the suit, you just lose weight,” he said.
Corenswet’s transformation began during the 2023 actors’ strike, and he took initiative to start getting in superhero shape.
“I hooked up with a trainer and basically said, ‘I want to get as big as possible within reason,’” he said. The regimen was rigorous: “I was going to the gym for two and a half hours, getting home and passing out and sleeping for two hours, and then sleeping nine hours a night.”
The actor, who admits he “tends to be on the skinnier side,” had to increase his caloric intake to hit his daily macros, “mostly by drinking shakes to just get the extra calories in.”
Corenswet’s physical preparation extended beyond traditional weightlifting. Once the strike ended, Corenswet began wire training for Superman’s flying sequences, which he described as “a very cool art in itself” that’s “not intuitive at all.”
“If you’re hooked onto wires, and you try to fly in the way that you think you won’t look right at all. It’s all very counterintuitive, and all about balance,” he said.
For fight choreography, the approach was more straightforward. “Because Superman is not a martial artist, we didn’t have to do anything like super fancy or technical. It’s really just throwing punches, throwing haymakers.”
Judging by the latest trailer, where Superman’s haymaker sends a bad guy’s teeth flying straight into the frame, Corenswet’s training paid off.
“Superman” opens in theaters on July 11.
