Tyler Hoechlin Of ‘Supergirl’ Talks Learning To Fly As Superman

Tyler Hoechlin, our small-screen Big Blue Boy Scout, has some massive shoes (red boots?) to fill following the likes of Christopher Reeve and Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel on the upcoming second season of Supergirl. This doesn’t just mean looking the part, but also being able to preform all of Superman’s tricks as well. This includes (but is not limited to) super-strength, heat vision, and flying.

The first two in that list are easy enough to do on TV without much effort. Flying, as it turns out, isn’t such a simple task. Hoechlin spoke to Entertainment Weekly on the process of making Superman fly (or look like he was flying), and the extent of what the actor had to do to create the illusion. When asked if it was difficult, Hoechlin said it wasn’t, but it was certainly painful.

“I wouldn’t use the word difficult. I would use the word painful after hour seven or eight. It’s a harness that’s not necessarily the most comfortable thing to wear. It really only holds you up with two straps and they go from the back part of your waist, through the legs, up to the front part of the waist, and so it’s just not the most comfortable way to be supporting your entire body weight for that amount of time.”

At the end of the day, it ended up all going pretty smooth.

“No falling upside down, none of that yet. I’ve spared myself embarrassment for the moment. So far I’m one for one, so we’ll see if day two brings any problems.”

Hoechlin then points out, how can you complain at all when the hardest thing you have to do is fly around in a Superman suit?

“At the end of the day, you’re flying around in a Superman costume — it’s really hard to complain.”

Are you looking forward to seeing Hoechlin play Superman during season two of Supergirl? Let us know in the comments.

Supergirl‘s second season premiers on Monday, October 10th at 8 pm on the CW.

Source: Entertainment Weekly