How ‘Super/Man’ Team Relied on Glenn Close, Robin Williams and Christopher Reeves’ Children to Help Hit Emotional Beats of Doc

variety.com:

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor When filmmakers Peter Ettedgui and Ian Bonhôte embarked on telling Christopher Reeve’s story, the last thing they wanted to do was make a typical biopic.

Their biggest concern in telling Reeve’s heroic journey was that it would be a story of two halves. Reeve portrayed Superman in blockbuster films in the late 1970s and 1980s, but his life was rocked by tragedy after suffering a horseback riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down and unable to breath without use of a ventilator.

In the aftermath of the accident, he became an advocate for spinal cord injuries. “We were worried that the film would be half Christopher as an actor standing on his legs, and then Christopher disabled, sitting,” says Bonhôte.

But the result is a story of strength, courage, perseverance and determination, with an emotional experience at its heart. While Ettedgui and Bonhôte wanted to veer away from a traditional biopic, they still made sure Reeve’s story conveyed what it means to be a hero both on screen and in real life.