Actor Brandon Routh says the disappointing aftermath of Superman Returns took a serious toll on his mental heath — but he "didn't lean on drugs or alcohol or partying" to help get him through. His vice was World of Warcraft.
"I played World of Warcraft endlessly," Routh told Smallville star Michael Rosenbaum on his Inside of You podcast. "That was my addiction, and then a few other games along the way, but that was where I lost myself and spent way too much time."
Routh, said he "really had to come to terms" with the fact that the Superman role wasn't going anywhere. "There was no sequel, the movie was widely well reviewed, people liked the movie, but it, you know, made almost $400 million worldwide but that wasn't enough," he said. "And it was a very slow fizzle out of the possibility of a sequel over the next two, three years and I did everything that I could do, that I thought, in my world to help make it happen." Routh told Rosenbaum that World of Warcraft was his "therapy."
"It was a coping mechanism, but it wasn't teaching me things, until I finally had several experiences where I had to come to terms with that," Routh elaborated. He also says his girlfriend played a big part. "She knew new best then, she knows me best now," he said. Routh told Rosenbaum that he eventually began getting back to normal and finding work again after "surrendering to the process."
Routh portrayed Ray Palmer on The CW's Legends of Tomorrow but was recently given the axe. He confirmed his departure with Rosenbaum and said it wasn't his decision.