1. Brandon Routh portrayed Superman in the 2006 film Superman Returns, which garnered him international fame.
36 Facts About Brandon Routh
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Brandon Routh had a recurring role in the NBC series Chuck, as Daniel Shaw.
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Brandon Routh later played that role on two other series in the Arrowverse shared universe: The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.
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Brandon Routh reprised his role as Superman in the 2019 Arrowverse crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths".
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Brandon Routh was born in Des Moines, Iowa, United States; the third of four children born to Catherine LaVaughn, a teacher, and Ronald Ray Brandon Routh, a carpenter.
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Brandon Routh was raised in a Methodist family, and has English, Scottish, German, Irish, Welsh and Dutch ancestry.
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Brandon Routh grew up in Norwalk, approximately 100 miles south of Woolstock, the birthplace of George Reeves, the first actor to play Superman on television.
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Brandon Routh attended Norwalk High School, where he played sports, and participated in music and theatre.
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Brandon Routh attended this school at the same time as Jason Momoa, who would later become an actor in film adaptations of DC Comics.
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Brandon Routh has described himself as a "momma's boy" and not "the most popular kid" during his school years.
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Brandon Routh has noted that during his younger years, he was fond of the Superman films and comic books.
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Brandon Routh attended the University of Iowa for a year, aspiring to be a writer.
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Brandon Routh has said he was often told that he bore a physical resemblance to Christopher Reeve, who had previously portrayed Superman in a film series.
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In 1999, Brandon Routh left the university and moved to Manhattan and then Los Angeles, where he pursued a full-time acting career, first appearing as an extra in Christina Aguilera's 1999 music video for "What a Girl Wants".
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Brandon Routh was cast in his first acting role that same year, in an episode of the short-lived ABC television series Odd Man Out.
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Brandon Routh subsequently appeared on the WB's Gilmore Girls, and earned steady work on the soap opera One Life to Live, playing Seth Anderson from May 23,2001, until April 17,2002.
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Singer, who has since stated that Brandon Routh was the embodiment of "our collective memory of Superman," was impressed by Brandon Routh's resemblance to the comic book icon and found the actor's humble Midwestern roots perfect for the role, as well as his "combination of vulnerability and confidence", which Singer said reminded him of Christopher Reeve.
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Brandon Routh was signed on to appear in two potential sequels, but due to mediocre box office results those never materialized.
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At the 2006 Spike TV Awards, Brandon Routh won the award of "Best Superhero" as Superman in Superman Returns, beating out among others, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.
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Brandon Routh was still set to reprise the role, according to DC Comics president Paul Levitz.
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Brandon Routh would be the third actor to portray the character, after Willem Dafoe and Liev Schreiber.
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Brandon Routh appeared in the independent drama Fling, co-starring his wife Courtney Ford, and the ensemble film Life is Hot in Cracktown.
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Brandon Routh was signed to star in The Informers, an ensemble film based on Bret Easton Ellis' novel, with Kim Basinger, Amber Heard, and Billy Bob Thornton, but his scenes ended up scrapped with the decision to excise the "vampire" subplot from the film entirely.
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Brandon Routh played Todd Ingram in the action comedy Scott Pilgrim vs the World which was directed by Edgar Wright, based on the Scott Pilgrim series by Canadian artist Bryan Lee O'Malley.
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Brandon Routh's character is an arrogant, narcissistic bass player who derives psychic powers from his vegan lifestyle, and is the third of the seven Evil Exes the title character must fight.
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Brandon Routh plays Daniel Shaw in season 3 of spy series Chuck, in a recurring, supporting role.
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Brandon Routh again played this character in the show's fifth season.
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In 2012, Brandon Routh starred in David Kohan and Max Mutchnick's CBS half-hour, multicamera comedy series, Partners.
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Brandon Routh played Michael Urie's character's steady partner, alongside David Krumholtz and his Table for Three co-star Sophia Bush.
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In 2013, Brandon Routh appeared in the video game Call of Duty: Ghosts.
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Brandon Routh has since appeared in one episode of The Millers and multiple episodes of Chosen and Enlisted in 2014.
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Brandon Routh's suit was based on the one worn by the storyline's version of the character.
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In 2021, Brandon Routh appeared in The Nine Kittens of Christmas, a sequel to The Nine Lives of Christmas.
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In 2023, Brandon Routh appeared in an episode of Quantum Leap portraying a naval commander: Alexander Augustine.
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That same year, Brandon Routh reprised his role as Todd Ingram in the Netflix animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.
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Brandon Routh is a fan and player of the video game World of Warcraft.