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Catching up with 'Superman & Lois' cast Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch at PaleyFest
LOS ANGELES — It is PaleyFest season once again!
It is that time of the year when one of the first film festivals to focus on television, the 39-year-old PaleyFest, highlights some of the most popular and cutting-edge TV shows on air.
Held from April 2 to 10 and produced by The Paley Center for Media, this year's event was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The festival opens with a special screening of a particular TV show and then followed by a panel and audience Q & A with the stars and creators of the series.
One of the earliest shows to be featured this year at the beginning of the festival last Sunday, April 3, was "Superman & Lois" (season 2).
The afternoon panel included creator-showrunner-executive producer-writer Todd Helbing, Tyler Hoechlin (Clark Kent/Superman), Elizabeth "Bitsie" Tulloch (Lois Lane), Emmanuelle Chriqui (Lana Cushing), Dylan Walsh (General Sam Lane), Alex Garfin (Jordan Kent), Erik Valdez (Kyle Cushing), Inde Navarrette (Sarah Cushing), Wole Parks (John Henry Irons/Steel), Tayler Buck (Natalie Irons) and Sofia Hasmik (Chrissy Beppo). Entertainment Weekly's Chancellor Agard moderated the panel.
Below are excerpts from that interview.
Todd Helbing (creator, showrunner, writer and producer)
Something I love about the show is how well it mixes with the superhero actions of the rounded family drama. Can you talk about the origins of this show and how it came to be?
I was finishing up "Flash." It was the fifth season. I was just completely burned out. My wife and boys can attest to that. (Co-creator) Greg Berlanti calls me and he's like, "I might get the rights to do Superman as a series. Do you want to do it with me?" And I'm like, "Ooh, man. I'm so tired." But it's Greg Berlanti. You're like, "Can I think about this?" He's like, "Yeah, yeah. It's going to be great. Trust me, it's going to be great."
We start talking and he's like, "We should do a family show and have Superman and Lois be parents and just make it about family." And then the more we do a bid, we start thinking about like analogs like 'Everwood' and 'Friday Night Lights' and just really make it about family. If we could do that and have heroics in it, we thought that we could make something special.
This season you put the Cushing family through the ringer as well. Talk about that storyline where you take the family into that direction.
At the beginning of every season, you just talk about themes and just general directions. With them, at the beginning of the show, we just wanted two families turned into three families and we want to explore what those different dynamics are. In season two, the big theme was secrets. And in families, there's a lot of not every family is as good as the Kents, I guess. Like that relationship is this.
We just wanted a different version of a family and then with the theme of secrets, it's why Lucy's in the show this season. Just really dive in and get some dirt, pull up some dirt, have some fun.
What are we going to expect from the next episode, like this trip to Bizarro world or however you want to call it?
Yeah, Bizarro world. Bizarro in a Bizarro World or Bizarros in a Bizarro World. Every season, episode 11 was last this series, we just want to thank the fans, so it's a love letter to all of them. So, we did this. This year we went a little bonkers, I think. We tried to just make it in the thing of bizarre, bizarre. We changed up the structure a little bit. Actually, a lot.
You learn about people in different ways. We like to find ways to tell stories and villains and switch things up as much as we can. So that is just all of that on steroids.
It's interesting the era of Superman comics you draw on are specifically like the early '90s. What attracts you as a writer to that era and picking and choosing things from that period of time?
I don't know if we necessarily just homed in on that. The staff of writers I get to work with, there are some massive Superman fans, massive encyclopedias. Walking encyclopedias. They know everything, so it's not just that. All of it is attractive to us but particularly in the way that we can make whoever we're introducing into the show feel grounded and part of a family. So that's really our mantra. It's not one specific time or run.
Tyler Hoechlin (Clark Kent/Superman) and Elizabeth Tulloch (Lois Lane)
The Arrowverse is known for crossovers and connectivity. So, is there anyone specifically you'd like to cross over with, especially as Clark Kent in a scene?
Tyler Hoechlin (TH): I'm lucky. I've gotten to do it with everybody. A repeat for me. It's always been fun.
Elizabeth Tulloch (ET): I wouldn't mind doing a team up with Iris, like a reporter team up. I had fun working with Candice. All of them. Grant's great too. That would be fun at some point.
TH: We're going to get Todd in the suit.
Todd Helbing: Look. Honestly, working on "Flash," I love everybody on the cast and Grant's still a friend. And Superman Flash, there's something really cool about that.
Tyler, what has been your favorite part of playing Clark Kent as the father of teenagers?
TH: I'm not a parent and so I think in the way that you said episode 11 last year and 10 this year is a love letter to them. For me this whole job that I get to do on this show is a love letter to my parents.
It's something that as I've gotten older, you realize I grew up in a great home. My parents are great. They're still together, very supportive, always supported me in doing this and pursuing professional baseball.
As I got older, I realized that's not always the norm, so I think just to appreciate what they did for me and my siblings and how they raised us, that's been the most rewarding part of all this. I get to pay homage to them by pretending to do it for now. Someday I'll do it, but for now it's just on TV.
Tyler and Elizabeth, I know both of you signed on before either of you read anything. What do you recall of how it's pitched to you for the show and what made you guys want to jump in and do this?
ET: We went out to dinner, the three of us, and he was pitching it as "Friday Night Lights" meets "This is Us" with a dash of superhero and that was a really compelling idea. And then to me especially, because in "Crisis" we had a small baby, when he said, "You guys would have older kids like 14 years old," just the added complexity and depth and places we could go to having hormonal teenagers was really exciting. Exciting for me because I don't have them myself, but yeah, for the camera.
TH: The pandemic exasperated this but even before then it was just coming to a point in life where you realize that family really is the most important thing. So early conversations with Todd and with Greg about what this would be, I just thought it was a really special opportunity to take something that is as exciting as Superman and Lois Lane together but with a family to raise just seemed like a really appealing thing to do.
After your experiences on "Supergirl" and in the crossover, how was it adjusting to this show's different film?
TH: Fun. It was a lot of fun. Conversations about it leading up to us shooting anything were very much that is what it was going to be was something very different. But you never know until you get on set, and you really start filming those first few scenes.
And playing across from each other and the director's giving notes. And it was our incredible pilot director and second episode director. Really set a great tone for the show and really encouraged us to lean into that and it was nice because no matter what, you do get onto the set, and you are playing the same characters you played before. There is an element of wanting to stay true to that, but we also had a goal of departing in a particular sense.
ET: The crossovers were really fun and you're on set with the Flash and Arrow and Superman and Supergirl. Everybody's there, but because our scenes were so big as far as the sheer number of cast members, everybody would get like a line. There just wasn't as far to go and our show is very grounded. Once we actually got our pilot script, it's like oh, now I can actually delve in and get into her skin. You know?
Tyler, you just did "Teen Wolf," so that's a big transition between "Superman & Lois" and "Teen Wolf." How was that transition for you? Did you have any trouble?
TH: No. I took some time. It was at least a good five years in between the time I stopped doing that show and doing this one and that was on purpose.
Being on the show for a little bit, I wanted to feel free to explore different things and films and bounce around for a bit. Being on a show is a big commitment and they are years of your life. It's a lot of the year and a lot of time.
The hours are very demanding, so I knew the next time I went into TV, I wanted it to be something that to and knew, again, the challenges that would come with being there every day. So, I took the time I felt like I needed and then this all just came around at the right time. So no, I felt ready to go for it. It's been a lot of fun.
Elizabeth, what has it been like to explore that dynamic with Jenna Dewan with how complicated it is?
ET: I have so much fun with her. I worked with her all-last week.
First of all, Dylan was laughing because the first time the three of us worked together, Jenna who is a professional dancer, I can barely walk straight in flats, convinces me to learn a TikTok dance with her. It was a hot mess, but she's that fun and it's so infectious. And we were working together all week.
We were just talking, and she was like, "You're my sister. We're sisters." We're just like, "Oh my god, he said what? No." Just the two of us. It's really wonderful. And Dylan, I absolutely adore working with Dylan, but we had scenes, the three of us this week, and we're like, "Dad. Dad." It just is very natural fit, the dynamic and she is wonderful and a great addition to the show.
Tyler, this season you were pulling triple duty as Superman, Kent and Bizarro. How was the experience of playing so many roles?
TH: It was a lot of fun. The one thing with TV that's scary sometimes is getting bored. You feel like you go back and do the same thing over and over again. So, I'd had an experience like that at one point. Not on any particular show, but just a show. You'll never guess it. But it was definitely something where it's nice to have a new challenge. It's nice to have something new to focus on that keeps it fresh. It keeps it new. It keeps you guessing and searching, so it was a lot of fun. It was nice to win a fight, even though I was against myself. So, that was nice. We joke about it all the time.
But it's been a blast. We had some great stuff to play with and this was just another thing to explore.
—MGP, GMA News
