Christopher Reeve’s family about the real Superman

Reeve’s position in film history should not be underestimated. An unknown 24-year-old stage actor from New York, in 1977 he flew to a casting session for Superman in London, defying fellow Juilliard graduate William Hurt’s purist advice to avoid commercial contamination. It seems unthinkable now that the producers considered, among others, the charming Sylvester Stallone for the role.

The film was released in December 1978, setting box office records and grossing $300 million. Reeeve became an overnight megastar as Hollywood’s first and defining comic book superhero, in whose path all successors walk.

So it’s a surprise that none of Reeve’s children have ever seen the movie on the big screen. “We had a VHS of Superman 1 and 2,” says Matthew, 44. “It wasn’t a big part of our lives,” adds Alexandra, 40, who reports that she “first appreciated it two years ago when I saw it with my kids.” “I don’t remember the first time that I saw him,” says Will, 32. “I can’t even remember the last time I saw him.”

The documentary came about after the three Reeves were approached by Daniel Kilroy, an archival producer looking for home movie footage. Having turned down previous requests to dramatize his father’s story, they agreed, says Matthew, that “enough time had passed since dad died to introduce his story to a new generation of people who might not know who was”.

Kilroy introduced the Reeves to Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, who had made McQueen and Rising Phoenix, a 2020 documentary about the Paralympics. The directors were duly given a large amount of un-digitized video files. “We didn’t know everything we were delivering,” admits Will. “Someone was always videotaping our house. So there were a lot of things we hadn’t experienced.”