Highlights
- Will Reeve has made a name for himself in the media industry and is known for his resemblance to his late father, Christopher Reeve.
- Will has acted in a few projects directed by his dad but has since transitioned to a career in news as an ABC News correspondent.
- Will sees the comparisons to his father as a compliment and is proud to be associated with his family’s legacy, including their philanthropic work through the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.
Fans have long been campaigning for Christopher Reeve’s youngest son, Will Reeve, to be the next Superman. The question is: does he act? Will has made a name for himself in the media industry after he was orphaned in 2006. And recently, he discovered that “honoring” his dad means we’re likely never to see him as the Man of Steel onscreen.
Will is aware of the comparisons to his late father – who was paralyzed after a tragic horse fall in 1995, fueling more theories regarding the “Superman curse.” The 31-year-old Reeve also doesn’t mind being called “Superman’s son.” But here’s what Will really feels about being known for his “resemblance” to his dad, Christopher.
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Will has three acting credits, all in projects directed by his dad: he played young Danny (Robert Sean Leonard’s role) in the 1997 TV movie, In the Glooming starring Glenn Close; young David (Scott Shiltone’s part) in 2004’s The Brooke Ellison Story, another TV movie about the first quadriplegic to graduate from Harvard University; and a voice role as Big Kid in Everyone’s Hero (2006).
But it wasn’t until 2015 that Will returned to TV, this time as a host for SportsCenter on ESPN. It was a year after he graduated with a BA in English and American Literature from Middlebury College in Vermont. In 2018, he started working at ABC News. You can see him hosting programs like Good Morning America, World News Tonight with David Muir, Nightline, ABC News Live, and ABC News Radio.
Will may not have followed in his dad’s footsteps as Superman, but he surely got the on-camera version of Clark Kent’s job – and he looks like Superman doing it. He also remains a board director of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation (CDRF) alongside his older half-siblings, Alexandra Reeve Givens and Matthew Reeve – Christopher’s children with former long-term partner, Gae Exton.
The foundation is “dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by advancing innovative research and improving the quality of life for individuals and families impacted by paralysis.” Christopher became the face of the American Paralysis Association (APA) following his accident. During the “Eve for Reeve” benefit in November 2023, Will said: “I love people, I love as it relates to the Reeve Foundation and the community that we are so focused on building.”
“Nothing makes me happier or prouder than when people who might not otherwise have known each other, or have known about us or our cause, come together and leave with something meaningful,” Will said of continuing his father’s philanthropic legacy.
At that time, the ABC news correspondent – who “prides” himself on his community work – was raising money for CDRF at a New York marathon. He and his father used to bond over sports. According to their family friend, Ken Regan, Christopher “tried to go to all of Will’s sporting events.” Now, as an adult, Will enjoys running, marathons, and triathlons.
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Will Reeve Said “Honoring” Christopher Reeve Means Not Being His “Proxy”
In 2021, Will wrote a heartfelt tribute to his dad for Good Morning America where he shared that “honoring” Christopher means carving his own path. “I’m 29 now and have finally started to understand what honoring my dad actually means,” he said at that time. “I thought it meant following the roads he would want me to go down, or to live my life as his proxy, making up for lost time according to his thwarted dreams.”
Will realized: “Turns out, our parents want us to find out who we are and go be that. That is the ultimate form of honor.”
He also admitted to wanting to be like his dad (maybe even the idea of being Superman, too). “In our short time together, my dad gave me everything: his love and attention, his values and passions,” Will continued. “When he died, I was certain my purpose in life was to be him, to seamlessly carry on his legacy, to leave no separation between where Christopher Reeve ended and where Will Reeve began.”
Will always regarded his dad as the “coolest guy,” so it’s no surprise that he wanted to be like him growing up. But now, he’s found his own passions that he thinks Christopher will be proud of. “I find peace and strength in the fact that the greatest gift I can give my dad is to keep him in my heart while I follow it wherever it leads me,” he said.
Christopher’s three children are featured in the 2024 documentary about his life, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. It’s directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui who reportedly “focused on how Reeve found strength and purpose through disability activism,” per Deadline.
1978 |
Christopher Reeve rose to stardom after his first Superman film |
1995 |
He was paralyzed from the shoulders down after being thrown off a horse during an equestrian competition; As a result, he used a wheelchair and a ventilator his whole life |
1996 |
He received a minutes-long standing ovation at the Oscars where he delivered a speech about cinema’s societal contributions, 10 months after his accident |
1997 |
He started directing (In the Gloaming came out) |
1998 |
He returned to acting in the TV remake of Aldred Hitchcock’s 1954 film, Rear Window; His performance earned him a nomination for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award |
April 1998 |
The release of his 11-week New York Times Best Seller autobiography, Still Me; It earned him a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album |
2002 |
Christopher’s second book, Nothing Is Impossible came out |
2003 |
He made a guest appearance on Smallville against his nurse’s instructions |
2004 |
Christopher died of heart failure on October 10, months after directing The Brooke Ellison Story and the animated film, Everyone’s Hero |
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Will Reeve View Comparisons To His Dad Christopher Reeve As A “Compliment”
Will isn’t fazed by the comparisons to his dad. He sees them as a “compliment,” not something that overshadows his work or anything like that – even when it’s often about his “resemblance” to Christopher. “I think that if the public might find a little interest in, ‘Oh, he his looks like his famous dad,’ that’s great,” the broadcaster told People.
“That means they’re talking about my family in a positive light and remembering our dad and our mom and our family in a way that honors them,” he continued. “I always take that as a compliment.”
“I think that I had two beautiful parents, inside and out, and if I bear any resemblance to them physically, or temperamentally, or in my values, then I take that as a compliment every day,” Will said of being compared to his father.
During a panel interview at Sundance Studios in January 2024, Will said the Super/Man documentary “came together in a way that we knew as a family we could be open and honest and vulnerable and hand everything over to them and see what they came back with.”
He also noted that “With 2024 being the 20-year anniversary of our father’s death, that felt like the right time to reintroduce him and his heroic story to the world.” On February 2, Warner Bros. Discovery finalized its purchase of the film’s worldwide rights, valued at $15 million.
Co-CEO of DC Studios, James Gunn, said watching Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story “emotionally floored” him.
Source: NewsFinale