Posted in: Adult Swim, TV, Warner Animation Group | Tagged: Adult Swim, Alice Lee, exclusive, interview, Ishmel Sahid, Jack Quaid, jimmy olsen, lois lane, my adventures with superman, superman, the boys

My Adventures With Superman Stars on Casting, Voiceovers & Culture

Jack Quaid, Alice Lee, and Ishmel Sahid spoke with us about casting, voiceovers & embracing lore in Adult Swim's My Adventures With Superman.

It's easy to get lost in the several adaptations of Superman as one of the most popular comics and an institution since its original creation in 1938. Sometimes, to stand out, it's all in the presentation, which Adult Swim's My Adventures With Superman offers with its unique animation style, drawing inspiration from shounen manga and anime. The latest incarnation offers an original take where Clark Kent (Jack Quaid), Lois Lane (Alice Lee), and Jimmy Olsen (Ishmel Sahid) are young adults working their way into the Daily Planet as Clark tries to discover his Kryptonian roots and embrace his destiny as Superman. Season two picks up where season one left off as our heroes are trying to stay on top of trying to protect Metropolis from those who would abuse Kryptonian technology and other threats. Quaid, Lee, and Sahid spoke to Bleeding Cool about their casting, creative freedom in voiceover, how the series contrasts Quaid's role as the more meek Hughie Campbell on Prime Video's The Boys and the series' narrative on the trio.

My Adventures with Superman Stars Jack Quaid, Alice Lee & Ishmel Sahid on Their Original Takes on Clark, Lois & Jimmy

Bleeding Cool: When you got casting roles, was there any Superman lore that you were tasked to read, TV show, or films the showrunners wanted you to study? Was there any external inspiration to help fine-tune your performances?

Lee: I sent my audition in and obviously, it was Lois Lane in 'Superman,' so I was like, "I have to do this one," but I didn't hear any feedback. I knew it was Superman, so I did my best of what I thought the tone of the writing was and they said that I got it. It was cool because the creators trusted us all from our initial take, so it's been an honor.

Quaid: I auditioned, and then when I got it, I don't know. In no way did I ever think playing Superman in any way, shape, or form was going to be part of my life. I've always been a big fan of Superman, and I wanted to do my research. There's a comic book store in LA I go to a lot, Golden Apple Comics on Melrose [Ave], and I went in there being like, "Hey, what do you have on Superman? What are your favorites? [With] a younger Superman?" They gave me 'Superman for All Seasons' and 'All-Star Superman.' I read it because it's so wholesome and great. I rewatched the first two Richard Donner 'Superman' films, which are fantastic. They all helped me get that wholesome Superman vibe I was trying to go for. What about you, Ishmel?

Sahid: It's so interesting because there are so many iterations of Jimmy Olsen, and they're all very different. I left it up to an open slate to do my rendition so I didn't do any research on the character other than reading what they wanted. I used my imagination of how I would do it, but I've always been a fan of Superman, specifically 'Justice League.' I knew a little bit of a tone of how it could be. Obviously, the show is very different, but that's my process.

What does a voice performance allow you to do that you wouldn't normally pull off in a live-action setting? What's the most difficult part of capturing their essence?

Sahid: You're in such a confined area of the booth. It's like you get to be goofy, and you still feel comfortable because it's like nobody's judging you, and that's what they want you to do. It's also cool because it's just you, the engineer, producers, and writers on the Zoom screens. It's not super invasive, but you get to be as free as possible. They will reel you back in if you're a little bit too up and then they'll redirect you on how they want the character or how they want the character to say certain lines, beat, or emotional inflection they're looking for. It's a welcoming and creative environment, I would say.

Quaid: My favorite thing about voiceover is you can show up in your pajamas if you want to. It's so not about the way that you look at all. You get to play characters you would never played a million years in live-action, speaking for me specifically. Come on! It was so cool. I love that in voiceover. You have far more shots in a line than you would in live-action. If you want to do it again, you're not wasting an entire film crew's time. You can say it again, and maybe that's the better version. It's like throwing paint at the wall, and I love that. Obviously, when you're playing such an established character, I'm doing my best to honor that, but putting my spin on it. The people we're working with, like Brendan [Clogher], Jake [Wyatt], and Josie [Campbell], they're all so wonderful and collaborative that it was an easy, fun process. It was so great.

Lee: Yeah, and I would echo that with the clothes. You could show up in sweats, but challenges, not being able to act with each other. We're just alone, but it's cool to see how much chemistry they've created from us doing it on our own. That's the only thing, like, I'd love to look at these guys and be doing it, but it looks amazing.

Jack, given how much superhero lore has been engrained in creating the culture of 'The Boys,' does it help provide perspective in playing Superman? Does Antony Starr's performance as Homelander help with the psychology?

Quaid: Look, [Antony] does a great job at playing Homelander, but there's no way that Homelander is influencing my Superman. I'll run in the opposite direction of Homelander to play Superman. I did press for 'The Boys' over Zoom yesterday, and the "tonal whiplash" is the term that I use when I'm put back, into promoting 'Superman.' I feel very lucky that I get to play two sides of the superhero coin. This show, 'My Adventures of Superman,' is very much a show that, like Hughie, would like to feel good about the world. If he watched it, it would almost be like his 'Ted Lasso,' you know what I mean? He lives in this horrible world, and this would maybe give him a little bit of hope, but no, I'm unbelievably lucky to be on two shows. One that is like taking the…I can't swear over here – probably taking the cheese out of superheroes. Another one that's just like lifting that myth up and saying, "Superheroes can be very wholesome, good people." It's amazing, and I definitely needed it emotionally after being on that show for so long. Yeah, it's wonderful.

We haven't gotten the story to where Clark, Lois, and Jimmy are coming up at the same time in a Superman story. Usually, we see the story unfold through the eyes of Clark entering the Daily Planet with Lois and Jimmy already established. How do you feel the benefit of them coming together from interested reporters in the series helps with the narrative?

Lee: I feel like it's a fresh take. It's something we don't see often, and it makes the show way more pure, wholesome, and relatable. There's just a little more sparkle to it [laughs].

Quaid: I like that they're young and making mistakes. They're figuring it out and they're dealing with all this insanity. It's very relatable, even though they're going up against real supervillains.

Sahid: I concur with everything they say [laughs].

Season two of My Adventures With Superman, which also stars Debra Wilson, Joel de la Fuente, Darrell Brown, Kari Wahlgren, Reid Scott, and Jason Marnocha, premieres at midnight on May 25 on Adult Swim.

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