2006 Movie News Archives

George with Sarah Douglas

May 7, 2006: Sarah Douglas at Krypton Comics in Omaha

George Pitcher (sometime contributor to the Superman Homepage) emailed in this report regarding meeting Sarah Douglas (Ursa from "Superman: The Movie" and "Superman II") at the Krypton Comics store in Omaha, NE...

The lovely, delightful and very personable Sarah Douglas graced Krypton Comics in Omaha, NE with her presence today for a signing as part of their Free Comic Day celebration, and being first in line, I had plenty of time to bend her ear. Despite the fact that the airline she flew on had indeed lost all her luggage and she was weary from the flight, being the lady that she is, she was more than agreeable to answer my fan-boyish questions.

I presented her with my DVDs of Superman: The Movie, Superman II, the Ursa trading card from the Superman II card set, an original program guide from Superman: The Movie, and a treasury sized magazine from Superman II, each which she signed for me with a smile. They also had two killer black & white prints of Sarah in character, one with Zod and Non, and one with just Sarah as Ursa, which she signed as well, the proceeds of which all went to the Christopher Reeve Foundation!

As she signed my memorabilia, she answered all my questions and though I don't have an exact transcription of the conversation - I do remember the highlights.

She told me that she had in fact seen footage from Superman Returns and when I asked her what she thought of it, she said she thought it looked very exciting, though darker in tone than she was expecting, but would be the first in line to see it upon release. And if starring in two Superman movies isn't enough to make the rest of us jealous - yeah - she happened to mention that she saw this footage, not on her computer like some of us fan boys have had to be content with, but in San Francisco, in the presence of Bryan Singer, and Brandon Routh!

I asked her for her impression then of Brandon and Bryan as individuals, and she had this to say. Brandon she said was a lovely person, very friendly and warm. That Chris Reeve, when off screen, had a lot of Clark in him - by the book, very Clarkish. And Brandon in comparison was more laid back, and relaxed. She also mentioned that she thought Brandon was a very attractive man, perhaps even more so than Chris, and she thought he'd make an excellent Superman. She did say that this footage she saw with them didn't have any audio, so she hadn't heard his voice in the footage yet, and was curious how he would perform as an actor, but seemed pleased with what she had seen so far.

Bryan she said, she had met previous to this, once before the release of Usual Suspects, and initially she didn't know who he was. Then later she had read for a role for a project she couldn't remember the name of, and though she won the role, the project never came about. She said he was a very big Superman fan, and seemed to think quite highly of him.

I can't remember how the subject came up, I think because we were talking about the C.R. Foundation, but she expressed her shock over the sudden passing of Dana, and given the hardships that the family had dealt with over the years, she expressed sympathy specifically for Will now having lost both parents.

I asked her, given the fact that Chris, Margot and Terence had all done guest spots on Smallville, if she would ever be agreeable to guest on the show, to which she laughed and responded "Don't even go there." But without so much as a break in the sentence, she clarified for this inquiring mind why this might be a sore subject for her. Apparently - upon hearing that a "new" show based on Superman was going into production, Sarah attempted to contact the producers of Smallville eager to contribute to the show. She's still waiting for them to call her back. :(

Now myself - I think this a tremendous oversight on someone's part, and if any one associated with Smallville is reading this - as a fan - I think the lovely Ms Douglas is more than deserving of a role on the show, and think it's likely long overdue to see her associated with Superman once again.

I asked her of her remembrances of Superman: The Movie and Superman II, and what she remembered of the differences on set with Richard Donner and Richard Lester. She said she had enjoyed them both as directors, and that Donner at the time embodied more of the Los Angeles sense of film making, that due to the fact that they were shooting two films at the same time, the schedule was all over the place and more hectic. And that by the time Lester was brought on as director - he came from the English mindset on film making, and it was more regimented and by the book. She said that though she enjoyed Donner's work on Superman: The Movie, she did enjoy her time filming the sequel with Lester more, simply because that was the kind of working habit she herself appreciated.

And lastly before I thanked her for her time, I asked her about her current work, since IMDB shows 2005 as he most recent creative effort. She said that she was back in England now once again, and looking for work. She said it was slow going, that most of the creative directors and people she once knew over there were no longer in the business, and that the new faces which had cropped up to fill their shoes only knew her as Ursa from the Superman films. Consequently, she said it was a lot like starting over and slow going as she reintroduced herself in that market. She said she gets offered a lot of work all at once it seemed, and then it would either disappear or dry up, and was still looking for something meaningful to work on next.

Again - I'd say this is a tragic oversight on someone's - a lot of someones - behalf. She was a real gem of a lady, very open, funny and considerate, and I was glad to have the chance to meet her and thank her for all her efforts. I wished her well, and hope that someone out there will read this and cast this wonderful woman - hopefully in a Superman related project once again. Heck of a gal, and it was my extreme pleasure to have the chance to meet with her.



2006 Movie News

Listed below are all the Movie News items archived for 2006 organized into various categories:

“Superman Returns” Movie News:

Christopher Reeve Movie News: Hollywoodland (George Reeves) Movie News: Direct-to-DVD Animated Movie News: Other Movie News:

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