In these never-before-seen photos obtained by The New York Post, a fit Reeve is seen working out for his Superman role in 1977. Reeve, who died in 2004 at age 52, was 24 when he took on the famous mantle of Clark Kent and his red-cape wearing alter ego, in 1978’s Superman.
The photos were taken by photographer Eva Sereny. She recalled in 2018: “I got a call from Mike Baumohl (Warner Bros.) asking if I would do an off-set session with Christopher Reeve for Superman. Of course! So, I decided to meet him for the photo session at the gym in the Grosvenor House Hotel. Christopher made it very clear that the gym was the number one issue for his preparation in the role of Superman. He would go through his strict workout regime for me to photograph. This consisted of weightlifting, punch bag, skipping rope and so on.”
She added: “He seemed to enjoy being photographed and showing off how his body had taken on that triangular Superman shape.”
Unlike today’s bulky Marvel superheroes such as Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans, Reeve had a tall and lean physique in these weightlifting photos. He increased his weight by 30 pounds and added four inches to his chest and three inches to his biceps during his training for Superman. Reeve also increased his bench press from 100 pounds to 350.
Reeve’s first trainer was David Prowse, who played the role of Darth Vader for the entirety of the original Star Wars trilogy. A 1978 “behind the scenes” video feature said that at first, “Superman producers” considered him “too young, and maybe even too skinny” for the role. Before landing on the then-unknown Reeve, producers reportedly considered bigger stars for the lead, including Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Sylvester Stallone and Caitlyn Jenner (who was then Bruce).
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| Christopher Reeve in Superman. |
(Photos by © Eva Sereny / Iconic Images)
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