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When Tim Daly was cast as animated Superman, he hadn’t given a lot of thought to voicing the iconic Man of Steel.
Daly, 69, opened up about his time voicing Superman (and his alter ego, Clark Kent) on the beloved show Superman: The Animated Series in an article published by Woman’s World on July 15. Daly voiced the character from 1996 to 2000 for 54 episodes of the show, a follow-up to the popular Batman: The Animated Series.
“When I was originally cast as Superman, I was kind of shocked,” he told the outlet. “I didn’t really know what I was getting into and I didn’t know this show was going to be much more than kind of a fun thing to do for kids to watch on Saturday morning. I had no idea how important Superman was to the world culture.”
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Andrea Romano, who directed the voice cast for the show, noted that Daly didn’t take “voice-over acting for animation as seriously as on-camera work” and added that “a lot” of the actors had that issue. “But as I watched Tim learn the process, watch the other actors working with him and see the response from fans, I actually watched him evolve. It happened during production — within the first season. You could see him start to take it more seriously,” she said.
Daly explained it took years for him to get “perspective” on playing Superman. “I realize that Superman is probably better described by an anthropologist or psychologist, because we all dream about flying, we dream about having superpowers and we dream about being a hero and saving people,” he said.
The actor — at the time best known for his role on Wings — explained he grew up a “huge fan” of the Christopher Reeve Superman movie and the George Reeves TV series, but he was “by no means a fanboy.”
“So for me, it was kind of an education to learn how important these characters were,” he said. “I wish I had been a little bit more thoughtful about it at the moment while I was doing it, but I’m hopeful that I might get another chance at some point to voice Superman.” The character, he said, represents “hope for humanity.”
Warner Bros./ Courtesy: Everett Collection
“You know, a lot of people have asked me about being a part of the Superman legacy. It’s a hard thing to feel,” he said. “I guess the closest I came to realizing it was when I went to the Superman 75th anniversary panel at Comic-Con. I actually went because my son [Sam Daly] voiced Superman in The Flashpoint Paradox. I was in the audience and there was this huge room with like 4,000 people in it. They introduced me and I thought I would stand and wave for a little bit — and they gave me a thunderous standing ovation. I was absolutely shocked. I just couldn’t believe that all these people were that appreciative and that it was that important to them. I was really humbled by that.”
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“If that’s true about being part of the legacy, I’m happy. I hope that I live up to people’s expectations,” he said.
After Superman: The Animated Series ended, Daly reprised the role in video games as well as some films, most recently 2012’s Justice League: Doom.
