It has been ten years since Brandon Routh starred as Clark Kent, and the actor has been tearing it up in film and television ever since. Born in Norwalk, Iowa, he attended the University of Iowa and studied English – but Hollywood beckoned.

Having just wrapped up filming on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, where he plays the first on-screen incarnation of superhero Ray Palmer – aka Atom – he was able to speak to us on the phone about his work before his upcoming appearance at the Calgary Expo. It will be his first visit; he was unable to attend last year because work in Asia pulled him away.

"I enjoy Canada, for the most part everywhere, except when it’s really cold," he said. Let’s cross our fingers for a warm and balmy end-of-April!"

He has played Superman, but he has also been Justin Long’s out-of-the-closet boyfriend in Zack and Miri Make a Porno. There is a made-for-TV Christmas film in there somewhere too (involving true love and adopting a cat, so everyone needs to go watch it right now). On the phone we discussed his work with comic book culture, his enjoyment of Wes Anderson, the fact he went to high school with Aquaman, and his bro-mance with former costar Sam Huntington.

GC: What has it been like jumping from role to role, with all of these really interesting characters that have been developed outside of the film business?

BR: In a way, it is a different task, because I’m bringing to life characters that people already have ideas about – sometimes very firm ideas. That’s kind of a challenge, but one that I have taken on and embraced. The opportunity now to play Ray Palmer, the Atom, is he hasn’t been seen in live action before – he has only been in comic book or cartoon form.

GC: Ray debuted in the 1960s; it is mind-boggling that we haven’t seen him since then.

BR: Yeah, you know, the film business is certainly bringing a lot of the more iconic characters to life. And Ray has played an important role and worked alongside many of the very iconic DC heroes. He hasn’t gotten as much play and it’s exciting to get to do that.

GC: What is it like wearing the suit?

BR: [laughs] It’s uh... it’s cool. It is a bit cumbersome at times. The longer I’m in it, the harder it is.

GC: That’s you wearing it, too – it’s not like Robert Downey Jr. with a bunch of CGI.

BR: Yeah. It is a little bit harder to cheat me being in the suit, definitely. Because it does have a helmet and the rest of me is pretty much covered, it is helpful for filming situations where I have to be two places at once, which happens often on a TV schedule. There are three Atom suits in existence, and one day there were all three working. I was on one unit, and two other stunt doubles that I have were on two others, working and doing different fight pieces – and I was, you know, doing more of the acting bits where you see my face.

GC: I couldn’t help but noticing that Ray kind of gets a raw deal with the ladies, especially Felicity on Arrow and Kendra on Legends of Tomorrow.

BR: [laughs] Yeah, well, chalk it up to situations, for one. You could blame it on the ladies, I guess, but he is making the choices of falling for people who have a little bit of backstory they haven’t worked through yet. With the case of both of them, [Felicity and Kendra], they were both kind of happened upon relationships. Felicity wasn’t certainly anything he was intentionally engaging in. It was a friendly work relationship, which turned into something. With Kendra, he wasn’t considering her in that way, but he found there was some chemistry. But yes, because of that, he wasn’t necessarily thinking of it going anywhere, and then in a relationship he would just go with it, hoping he could change a person.

GC: Speaking of you being in the DC Universe, a little bird told me you might have gone to high school with Jason Momoa, who is now Aquaman.

BR: That is true! We were on the same high school soccer team, and another club soccer team growing up. We spent more time in soccer together than in school, because although he is only two months older than I am, he was a grade above me in school. So we didn’t have classes together, but we did do sports together.

GC: So what is it like that he is Aquaman now?

BR: Yeah, you couldn’t write a story like that. No one would even think that could be a thing. And it certainly wasn’t something on either of our radars – leaving Iowa – or at least high school.

GC: After doing Superman, if you look at IMDB, you’re kind of a workaholic – you’re all over the place. I think one of my favourite instances of you showing up somewhere was in Zack and Miri Make a Porno. How did that happen?

BR: That was just a really cool opportunity that kind of came out of the blue. I believe it was a suggestion by Seth Rogen, actually, in a meeting with Kevin Smith the director. They were looking to have someone play opposite to Justin Long and for some reason, thankfully, he thought of me, even though I didn’t know him. But I think he just thought that who is the person who could play that character who you would least expect and you know, Superman being the one that took the bill. I was very grateful for the opportunity because comedy was then, and is still now, the thing I love to do the most.

GC: Do you like to make people laugh, or do you just find it is a more fun set to walk on to?

BR: Both, I think. I do enjoy making people laugh, and getting that reaction from the crowd, and lightening people’s day if I can. But also the creative expression and experience on set is more enjoyable to me. It’s a light-hearted time; cracking jokes, and not taking yourself too seriously.

GC: If you could work with anyone in the comedy film industry, who would it be?

BR: As far as a comedic director that I would like to work with, I really like Wes Anderson’s style. Kind of quirky and odd, and he very much has great characters in his films. But I kind of fancy myself a character actor in a leading man’s body, I guess, so I would definitely look forward to working with his team sometime in the future.

GC: The last thing I would love to talk to you about is your work on the film Dylan Dog, which was also a comic book film, and let you team up with your former co-star Sam Huntington. Were you aware of Dylan Dog before you were offered the part?

BR: I was! I actually had a friend who spent several years in Italy growing up; he spoke fluent Italian and had read Dylan Dog. We were roommates at the time and he showed me the comic years ago. And to me, you know, it was bigger than Superman, so when I got the script and heard about it, I thought it was pretty cool and it definitely made me ...  my ears perked up.

GC: And you got to work with Sam again!

BR: Yes, which was one of the most exciting aspects of Dylan Dog. We worked in New Orleans and had a great time. You know we were roommates, and also worked together, so it was a lot of fun.

GC: Do you keep in contact with Sam quite a bit these days?

BR: I do! He and his family have spent the last few years up in Montreal, as he was filming Being Human, and now he is on Rosewood, which is really awesome. I mean he’s back in Los Angeles working, so I’m happy about that – selfishly – just so we can have some more time to hang out.