KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jeff East, who played the teenage Clark Kent in the 1978 Christopher Reeve movie, ‘Superman,’ discussed the rise in popularity of the character and brand.
The most recent Superman movie, ‘Man of Steel,’ hit theaters June 14. However, the actual name Superman is never mentioned in the new movie.
East said he is proud to have been a part of the history of Superman. He spent a year of his life filming the movie in Alberta, Canada. His character’s fictitious hometown of Smallville is in Kansas, but none of the movie was actually filmed in the state.
East went through three hours of makeup everyday to appear more like Reeve, and Reeve’s voice was dubbed over his own for consistency.
“While I was working with him, there was a lot of tension because they didn’t want any emphasis on the young superman,” East said.