  Brandon Routh as Clark Kent/Superman.
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He has heard the horror stories. And he even looks like Christopher Reeve. So the idea of being typecast as Superman the rest of his life isn't exactly new to Brandon Routh.
Like so many other fresh-faced kids from the Midwest, the 26 year old from Des Moines, Iowa, came to L.A. to become famous. "And if people know who I am, as opposed to not knowing who I am, I can only take that as a positive."
Positivity fairly exudes from the 6-foot-4 former One Life To Live soap actor, along with a certain denial.
"I've gotten to know Brandon a little bit," says Kevin Spacey, who plays the more-evil-than-ever Lex Luthor in Superman Returns. "On the good side he's very smart. He recognizes to some degree what's about to happen to him -- but probably not entirely."
The first taste may have come at the beginning of the year, when the now-defunct Radar magazine reported that he'd be "coming out" as gay as part of the leadup to the movie's release.
"Bryan is openly gay, and he said I should be aware that things like that would be said because of his openness. People want to sell papers," Routh said.
For what it's worth, Routh (rhymes with "south") has been involved for some years with Courtney Ford, an actress whose episodic TV appearances include The Profiler and Moesha.
Two weeks ago, a movie they made together called Denial debuted at the CineVegas Short Film Festival. "It's a dark and moody film about the struggle a man has between the woman of his dreams and his sanity," Routh says.
"It was shot before I went to Sydney (Australia, to film Superman). Courtney produced it, and our friend Joe Kelly wrote and directed it.
"Let's just say it's very different from Superman."
Even he admits it may be the last thing he does for a while that's very different.
"I definitely have it in my mind that there are certain things that may not be appropriate for me to do in my next film. It's important to me what I do next, because it's important to the spirit of Superman. I'm not Superman, I'm an actor, but people are going to watch how I carry myself.
"Besides, to go druggie or something like that in a movie, at this time in my life, I don't feel like telling that story. It wouldn't benefit me creatively."
Indeed, even after he was tagged for the role, and received director Bryan Singer's blessing, he says he had to wait for studio "clearance."
"There were any number of issues -- mainly that I would serve the character well, not just on but offscreen. If I turned out to be a punk, it wouldn't help their movie very much."
Commitment was a necessary requirement for Routh, who is naturally in the majority of scenes in Superman Returns. The shoot in Sydney was a godsend vacation for most of the cast except him.
And that commitment came with some discomfort.
"It doesn't ride up, I'll give it that," he says of the Superman costume. "The worst part probably is that when it's hot, it's steaming hot, and when it's cold, it's really cold. There's no buffer. It's like it breathed too much, it's weird.
"They had 100 suits with six different modifications. There was a flying suit, different suits with different holes for the harness, depending on how I was flying.
"The cape was great, I didn't trip over it at all. The catch was interesting because it comes through the neckline, which makes the neck very, very tight. But I discovered I move so much better in a cape," he says with a laugh.
