DC's Legends of Tomorrow star Brandon Routh opened up about his work with Superman Returns director Bryan Singer, who was accused of sexual assault a decade following the 2006 film.
During Smallville alum Michael Rosenbaum's podcast Inside of You, Routh took a few fan questions. One asked him how he liked working with Singer, which led him to unpack some complicated feelings about his experience on Superman Returns.
When he heard the question, Routh took a deep breath. "It's a challenging subject matter, obviously," he said. "Bryan is a film genius and was very passionate about the film and, I think, made a great movie. He was not always easy to work with."
Co-host Rob Holysz followed up on that, asking Routh why Singer wasn't easy to work with. "I mean, we were talking about mental health! Everyone should be seeing a therapist," Routh shared. "Everyone has trauma in their life and, when I say trauma, it just means heavy emotional experiences. That doesn't mean you had a traumatic brain injury or that you were in the war. Everyone has had some kind of trauma in their life. Everyone should be seeing a therapist. I recommend a trauma therapist. I see one. He hid things in his life, which would come up, and he wasn't always the kindest person to everyone. He always put on his best face for me, thankfully."
"So he was kind to you?" Rosenbaum interjected. "But you saw?"
"Yes," Routh confirmed.
"You witnessed other things that you were like, 'That's uncomfortable'?" Rosenbaum pushed on.
"Yeah," Routh agreed, but he did not elaborate beyond that.
In December 2017, a lawsuit was filed against Singer for raping a seventeen-year-old boy in 2003. Then, in January 2019, an expose was published by The Atlantic accusing Singer of years of sexual misconduct with underage boys. In response, Singer denied all allegations, dismissing The Atlantic article as "a homophobic smear piece." The accusations led him to be replaced as director on Red Sonja, and his name was removed from the Best Director category at the 2019 BAFTAs.
Routh, of course, played the Man of Steel himself in Superman Returns. He returned to the DC Universe for Arrow, then became a core cast member of Legends of Tomorrow. Though his time in the Arrowverse is coming to a close, you can catch his final two Legends episodes starting this Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.