THE MAN OF STEEL 

More than ten years ago Christopher Reeves made a permanent place for himself in the popular imagination as the muscular, red-caped Superman. His slow, crooked smile and the inevitable curl of hair on his forehead, coupled with his bumbling Clark Kent persona, saw him through four action-packed Superman movies and transformed him into a superstar. After which his biggest headache was that people found it difficult to view him as anything other than Superman. In the early 90s, his career, which had been going through a low patch, began to pick up as he was offered roles in films like Merchant-Ivory’s The Remains of the Day and Speechless.

But two years ago, in 1995, fate played a cruel trick on the Man of Steel. He was set to star in Kidnapped, a mini-series to be directed by Francis Ford Coppola and was about to make his directorial debut with a film entitled Tell Me True. But a horse-riding accident changed everything. During a show-jumping event, his horse stopped unexpectedly, sending Reeves flying over. He landed on his head and injured his spinal chord, and he was paralysed from the neck down.

It could have broken the strongest willed man. It seemed as if Kryptonite had finally gotten the better of Superman. But Reeves bowled over Hollywood and the world when he announced that he would carry on with his plans to direct a film. And having made his directorial debut with In The Gloaming, a one-hour film for TV, Reeves is set to continue with his acting career.

In The Gloaming was aired in April, receiving rave reviews and an Emmy nomination. An all-star cast (Whoopi Goldberg, Glenn Close, David Strathairn and Bridget Fonda) came forward to act in the sensitive film about a young man with AIDS who goes back to his parents’ home to die. The title song of the film is sung by his wife, Dana.

Just a few months after the accident, an appropriate script and location had been found. Conveniently, the site was just ten minutes from Reeves’ house. Reeves carried out his directorial duties using video equipment, which is normally used so that directors don’t have to continuously peer through the camera lens. He operated from a separate cabin, so that the sound of his ventilator wouldn’t disturb the recording. He was even able to direct a helicopter shot from his cabin, proving his point that it was entirely possible to be a good director with minimal movement. What was more, Reeves completed the movie on schedule — and under budget.

Reeves is now contemplating directing another film, but he won’t do it, he says, unless he is absolutely convinced about the script. Time is now too precious to waste doing things which have little personal meaning, he says.

Meanwhile, he will be acting in a remake of Hitchcock’s Rear Window for ABC television. Reeves will play the part of the wheelchair-bound protagonist, originally done by James Stewart.

Not content with simply continuing his film career, Reeves set himself another task — to inspire sufferers of spinal chord injuries and to spread awareness of the affliction. While he was still in intensive care, the arrival of 400,000 letters from fans and well-wishers left him stunned. And Reeves realised that he had the potential to make a difference to many lives. He now undertakes about 30-40 lectures a year, mainly at various rehabilitation centres. He is a keen follower of spinal cord injury research, and works at raising money for research and spreading awareness about it. This is in addition to a hectic schedule that includes breathing and physical exercises, and a busy day usually filled with business meetings. These days he is occupied mainly with completing his autobiography with writer Roger Rosenblatt. Weekends, which were formerly devoted to horse-riding and flying planes and gliders, are reserved for spending time with his family.

It is a schedule which could leave a normal, healthy man frazzled by the end of the day. But then Superman is no ordinary being.