The Intense Physical Change David Corenswet Endured That Affected His Superman Suit

David Corenswet underwent an extreme physical change in order to play the titular hero in the upcoming James Gunn Superman film. However, that change would cause some complications surrounding the iconic suit.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Corenswet spoke about his experience with the design and fitting process for the Superman suit. The first look at the new suit was revealed nearly a year ago, and in order to achieve the desired appearance, Corenswet had to gain a staggering 40 pounds of muscle for the role. Plenty of actors will undergo extreme physical training for superhero roles; take Hugh Jackman’s extreme training regimen for Deadpool & Wolverine, for example. Corenswet, however, had much less to say about the physical transformation than he had about fitting into the suit afterward, calling it an “intense experience.”

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Corenswet spoke about his first time putting on the suit, stating, “It was very underwhelming. It was in pieces. The S wasn’t even on yet. It was really just about the blue tights.” However, the experience was made much more complicated due to him putting on weight for the role. Corenswet said, “It was quite snug because they had made it to my proportions when I screen-tested where I weighed about 195 pounds, and when I walked in for my first costume fitting, I weighed about 235, 240 pounds.”

He continued, “You hear actors who play superheroes talking about squeezing into the suits. I got kind of claustrophobic in the suit the first time, just being constricted in all those places at the same time.”

The Experience Was Not Torture Though

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The actor acknowledged the role comes with a lot of pressure.

Fortunately for Corenswet, the experience in the suit wasn’t as torturous as it might sound, an impressive feat given how many infamously uncomfortable superhero costumes there are out there. Despite the initial claustrophobia and the fact the suit didn’t even have a zipper that would allow him to use the bathroom, stating, “There are lots of zippers, but there’s no single zipper that allows me to go to the bathroom, which you would think would be quite straightforward.”

He continued, “But nothing is straightforward about these things. I mean, we talked about it and we tried and it was not worth the costs that came with it.”

Corenswet was able to handle it just fine, thanks to his dresser. He stated, “I never had an issue with that. I had the most amazing dresser you could ask for, Scotty, who was sort of like a, I don’t know, he felt like a mob fixer. He was always in my ear going, ‘Do you need a break? Do you need a break? Tell ’em you need a break, and we can step you out. I’ll tell him it’s me.”

Superman will be released in theaters on July 11th, 2025.

Source: PEOPLE