Why Superman changed his mind

Press, 26 December 1987, Page 10

Why Superman changed his mind

GUY PHILLIPS

talks to Christopher Reeve on the

set of “Superman IV.”

However hard he tries, 34-year-old Christopher Reeve can’t shake off the Superman image. But when he gave in to pressure to make "Superman IV”, it was on his own terms.

He demanded the right to decide on the story for the movie. He also took on the task of persuading the top stars of his choice to join him in the SUS 33 million venture. And he stunned Cannon film bosses in negotiations over his role by telling them: "If my ideas don’t work, then there’s no film.

“I can’t take the money and run. There are some actors who care only about the cheque.

"But I wanted control over what I am doing. I also thought it was time that we put Superman in the real world.

“So during a ski-ing holiday I hammered out a storyline, motivated by an American TV documentary by children called “A Message To Our Parents.” It was about their fears of a nuclear war, because both sides are always rigidly holding on to their point of view. “I decided that the story should be about what happens if all the children in the world unite against nuclear weapons.

“Superman goes against his mandate not to interfere on Earth, by trying to rid the world of nuclear weapons.” Reeve then worked with two writers to produce a script before starting his next Superman task of finding his costars.

“The first person I had

to get involved was Gene Hackman,” he recalls. “I expected him to slam down the ’phone or give me the brush-off. But when we eventually spoke he said: ‘lf you write something you’re happy with, then I’ll be there.’

“They had to bite the bullet too with Margot Kidder as Lois Lane. We are very close, in a brother and sister way, and she agreed immediately to come back.

“I felt that I could take care of the integrity of Superman better than anyone,” says Reeve, who takes the superhero deadly seriously. “After all, I know him better than anyone else.” Either way, Reeve is really more like a nice Clark Kent' than Superman. He prefers the

casual shirts and jeans which he wears while walking the family dog, BJ, around a nearby park to attending glittering parties in smart suits.

And he says of his longstanding relationship with Gae Exton and the children: "They really do relax me. I worry, brood and take it all so seriously, I’m afraid,” he admits. “I need to be able to think: ‘Oh, well it is only a job.”

Even so, Christopher Reeve’s career comes first: “I don’t ever think that I can not take a job, because of the kids,” he says.

“Older actors — couples who have been together for years — say that you should not sacrifice a creative need for

your children. They are not going to be particularly grateful for it anyway and you will miss out. "So wherever I am in the world I phone at least every other day to catch up with the spelling tests, who came over for dinner and who won the soccer game on Saturday.” But he admits that Superman is now dominating all their lives in a way none of them could have thought possible. He stands and stretches his full 1.9 metres and 98kg: “I want people walking out of the cinema after watching ‘Superman IV,’ knowing that it is the same old world, but knowing that change is always possible. I achieve that, then it has all been worthwhile.” —Copyright Duo