This is day two of PaleyFest 2022! On April 3, Her Campus at UCLA was able to do a red carpet interview with the cast of season 2 of producer Todd Helbing’s action drama Superman & Lois and attend the panel. This season dealt with letting go of painful memories, juggling the responsibilities between work and family, and overcoming challenges in relationships.
First, Todd Helbing and the main cast members walked through the red carpet, answering press questions and posing for pictures. The cast included Tyler Hoechlin, Bitsie Tulloch, Emmanuelle Chiriqui, Dylan Walsh, Jordan Elsass, Alex Garfin, Inde Navarrette, Wolé Parks, Tayler Buck and Sofia Hasmik. Her Campus at UCLA was able to interview some of these actors.
Dylan Walsh, who played General Sam Lane, said that the favorite part of filming this show is the people, stating, “They kind of remind me of my family. The person I took a little longer to get along with is Bitsie, but we ended up becoming really close. She’s very smart, and she’s basically Lois Lane!”
Wolé Parks, or John Henry Irons, says that Superman & Lois is different from other superhero shows. This show, he says, integrates Lois Lane into the story very well. “It’s not like there is Superman and then ‘everyone else’. Lois Lane plays an important role too. I love strong women like her because I grew up with a single mother.”
Playing Jordan Kent, who is faced with relationship conflicts in the new season, Alex Garfin said that the show explores the theme of maturity in relationships. “When you’re young, you think growing up is about getting older. But it’s not about getting older. It’s knowing when you are hurting, knowing when other people are hurt — knowing that line divides everything. We get to see that Jordan understands that Sarah can be someone else.”
Inde Navarrette, Jordan Kent’s love interest in the show, says that the biggest takeaway that young women can have is that relationships are just experiences. She says, “You should know what you want and you should know your worth. Don’t lose that little gut, that little intuition that you have. Trust her.”
Sofia Hasmik, as Chrissy Beppo, joked about having five cups of coffee before the red carpet. She also told me that the show portrays strong women that girls can look up to. “I think the show encompasses all about not only being a woman but being human, being compassionate, being driven, and being truly yourself. Although things are going well in the womens’ lives, with Lana, Lois, and Chrissy all finding their voice, the show is also open to how hard everything is for them.”
After the red carpet, all the cast sat down on the stage at the Dolby Theatre for their first in-person panel. Chancellor Agard moderated the discussion as they talked about the show, how each cast felt about their characters, and how their personal life related to the show. Tyler Hoechlin and Bitsie Tulloch started the panel off by saying that the most exciting but difficult part of the show was that they had to act as parents. As a mother of a young child, Bitsie Tulloch said, “it’s exciting raising ‘hormonal teenagers’ because I don’t have that experience myself in real life,” making everyone in the audience giggle.
Inde Navarrette said that the costumes for her character, Sarah Cushing, were chosen very well. “I’m a 20-year old woman with a developed body,” Cushing said. “So I think the costumes were very well chosen to hide my body so that 15-year-old girls can look up to me so that they don’t have to experience the disappointment of comparing [my] body to themselves and seeing that we don’t look the same.”
The panel concluded with fan questions. When one fan asked the cast about what the most difficult parts of playing their characters were, Taylor Buck said that it was to avoid portraying Natalie Lane Irons as a woman who is “angry” all the time but also to show multiple sides of her character. Wolé Parks agreed, praising her performance in the show.
After the panel, we were able to get a sneak peek at one episode of season 2. The performance of the cast was so strong and emotional that I found myself trying hard to fight back tears. The audience was very enthusiastic, laughing and cheering in times of triumph and shedding tears in emotional scenes. The episode was truly moving, and I am more than excited to watch the rest of the season.
This was day two of PaleyFest. If you haven’t gotten the chance to watch Superman & Lois yet, you can catch up with the show on a variety of services like Hulu, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime Video. PaleyFest is still going on! Keep an eye out for our next article covering the April 3 panel for black-ish.