Christopher Reeve’s Kids Discuss Their Incredible Documentary ‘Super/Man’

The Big Picture

• Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is a documentary that explores the life of Christopher Reeve, who became a film star with his portrayal of Superman before a horse-riding accident left him paralyzed.
• The documentary features never-before-seen archives and home videos to provide an intimate look at Reeve’s journey before and after his accident, as well as the legacy he and his wife Dana Reeve left behind.
• The filmmakers were able to obtain licensing for footage from the Superman films, which adds to the impact of the documentary and reminds audiences of Reeve’s iconic role as the original on-screen superhero.

Despite the “Snyderverse,” the DCU shakeup, and all the iterations of the superhero that have been adapted to screen, for many, the title of Superman is synonymous with the 1978 portrayal by Christopher Reeve. The image of him in that iconic suit and cape is a part of pop culture, and Reeve’s tragic accident, too, is well-known. But what about the man himself, and the subsequent journey following his paralysis in 1995? Filmmakers Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s documentary, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, explores just that with candid recounts from those closest to the Hollywood legend.

Through never-before-seen archives and home videos, Super/Man reveals an intimate look at how Christopher Reeve seemingly found overnight stardom when he made the leap from television to portraying Clark Kent/Superman in Richard Donner’s Superman. Not long after Reeve made the world believe a man could fly, tragedy struck when a horseback riding accident rendered the actor quadriplegic. Under such a spotlight, this life-altering event and his own activism brought widespread awareness of disability, but the road to his new life was a challenging one. With the help of his children, Alexandra Reeve Givens, Matthew Reeve, and Will Reeve, Super/Man shares an unflinching look at the man before and after, and the legacy he and his wife, Dana Reeve, left behind.

At this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the cast and creatives behind the documentary stopped by our Media Studio, sponsored by Film.io, to talk with Collider’s Steve Weintraub. During this interview, which you can watch in the video above or read below, we learn how the documentary finally made its way to the big screen and the importance of showing the man behind the legend. We learn about the editing process and how difficult it was to remove certain storylines, and Matthew, Will, and Alexandra share how they’ve continued their father’s work through the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

COLLIDER: I loved this documentary so much. I am a huge, huge fan of your father and what you guys did with this. I think anyone who is a fan of Christopher Reeve is going to love this film. No one has seen it yet, including Sundance, so how have you guys been describing it?

PETER ETTEDGUI: We started this film because we knew this story so well. We grew up with it, and so it was a very easy film for us to start describing. You had the greatest cinema superhero, the original cinema superhero, on screen, and you had this person who, after his tragic accident, became a true hero in life, and that is just a lovely concept to play with. Then we met these guys and the film became about so much more. It became about family, and it became about love.

IAN BONHÔTE: Legacy.

ETTEDGUI: And about an extraordinary legacy.

The Origins of ‘Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story’

You guys were working on this prior to them being involved. How did that come about? Without you three in this, it’s a completely different movie.

MATTHEW REEVE: It all started with a cold email that we received from an archive specialist who we had a Zoom call with. We then wanted to then take it to a production company, and that’s when we approached Passion Pictures, and then Passion Pictures suggested Ian and Peter as directors. I said as a note to these guys, “We gotta check out McQueen and Rising Phoenix.” And based on their previous work, we’re like, “I think this is them. They’re the right guys for this.” Then we jumped on a couple of calls with them and got to know them and got on well, and it all sort of came together quite organically and quite quickly.

I’m curious, had you three been thinking about making a film before? Why was now the right time?

WILL REEVE: We had talked casually, just as siblings, over the years about potential projects or the idea of any sort of project, and we came to the conclusion that it needed to be the right time with the right team. This year is 20 years since our dad died, so it felt like if we were ever going to do something like this, if we were ever going to tell this story in the way we wanted it told, this year felt like the right time. As we met Ian and Peter, and the folks at Passion Pictures and Misfits Entertainment and Words + Pictures, we knew we had the right team. At that point, we said, “We trust you, we believe in you, and we are here to give you whatever you need, but go do your thing. Go make this the way you wanna make it because we trust and believe in you.” And we’ve been rewarded beyond comprehension. It’s really lovely.

ALEXANDRA REEVE GIVENS: We knew that we were gonna be handing over an archive, and maybe sitting for interviews, but beyond that we were gonna completely relinquish control, so it mattered to find the right people who would tell the story authentically. There’s a way you can tell this story just by focusing on kind of the glossy, polished exterior that sometimes people think about, but to show the highs and the lows, to show the public persona and then what life was like behind the scenes? That takes people with a real gift, and we were able to find that in these two.

WILL: Just to follow up on your question before about ‘what is the film about?’ They answered it so eloquently, but I would just add that it’s the story of a hero but it’s not propaganda. It’s not, like, hagiography. Our father lived an extraordinary life, and the things that he did and accomplished and fought for made him a hero, and we knew that however they told the story, as long as it was authentic and real and unflinching, that’s the story that would end up being shared with the world. And that’s what we have, which is such a treat.

ETTEDGUI: I remember when we first met, we sort of talked about the idea of not putting your dad on a pedestal, which it would be so easy to do because he was a gorgeous man and he did extraordinary things. His example was so inspiring. It’s very easy to make a glib, heroic portrait of someone. We wanted to make sure that we showed him flaws and all, really, because that actually deepens how you feel about the heroic things that he did.

I have friends that are actors, and when I’m watching them on screen, I sometimes see my friends and I sometimes see the person they’re playing. For the three of you, when you watch your father’s work, do you see your dad, or can you watch the movie?

WILL: That’s a good question.

MATTHEW: I see moments of him, for sure. I think every actor brings an element of themselves into a role. A lot of the time, absolutely not. It kind of becomes like a transformation, and if you’re absorbed in the story and in the character, you kind of won’t think about it. But there are moments, like certain looks and smiles that we were privileged enough to see off-camera in our everyday lives. Yeah, absolutely, you do notice those things.

GIVENS: I think it’s what made having a film like this so special. We are now at the point where I have two children, Matthew has two children, and they watch the films and they really see an actor. But they went to watch this documentary and they saw the person behind the scenes really brought to life, which has been a beautiful and kind of an unintended consequence of this. I wasn’t thinking about them as a target audience for this — we want the world to hear the story — but seeing this as a family come to life and all of the archive footage that’s pulled together so beautifully in this film has really made a huge difference, too.

WILL: They crushed it. [Laughs] I feel the same way. We tend to see things the same way.

Christopher Reeve Was the Original On-Screen Superhero

For the two of you, this doc uses footage from the Superman films and other things. How tough was it to get clearance to be able to use that footage? Obviously, that footage really, really helps sell everything because you remind the audience of what he looked like as Superman. It would work without the footage, but the footage really helps.

BONHÔTE: As soon as you’re going to make a film about a massive movie star who has worked with some of the biggest studios, you’re gonna have a lot of challenges to get the licensing. But we warned the team and we worked at it, and it took a bit of time, but people want to celebrate, as well, the legacy. As Peter eloquently said earlier, he’s the ultimate superhero, and superheroes have moved on to become such a big part of our popular culture, but the original story is Christopher Reeve in the first Superman. So, I think Warner Bros. are very proud of that legacy. So, it took some time, but we got there in the end. It’s one of the challenges when you make a retrospective documentary with loads of archive.

But to tell you the truth, I think to the point of, actually, all of you guys, I think some of the great footage that you actually shot, Matt, and you guys did, is the most magical one. Because I think people, when you watch a documentary about someone who is famous, you wanna go behind the scenes and you wanna discover more about the human being. You wanna be connected, you wanna see the small, tiny details of daily life. I mean, I love the way the film starts when Dana is giving you a bath in the sink.

WILL: [Laughs] I gave myself a bath in the sink.

BONHÔTE: Exactly. Exactly. And the way she says, as well — I love that — she says, “Oh, for posterity, everybody will have seen me like this in the morning.” If she knew now that actually everybody really will see her like the way she looked in the morning… But how she grows to become a hero herself is fantastic. So yeah, we needed Superman, and the story is about Superman, and that’s the way we carve the narrative, but at the same time, we just love the behind-the-scenes. I just love it. And as Peter said, we made a film about their family and how the children take the legacy further.

Again, I can only say how much I love this film so many times, but it’s because of everything. It’s the Superman footage, it’s you guys being so honest and sharing your real emotions. I loved it. I am curious about the editing process because you could have made a three-hour movie. How challenging was it to cut it down to the length that it was? Did you ever have a much longer cut or storylines that you had to remove?

ETTEDGUI: Oh, yes. The thing is that we had kind of a road map for how we wanted to tell the story — through the flashbacks and the use of telling the story post-accident and his life before the accident. So we knew how we wanted to stitch it together, but we had so much amazing material and so many extraordinary anecdotes. Our first cut was about three hours and 40 minutes.

BONHÔTE: Yeah, something like that.

Can I ask, is that a cut you were happy with?

ETTEDGUI: Oh, no.

So it was like an assembly cut.

ETTEDGUI: It was more or less an assembly cut.

BONHÔTE: Our working progress, it’s almost like sculpturing or puzzle-making. So, you’ve got loads of parts of the film but it doesn’t sing yet. The film finds itself. We help find it, but suddenly the emotional journey of the film finds itself. We were talking about it again yesterday night, there are moments where you have to make a decision, but the decision is for the good of the film. It’s not because of length, sometimes. Sometimes I think people are like, “90 minutes. We need to hit 90 minutes,” but sometimes the film calls out for that. We could have gone down in lots of different directions, but in the end, we’re very happy with what we have. But as I said, we have this raw material — three hours and 40 minutes — and you chip at it bit by bit. Sometimes you’re just like, “Oh my god, if we overstay our welcome emotionally in this moment then we lose the audience.” You always work with an audience. If you make it humorous and [add] a joke in it — and we’ve heard a lot of people laughing lately with it — you just wanna make sure that it doesn’t become corny. It’s just music. Sometimes you overwrite music, you overpaint. You’ve just gotta brush it.

ETTEDGUI: Exactly. It’s kind of building tension, and then where you release tension, and then where you have a slightly more epic, grandiose moment and contrast that with something very personal and very intimate. As you were implying, it’s sort of like there’s a wonderful point in the process where the film starts telling you what it needs and what it doesn’t need. That can be painful because you’re losing material that you kind of love, and it’s been in your head since the beginning of the project, but suddenly you just have to obey what the film needs and say, “Out you go.”

BONHÔTE: We’ll just say it because he hates us mentioning it, but we’ve got a great editor, Otto Burnham. He just doesn’t want us to mention the name too much, but we have a great system where if two of us agree on something, then the third one has to back down. But in a way, we’re the first audience. A filmmaker and his editor are the first run of an audience. We are the ones trialing those emotional moments, those grandiose moments. What inspires us? What makes Christopher Reeve so big, but what makes Christopher Reeve so vulnerable? At one point in his life he could not spend a single second without anyone, where at the beginning of his life he’s probably the most independent, strong, intelligent person you could ever come across, flying the Atlantic twice on his own. Do you see what I mean? That journey, it’s a movie.

Continuing Christopher Reeve’s Legacy

For the three of you, when you grow up with a dad who is an actor of his stature, how much in your heads were you thinking about acting in any way, shape, or form as a career, and how much were you sort of like, “I don’t wanna do this?” You know what I mean?

WILL: I do know what you mean. It turns out that you need to have talent to succeed.

GIVENS: [Laughs] Bummer.

WILL: That was one limiting factor, I realized. Just speaking for myself. I do now work on camera; I’m a correspondent for ABC News, so it’s sort of adjacent in a way, that I’m out there in front of a camera. But I acted in school plays and enjoyed them, and people, I think, naturally will ask, “Oh, you ever think about acting?” I still to this day get asked, “Oh, you should play Superman!” I’m like, “I have brown eyes, and I can’t act.” That’s the problem. That’s what it comes down to. I learned firsthand that to succeed — and you see it and hear it at the festival, all of these people who dedicate all of their being to their art and to the projects that they make — you need to need it like you need air to breathe, and I didn’t. So I realized that if I’m an ambitious person like I am, and I want to succeed at whatever I do, it’s not gonna be acting because I don’t crave it. I saw it in my dad and my mom, who were so talented as an actor and as a singer. They needed it. It sustained them. I didn’t have that, so I never even bothered to try.

GIVENS: We do joke that we divided our dad’s interests between the three of us, professionally. So, I inherited the advocacy gene — I live in Washington, D.C. and I lead a nonprofit advocacy organization; Matthew is a filmmaker and a writer; Will got all of the on-camera star presence. So, it took three of us to build up his legacy and follow in his footsteps, but acting somehow slipped through the cracks.

MATTHEW: He also used to talk a lot about how hard it was and the struggle in his early years, and going up for countless auditions and getting constantly rejected and not getting parts. There was such a passion for the craft and for the work. Also, then personally for me, his journey all started in the theater and I can’t memorize, like, five lines, let alone five acts. So, yeah, it quickly became something that wasn’t on the horizon for me at all.

I understand exactly. If it’s not in your DNA you’re not gonna succeed/want to do it.

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation

You guys have a foundation that champions spinal cord research and injuries. What can you tell people about how things are going, how progress is going, are stem cells a huge part of it? What can you tell people about it?

GIVENS: One of the things we’re so proud of is that our dad had a legacy in many ways, but watching the growth of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, and so many more people caring about that work, has been really beautiful. So, in the medical research field, we’re seeing unbelievable progress. Stem cells are one part of it, but also the extreme focus my dad had on physical therapy. In the film, you’ll see him and the amount of hard work that he put in every single day, and that he started to get some recovery as a result of that. Those were early stages, and we’re now seeing many more people get benefits through the type of work that he was doing.

Then the advocacy he was doing on behalf of the disability community, as well. He was one of the people in the ‘90s fighting for an end to lifetime caps on insurance. We finally got that in the Affordable Care Act in 2008, so he didn’t get to live to see it, but there are all of these pieces that we see where he was out there fighting and others have now carried on their work in a beautiful way.

WILL: And the work continues because the foundation has a dual mission. My mom, thrust into the role of caregiver, learned firsthand how difficult it is to care for a loved one with a spinal cord injury, and she realized that she had resources that millions of other people in the same situation might not have. She wanted to help them and figure out a way to be a resource, so we created the Paralysis Resource Center, and give out millions of dollars in grants to help individuals and organizations who need the help. And we’re funding cutting-edge research. It’s all over the map now. The paths to cures are more wide open and more inspiring than maybe they’ve ever been with the proliferation of technology.

And, I will say as a proud son, a lot of that is due to the visibility that our dad gave that community. I have a plaque in my home, it’s a cover of the Wall Street Journal that someone turned into a bronze thing, and it says “The Reeve Effect.” It’s a chart showing the funding dollars and general awareness of spinal cord injuries pre-1995 when he was injured and post, and it’s a hockey stick off the chart. That has only continued, and so our work only continues. We’re proud board members at the Reeve Foundation, and we’re as involved as we can be.

One of the reasons I love this documentary is that it’s also going to remind people about the importance of funding research and raising awareness. It’s just such a fantastic film.

Special thanks to our 2024 partners at Sundance including presenting partner Film.io and supporting partners Pressed Juicery and DragonFly Coffee Roasters. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story had its World Premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.