The Crazy ‘Superman’/Howard Stern Connection
Director James Gunn shares how he recreated Clark Kent's Kansas roots
“Superman” director James Gunn grew up in the Heartland. He still wasn’t confident he could recreate the Man of Steel’s Kansas roots.
So he called in some unconventional experts.
Gunn, speaking with Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, shared a behind-the-scenes story from the “Superman” production that no one could have expected.
The film, out July 11, stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane.
Gunn revealed that his friendship with longtime “Howard Stern Show” staffer Richard Christy influenced his take on Smallville, the hero’s fictional Kansas town.
Christy joined the SiriusXM show in 2004 and served as a writer, producer and on-air personality.
Christy hails from Kansas and has the unhurried drawl to prove it. That became the butt of many jokes from Howard Stern and pals, and Christy took the ribbing with grace.
That vocal pattern is what Gunn sought to honor in his Smallville sequences.
“Richard is a friend of mine and He’s a Kansas boy. His parents are Kansas folk. So they did all the lines for me,” Gunn said. “And I gave them to the actors so we’d have an actual Kansas accent.”
Neva Howell and Pruitt Taylor Vince co-star as Martha and Jonathan Kent, our hero’s adoptive parents.
Christy shared more about the unusual “Superman” connection on his Instagram page.
View this post on Instagram