Whoopi Goldberg ‘Fell in Love’ with David Corenswet as Superman, She Tells Him: ‘I Forgot What Kindness Looked Like’

Whoopi Goldberg is sharing why she was touched by David Corenswet’s performance in the new Superman movie.

During The View‘s Thursday, July 10, episode, Goldberg, 69, told Corenswet, 32, and his costar Rachel Brosnahan that she appreciated that Superman was depicted as kind and good-hearted throughout the new movie.

“I have to say something to you, because when I was sitting and I was watching because the first scene between the two of you, I’m thinking ‘okay, okay, okay, this is alright, alright,’ and progressively I felt myself getting annoyed,” Goldberg said during the episode. “And I couldn’t figure out what was happening. And what it was was I forgot what kindness looked like, and I kept waiting for Superman to become quippy, and he’s not that. He’s never been that.”

“So I fell in love with you as Superman,” she told Corenswet.

As Goldberg shared her thoughts on the movie, she noted that she was friends with the late Christopher Reeve, the actor who originated the title role in Warner Bros.’ Superman movies from the 1978 original through 1987’s Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

Seeing the film “allowed me to just kind of question myself: who have I become that I didn’t recognize the kindness?” Goldberg told Corenswet. “Why was I waiting for you to turn into somebody that you had never been? I know it sounds crazy, but it knocked me for a loop, ’cause I thought ‘oh, that’s right. He’s nice and he’s kind and he’s different.’ ”

In the new Superman movie, written and directed by James Gunn, Superman/Clark Kent attempts to wrangle with multiple villains, including Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor, and contends with the consequences of his attempts to prevent war from breaking out across the world. Brosnahan, 34, stars as Lois Lane.

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Elsewhere during Corenswet and Brosnahan’s appearance on The View, Corenswet recalled how it felt to wear Superman’s costume for the first time on set.

“I must admit I had to muster some courage that I didn’t really feel in that moment,” the Twisters actor said, noting he gained some 40 pounds for the role. “As Christopher Reeve said, you’re just out there. It’s just you in your tights. It can all go terribly wrong. But then I saw some of our crew members who are grown men and sort of gruff professional men, and to see them kind of soften and become 10-year-old boys again, that was when I thought, ‘Okay, this might work.’ “

Superman, which also costars Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Milly Alcock as Supergirl, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl and Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, is in theaters on Friday, July 11.