Michael Ironside, who voiced Darkseid in “Superman: The Animated Series” and played the role of General Sam Lane on the “Smallville” TV series, was a special guest at the 2025 Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois, where he participated in a Q&A panel with the fans.
Ironside, who boasts nearly 300 credits on IMDb (or 371 according to his sister, and 270 film and television credits as a character actor), shared candid details about his extensive career and unique approach to acting.
Ironside revealed his journey into acting began not as a performer, but as a writer. He studied with Eli Real for three years and later with Janine Manatis at the National Film Board in Canada, where writers, directors, and actors received the same training. He recounted how this training, which contrasted with the more “English” style of acting prevalent in Canada at the time, shaped his naturalistic approach. Ironside likens acting to “therapy,” explaining that it forces one to be “real” and connect emotionally. His long-time teacher, Janine Manatis, taught him that the actor’s job is “just to be the light underneath” the script, making it as “pure and honest as possible”. He emphasizes preparing emotional choices beforehand so his “work process” doesn’t become “somebody else’s problem” on set, a method his daughter playfully calls “binky”.
Throughout the panel, Ironside offered behind-the-scenes glimpses into some of his most memorable roles:
- Community: He enjoyed working on the show, particularly his role as Colonel Archwood, which required a lot of improvisation. Ironside noted that most of the dialogue was unscripted, presenting a challenge for him as he has ADHD and mild dyslexia and typically learns everyone’s lines. He recalled that the improvisational nature “drove Chevy [Chase]… out of his mind”.
- Choosing Roles: When selecting projects, Ironside prioritizes the script first, then the people involved, then the shooting location, with “money as the last thing”. This philosophy leads him to often work with new writers and directors, such as on his upcoming film “Maro”.
- Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II: Originally titled “The Haunting of Hamilton High”, this film was intended as a “tongue-in-cheek satire” of “Prom Night”. However, distributors bought the rights and demanded re-shoots to turn it into a serious horror film. Ironside shared a memorable anecdote about a 1953 Pontiac Hurst hearse being cut into three pieces, re-welded inside a school hallway, and used for a scene.
- V: Ironside was initially offered a role in a wheelchair, but he rewrote the character, Hamilton Tyler, into a war veteran who “can’t give affection and can’t accept affection,” drawing on his own experience being newly sober and knowing veterans who had similar struggles.
- Splinter Cell: Ironside played the iconic video game character Sam Fisher for five years. He rewrote much of the “god awful” original script for the first game and helped hire other voice actors. He also created a backstory for Sam Fisher, where his family was dead, using a powerful line from a veteran about feeling like “a gun that’s been fired so many times it’s almost like I’m afraid I’m going to start firing myself”. He mentioned that a live-action miniseries for “Splinter Cell” is coming to Netflix next spring, with Liev Schreiber playing Sam Fisher.
- Dream Role: Gurney Halleck in “Dune”: Ironside revealed that his grandfather, a member of a sci-fi writers’ association, received an early draft of Frank Herbert’s “Dune”. Ironside had the opportunity to play Gurney Halleck in a planned 1984/85 adaptation with a star-studded cast including Marlon Brando and Max von Sydow, but production was halted due to an actress’s illness. When the film resumed, he was already committed to “Extreme Prejudice”, and the role was ultimately given to a then-unknown Patrick Stewart.
Ironside’s candid and engaging storytelling, sprinkled with his trademark humor, provided attendees with a comprehensive and entertaining look into the mind and career of a truly unique actor.
