Superman star Skyler Gisondo, who will be portraying Jimmy Olsen in the upcoming film, recently revealed that he did not read any comics in preparation for his role and explained why. Gisondo will be the first actor to portray the Daily Planet photojournalist in live-action since Mehcad Brooks brought the character to life in Supergirl.
Gisondo joined the official DC Studios podcast (titled DC Studios Showcase: The Official Podcast) for the show's eleventh episode to talk about his experience playing Jimmy Olsen in Superman (a movie that already broke a Superman movie record). The actor explained that he intentionally did not read any Superman comics in preparation for his role for a very specific reason.
While sitting down for the podcast (which was shared via YouTube), Gisondo was asked where Jimmy is regarding his career during the events of Superman. The actor revealed that Jimmy is "in a good spot," but is also "hungry for more:"
"He's in a good spot. I think he's a little bit hungry for more. He's kind of a photojournalist, and I think he wants to be also more involved in the writing component as well. He cares a lot about the stories. But he's in-- for a young guy at The Daily Planet kind of climbing the ladder, I think he's doing pretty well."
One of the show hosts (Frankey Smith) then revealed to Gisondo that Jimmy receives a Pulitzer Prize in the comics, which seemingly threw Gisondo off a bit as he acted surprised. The actor then responded by saying, "I totally knew that. I read all the comics." When saying that, Gisondo was clearly a bit sarcastic, essentially alluding that he has not read any Superman comics up to this point.
The show's comic correspondent, Coy Jandreau, then told Gisondo about Jimmy dating Silver Banshee in the current run of comics, which surprised Gisondo once again, as he didn't know who Silver Banshee was or that Jimmy had a dating life.
Gisondo playfully asked what issue that was from, and then sarcastically continued to play along, claiming that he didn't know that because the issue he is currently reading is "right behind that one:"
"Okay. I think I'm right behind that one. That's why I haven't gotten to it yet."
Host Tyler Coates then asked Gisondo what kind of research he actually did to prepare for Superman. At first, the actor continued to show his humorous side, comparing himself to Daniel Day-Lewis:
"Oh, very, very deep research. Not unlike how I would imagine Daniel Day-Lewis approaches his roles, entrenched. I really did."
However, he then genuinely explained his mindset after landing the role, saying that he knew he would feel overwhelmed and that he would have "such a responsibility to get (the character) right" if he had read through the comics and gotten familiar with the character. So, instead of reading them and putting more stress on himself, Gisondo revealed that he instead "just came in freestyling:"
"Before we did the movie, in a very sweet way, when you're doing Superman, everyone in your life in this very well-intentioned way is like, 'Holy shit, Superman. Are you like...' So in an attempt to not spiral and, like, freak out, I was kind of like, 'That's just-- You know, it's gonna be fun. It's not a big deal.' And I like, I almost didn't-- intentionally didn't want to dive into, like, the history and just feel this, like, weight of like, 'Holy shit, we have such a responsibility to get this right and like everyone who's come before us.' So I kind of just came in freestyling, man. So hopefully that works."
Fans will get to see Gisondo's performance as Jimmy Olsen when Superman is officially released in theaters on July 11, 2025. The film (directed by James Gunn) also stars David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan as Clark Kent and Lois Lane, respectively.
Will Gisondo's Jimmy Olsen Performance Be Affected By Not Reading the Comics?
Some fans may be worried after hearing that Gisondo chose not to read any comic books before filming his scenes for Superman. After all, Jimmy Olsen has become a rather beloved character in the world of DC, so many likely want the character to be adapted the right way.
Although Gisondo hasn't read the comics, luckily for fans, writer and director James Gunn has. Gunn likely knows the character of Jimmy Olsen like the back of his hand, so if there was anything that Gisondo needed to specifically do to bring Jimmy to life, Gunn likely directed him to do so on set.
Many would likely agree that Gisondo's natural personality almost looks like a real-life Jimmy Olsen anyway, so, with just a bit of insight from Gunn, the actor probably had no issues at all delivering a rather accurate performance.
