Every Actress Who Played Lois Lane on Screen, from Margot Kidder to Rachel Brosnahan

Joan Alexander

Although her turn as Lois Lane never made it to the small (or big) screen, Alexander did have the honor of playing Clark Kent’s leading lady on the radio serial The Adventures of Superman, which aired from 1940 to 1951.

Noel Neill

Neill became the first actress to portray the intrepid reporter reporter onscreen, playing Lane in a 15-chapter film serial in 1948 and again in Atom Man vs. Superman. The actress also starred in the 1950s TV series Adventures of Superman.

Phyllis Coates

Coates starred in the first TV show adaptation of Superman from 1952 to 1953, shortly following her big film debut as Lois Lane in 1951’s Superman and the Mole-Men.

Margot Kidder

Kidder began acting in the late 1960s, but became a household name in 1978 for her role as Lois Lane in Superman: The Movie opposite Christopher Reeve. The Canadian-born actress went on to reprise the part in the movie’s three sequels.

Despite the fame that came with the role, Kidder’s career stalled somewhat, and she experienced homelessness while having mental health issues in the 1990s. She became a mental health advocate and began working again the 2000s, before her death in 2018.

Teri Hatcher

Years before starring in Desperate Housewives, Hatcher played the dogged journalist opposite Dean Cain’s Superman in the ’90s TV show Lois & Clark.

In April 2018, Hatcher spoke of being down for a reboot of the show, telling Entertainment Weekly: “I know I have a lot of fans that would like to see the whole show rebooted, so maybe that’ll happen. Dean [Cain, who played Clark Kent] and I both still have really warm feelings about our whole experience on the show. So who knows!”

Erica Durance

Durance, who played Lois in Smallville — about the early days of Clark Kent — told PEOPLE about an interact she had with Margot Kidder. “The first thing Margot ever said to me was, ‘You really hit it out of the park, kid,’ referring to my performance as Lois Lane on Smallville, a compliment I cherish to this day,” Durance shared.

Kate Bosworth

“She’s definitely the type of woman that — she doesn’t think she needs to be saved, ever,” Bosworth said in an interview, recalling the time she portrayed the reporter in 2006’s Superman Returns opposite Brandon Routh. “She’ll just take care of things on her own. She’s very independent, very driven, very strong-willed — which can be slightly frustrating for the men in her life.”

Uma Thurman

In one of her lesser known roles, Thurman played “Fake Lois Lane” during a “Super Hero Speed Dating” scene in 2013’s raunchy, infamous Movie 43.

Amy Adams

Amy Adams played Lois Lane in 2013’s Man of Steel alongside Henry Cavill’s Superman, and reprised the role in several Justice League films including Batman vs. Superman.

She told reporters about her favorite moment from the latter film in 2016, recalling a bathtub scene in which Cavill’s Superman lowers himself into a tub in which his girlfriend is relaxing. “Trying to protect my modesty while this demigod stood above me. I had this low self-esteem for two weeks after that,” she joked. “It’s true. I was like, ‘I am hideous.’ ”

Elizabeth Tulloch

Elizabeth Tulloch stepped in to play the beloved reporter when she snagged the role for The CW’s Superman & Lois. The show premiered in February 2021 with Tyler Hoechlin playing the Man of Steel and ran for four seasons until its conclusion in 2024.

Rachel Brosnahan

Rachel Brosnahan plays Lois alongside David Corenswet’s Superman in the film, out now. She expressed admiration for the character and her predecessors and explained whys he’s so drawn to the part.

“Lois is someone who prides herself on being 10 steps ahead of everyone else,” she told the Washington Post. “When something like the deep love that she has for Superman comes in and knocks her off her feet, she can’t figure out how to logic her way around it … The scariest part about this project is that she feels the closest to myself I’ve ever played.”