Brandon Routh

In August 2006, Brandon Routh got engaged to his girlfriend, actor Courtney Ford. The couple got married in 2007. They welcomed their son, Leo James, in August 2012.

Brandon lived with actor Kal Penn during the early years of his struggle, and they have maintained their friendship over the years.

Brandon is a major supporter of the ‘Democratic Party’ and was vocal about his support for Barack Obama during the 2008 US presidential election.

Brandon Routh was born on October 9, 1979, in Norwalk, Iowa, to Ronald Wayne Routh and Catherine LaVonne. He was the third of the four children in his Methodist Christian family. His father was a carpenter.

Brandon never thought that a career in professional acting was possible for him, as he was from a small city. He was interested in acting since a very young age. He later turned to music and learned to play the trumpet and the piano. Soon, he decided that he also wanted to become a writer.

He attended ‘Norwalk High School’ and also continued to study acting at the ‘Norwalk Theatre of Performing Arts.’ Initially, he took up acting as a hobby. He also played a number of sports in his free time and played music at events to earn pocket money.

As a teenager growing up in Iowa, Brandon was always fascinated with comic books, especially ‘DC’ comics. His favourite superhero characters were ‘Batman’ and ‘Superman.’ He would often dress up as ‘Batman’ and ‘Superman’ at Halloween parties.

After graduating high school, Brandon aimed to become a full-time professional writer. He enrolled at the ‘University of Iowa’ to study English literature and also continued to do theater. His friends often told him that he looked like Christopher Reeves, the actor who was famous for his portrayal of ‘Superman’ before Brandon.

After he arrived in Los Angeles, it was not difficult for him to find modeling jobs. In 1999, he appeared in the music video for the song ‘What a Girl Wants’ by Christina Aguilera. After a few failed auditions, he finally earned a small role in the series ‘Odd Man Out.’ The following year, he earned a supporting role in the night-time soap opera ‘Undressed.’ He appeared in four episodes of the series in 2000.

In 2001, he appeared in a single episode of ‘Gilmore Girls.’ The same year, he bagged a recurring role in the soap opera ‘One Life to Live.’ In the latter, he portrayed ‘Seth Anderson.’ Soon, Brandon was able to grab the attention of more casting agents.

He then earned small roles in series such as ‘Will & Grace,’ ‘Oliver Beene,’ ‘Cold Case,’ and ‘Awesometown.’ Around this time, ‘Warner Bros.’ was planning to revive the popular ‘DC’ superhero ‘Superman.’

The reboot of ‘Superman’ was being planned for more than a decade, but the studio could not get things in place. The most difficult task was to search for an actor suitable for the role of ‘Superman,’ which was previously played by Christopher Reeve. Several big names were being considered for the role, but director Bryan Singer wanted a fresh face.

Brandon auditioned for the role and got selected. He later said that one of the main reasons for his selection was the fact that his face resembled that of Christopher Reeve. The film was released in 2006 and was loved by critics all over the world. However, the general public’s response to the film was cold, and the film failed at the box office.