David Corenswet

Perhaps best known for playing Superman in the DCU, David Packard Corenswet is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents, Caroline Packard and John Corenswet, were lawyers, and his father also worked as a stage actor in New York for many years. His grandfather, Edward Packard, is an author and the creator of the Choose Your Own Adventure book series. His father was from a Jewish family long-settled in New Orleans, Louisiana, and his mother was from a Quaker household. David graduated from the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, before attending the University of Pennsylvania for a year, and then transferring to the Juilliard School in New York; there, he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama in 2016.

He started acting at an early age, and he appeared in numerous theater plays, such as Arden Theatre's 2002 production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons, the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival's 2003 production of Macbeth, the Walnut Street Theatre's 2003 production of La Vie En Bleu, and the People's Light and Theatre Company's 2004 production of The Forgiving Harvest, among others. David wrote the screenplay for Following Chase (2011) and starred in the said short film directed by Greg Koorhan. After that he co-wrote and co-produced a web series called Moe & Jerryweather (2014) with his friend at Julliard, Adam Langdon, from 2014 to 2016. In 2016, Rob Reiner cast Corenswet as a co-lead in his planned TV show, The Tap (2017), alongside Jack Quaid, and others, which was set at Yale College in 1969. David played a student in the pilot episode, but the show was never ordered by USA Network.

As his first film leading role after graduating from Julliard, he starred as Michael Lawson in Eric Bross's Affairs of State (2018). Corenswet then appeared in several guest roles in shows such as House of Cards (2013), Elementary (2012), and Instinct (2018). In 2019, he portrayed River Barkley in Ryan Murphy's The Politician (2019), and in 2020 he starred in Ryan Murphy's Hollywood (2020) in the lead role of Jack Castello. In 2022 he co-starred on HBO's We Own This City (2022) as the veteran police investigator David McDougall. Also in 2022, Corenswet co-starred as Jake in Netflix's Look Both Ways (2022), and then as The Projectionist in Ti West's Pearl (2022). In 2024, he co-starred in The Greatest Hits (2024) for Searchlight Pictures. Corenswet appeared in Twisters (2024) as Scott alongside Glen Powell , and then had a recurring role in the Apple TV+ series Lady in the Lake (2024), alongside Natalie Portman and Noah Jupe.

On June 27, 2023, it was announced that David had been cast as the next Superman, in a film written and directed by James Gunn and produced by Peter Safran alongside Rachel Brosnahan. Superman (2025) marked the start of the new cinematic DC universe by the names of DCU under the leadership of Gunn and Safran at DC Studios. The movie started shooting on February 29, 2024, and concluded filming on July 30, 2024. Superman (2025) is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on July 11, 2025.