Zor-El lives! In Supergirl Season 6, the Girl of Steel discovered her father had survived the destruction of Krypton by throwing himself into the Phantom Zone. He has remained there ever since, stewing in misery over the loss of his planet, all while questioning whether or not his last-ditch effort to save Argo City had worked. Enter Kara, the daughter he sent to Earth on a wing and a prayer. Now reunited, the father-daughter duo must fight tooth and nail to escape the Phantom Zone -- a place so dire that even Kara has begun to lose hope.

Speaking to CBR, Supergirl star Jason Behr offered some insight on what makes Zor-El tick. He recalled the secrecy surrounding his audition and shared how his love of Superman lore developed long before he joined the Arrowverse series. He explained why he would love for Zor-El to break bad as Cyborg Superman, as well as how the destruction of Krypton compares to our real world here on Earth. He also teased Zor-El's return in the midseason finale, broke down how he bonded with Melissa Benoist over their love of family and more.

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CBR: With comic book adaptations, you often hear about how actors didn't know the role they were auditioning for until they got the part, and that's to say nothing of the fact that Zor-El is a pretty big deal! Was that the case for you? What was that process like for you?

Jason Behr: When they first sent me the material for this, just as an idea of what was happening, I couldn't see Zor-El at first. I had no idea! But then I talked with my representatives... and they kind of let me know what's happening with Zor-El. This is a world that I definitely was always a fan of. So I was the boy who was running in his front yard with the Superman underoos and the red towel wrapped around his neck. So I was definitely very excited about being a part of this world.

How familiar were you with the comics before you landed the role?

I've been around the Superman idea and figure for a bit now. Back in the time when I read J.J. Abrams' Flyboys back in early 2000, I did a lot more research then, as far as the larger canvas of Superman, just because that was such a unique experience. But for the role of Zor-El, I wasn't as familiar with him as Superman, so I had to really dive deep into what that looked like, and there's a lot of different versions of him out there! There's even a version where he, after a bit, breaks bad, and, and kind of goes to Walter White in the universe.

So there's a lot of versions of him out there. When I was doing my research on this, basically, Zor-El is, when we find him in Season 6, he's been slowly hollowed out and broken by the Phantom Zone for the last 40 years. So that was a real rock bottom starting point for me.

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In the comics, Zor-El goes in two very different directions, depending on what continuity you follow: he's either a benevolent scientist or the anti-hero Cyborg Superman. If you could pick a direction for him, which would it be and why?

I feel like I wouldn't want to choose! I would want to have my cake and eat it too. I would want to explore both versions of that. I would want to go down exploring him as a good person, and then what might lead him down that path to where he does actually break bad, where he does go Walter White. If he chose to go down that road, can he ever be brought back? I think that's the push-pull that I would find fascinating.

Because when you think about it, these people, these Kryptonians, are just regular people on Krypton. It's only because of that yellow sun that they have different powers, and that kind of godlike power is an ultimate drug. It takes a very, very strong, good spirit to use that power for good. It's very easy to choose the dark side and use it for not-so good. I would love to explore that.

I find Zor-El to be fascinating, and I also find Argo City to be fascinating. I'm just curious as to how it got to that point, to where there was almost no choice but to -- I mean, they were going down the path of self-destruction as a direct result of their own choices, I feel like Argo City kind of somewhat reflects what we're going through today in our own society, in our own world: global warming, social/economic/racial disharmony. All of that stuff exists here on Earth! What was it like on Argo, and how did they get to get to that point? So I'm curious about all of that stuff. It fascinates me.

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Your character is quite complex, in that we have two loose understandings of him: the version that Kara talks about, and the one we meet in the Phantom Zone. How did that help you approach building him as a character? Did you work with the writers to help establish his background?

I did. I mean, I think what he clearly is -- from the research on him, but also from reading the scripts -- is that, you know, he's first and foremost a brilliant scientist and environmentalist, let alone a husband, a father, a brother. He is a son of Krypton. His conceit was that he tried desperately, and in vain, to save Krypton from itself, and in activating the shield around Argo City, he didn't even know that that was successful. The last thing that he knew was that he had sent his daughter off to Earth, and that he had activated these shields around Argo City and then, in a last ditch attempt, he sent himself to the Phantom Zone knowing that he was not going to get off the planet in time.

So being being in this purgatory for 40 years, he thought that he lost his brother, his wife, potentially his daughter and everything that he loved and held dear. The planet of Krypton was destroyed as a result as a result of him making some pretty bad choices! So, he was a very proud person, a very intelligent person, but his hubris is what caused all this death and destruction and to live with that for a timeless -- I mean, he was there for 40 years, but in a place where time doesn't matter. It's a pretty extraordinary place to start.

Which aspect of the character do you relate to the most and why?

I think the love of his family, because what I wanted to really hold dear was his love for his wife, and his love for his daughter, and having that beacon of light be any remnant of hope that he had burn still within him, that was something that I really wanted to hold on to, because I -- as a parent -- understand that. As a partner, I understand that connection and that powerful feeling, and how that can get you through the darkest of times.

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By virtue of the fact that both your characters are trapped in the Phantom Zone, you've obviously been working with Melissa Benoist quite a bit. Tell me a little about how you both established that father-daughter dynamic.

Well, a lot of the situation that they put us in, was you have Supergirl in a place, physically and emotionally, that we've never seen her before. She comes into it with a lot of hope, and she comes into it with a lot of determination to change things, to find a way out, and that inspiration is what led Zor-El to leave his comfort zone of that cave, to actually believe that there was a way out.

As the episodes go by, he is drawing inspiration and finding that hope within him again and fanning that flame to burn brighter and brighter, as juxtaposed to Kara, who is slowly being whittled down through every interaction with the Phantoms, who are starting to break even the strongest of spirits, which is her. It's so strong it's slowly starting to chip away at her hope, so that the tables have somewhat turned on them, where he is now becoming more of a bright beacon of hope for her.

As far as how we approached that, Melissa, she just had a baby boy, and we talked a lot about family and about what it's like to have your heart on the outside of your body walking around -- or in her case, crawling around. It's one of those things that, when they tell you, "Oh yeah, when you're a parent, when you have a child walking around that is your everything, it shifts your perspective a lot." We really talked about family and talked about our children and we connected and bonded in that way. Melissa is an amazing person. She's just incredible. So it was really easy for me to find that connection with her really quickly.

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Can you tease an upcoming moment or scene you're particularly excited for fans to see?

Well, I don't want to spoil anything, but I can definitely say that you will be seeing more of Zor-El.


Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers, David Harewood as Martian Manhunter, Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers, Nicole Maines as Dreamer, Jesse Rath as Brainiac-5, Azie Tesfai as Kelly Olsen, Julie Gonzalo as Andrea Rojas and Staz Nair as William Dey. New episodes air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW. Following tonight's episode, the series will return Tuesday, Aug. 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

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