NEED TO KNOW
-
Jack O'Halloran played Non in the films «"Superman"» и «Superman 2.
-
O'Halloran spoke to PEOPLE magazine about landing the role and what it was like working with the late Christopher Reeve.
-
Reeve died in October 2004 at the age of 52.
Jack O'Halloran never imagined he'd end up in a classic film about Superman .
The 83-year-old actor was still early in his acting career when he was given the opportunity to star in a 1978 film. In a conversation with PEOPLE magazine, he recalls how it happened.
«I was filming a movie in Spain with Gene Hackman called «"March or Death", "And they sent me a script, then another one to Gene, and then invited us to London," O'Halloran recalls. They met with director Richard Donner, who offered O'Halloran the role of a deaf-mute character.
«"And I said, 'You know, I completely accept that,'" the actor replied.
Don't miss any news - subscribe to free daily newsletter PEOPLE , to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human stories.
Jack O'Halloran in Superman II (Photo: Warner Bros/Dc Comics/Kobal/Shutterstock)
Donner was surprised by the reaction, but O'Halloran explained: "Jackie Gleason was a friend of mine, he did a very good movie called «"Zhigot"» . I said, 'If I ever get the chance to do a movie where I have to use body language, facial expressions, I'd love to do it.' And he thought it was a brilliant move because the character I played, Non, was a big scientist, and he got a lobotomy because he was interacting with Zod. So it all worked out perfectly.".
O'Halloran landed the role, and Hackman was eventually cast as Lex Luthor. Of working with Christopher Reeve, who played Superman, in these films, O'Halloran said, "Christopher was a good guy.".
«"It was his first big film and he came from a very rich family, so he was like a spoiled kid," he laughed.
«"When you work with someone for three years, you start to bond with them. But when he came on set, he was a skinny guy weighing 175 pounds, but Donner saw something in him that he liked. David Prowse, who worked on Darth Vader, and I trained Christopher together, and we put on 20 pounds. They bulked him up and made his physique quite expressive because he had ego issues, and it worked well.".
Christopher Reeve as Superman. Photo courtesy of the Everett Collection.
He concluded, "He was the best combination of Superman and Clark Kent. He transitioned from Superman to Clark Kent better than anyone else.".
O'Halloran credited Donner for "letting me go and letting me do what I'm good at.".
«It went pretty well. And I remember the first time I did Comic-Con, and someone came up to me and said, „Your character scared the shit out of me, but I loved it so much.“ And I said, „Oh, thank you.“ And he said, „Oh, my God, can you talk?“ I said, „I must have done pretty well if you think I can’t talk.“».
Read the original article on People.