David Corenswet “didn’t feel great” gaining weight for his portrayal of Superman.

The Twisters actor, who makes his debut as the Man of Steel next year, reflected on his major physical transformation on the Manly Things (Sort Of) podcast and admitted his body “didn’t feel great” initially because it took a while to adjust to his weight gain.

“I wasn’t 238 (pounds, 108 kilograms) when we started shooting. I was 238 at my max,” the actor said. “I didn’t fit into any of my pants.”

The Pearl star shared that he wore a 2XL sweatshirt to the table read for the film, which was written and directed by James Gunn. However, he found it difficult to maintain that peak weight and actually lost several pounds before the shoot began.

“That was at the peak of my bulk,” Corenswet explained. “And then I slowly lost weight before we started shooting. I started shooting at about 228, 230… I know I wanted this to be my excuse to see what it felt like to gain essentially as much weight as I could.”

Earlier this year, personal trainer Paolo Mascitti praised Corenswet for working hard to build a superhero body.

“David Corenswet worked his a*s off; I can’t wait to share more of the training we did to prepare to play this iconic character; stay tuned for more,” he wrote at the time.

Corenswet stars alongside Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor in Superman, which will be released on 11 July 2025.

© Cover Media